REG · REG PAY · BASE · SALRegular pay
Pay for ordinary hours: hours worked times your hourly rate, or one pay period's share of your salary. Everything else in the earnings section is added on top of it.
Glossary · 2026 rates and limits
Pay Stub Abbreviations & Deduction Codes
What FIT, OASDI, MED/EE, SDI, GTL, YTD and 100+ other codes on a pay stub mean — with the 2026 rates and limits behind them and a source for each.
Employers and payroll providers abbreviate freely, and the same code can mean different things on different stubs — MED is Medicare on one and medical insurance on another. The section a line sits in (earnings, taxes or deductions) is usually the tiebreaker. Find a code below, or use your browser's search for the exact letters on your stub.
Earnings codes
The top half of a pay stub: what you were paid, and for what.
OT · OVT · O/T · OT 1.5Overtime
Under federal law, non-exempt employees earn at least 1.5 times their regular rate for hours over 40 in a workweek. A few states add daily overtime (California pays it after 8 hours in a day), which is why the hours in this line don't always match a weekly count.
PTO · VAC · SICK · HOLPaid time off, vacation, sick and holiday pay
Hours paid while you weren't working. Federal law doesn't require paid vacation or holidays; where they're offered, they're paid under the employer's policy, and many states require paid sick leave. These are taxed like regular wages.
BON · BONUS · COMM · SUPPBonus, commission and other supplemental wages
The IRS calls these supplemental wages. When they're paid separately from regular wages, the employer may withhold federal income tax at a flat 22% (37% on supplemental wages over $1 million in a year) instead of using your W-4, which is why a bonus check can look heavily taxed.
GTL · GTLI · IMP LIFEGroup-term life insurance (imputed income)
Not cash. When an employer provides group-term life coverage above $50,000, the cost of the coverage over that amount counts as taxable wages and is subject to Social Security and Medicare. It's added to your earnings and then taken back out, so it raises your taxes without changing your net pay otherwise.
Federal tax codes
Withheld from every employee paycheck in every state.
FIT · FITW · FWT · FED WH · FED TAXFederal income tax withholding
Income tax withheld toward what you'll owe for the year, figured from your Form W-4 and the IRS tables in Publication 15-T. It changes when your pay, filing status or W-4 changes.
OASDI · SS · SOC SEC · FICA-SS · SSEESocial Security
Old-Age, Survivors and Disability Insurance — Social Security. Employees pay 6.2% of wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500; above that, the line stops for the rest of the year. The employer pays a matching 6.2% that doesn't appear as a deduction.
MED · MEDI · MED/EE · FICA-MED · MEDEEMedicare
Employees pay 1.45% of all wages, with no cap; the employer matches it. "EE" means the employee's share ("ER" is the employer's). Watch for MED being used for medical insurance on some stubs — the section it sits in tells you which.
ADDL MED · AMT · MED ADDLAdditional Medicare tax
An extra 0.9% the employer must withhold on wages above $200,000 in a calendar year, regardless of filing status. There's no employer match.
FICAFICA (Social Security + Medicare combined)
Federal Insurance Contributions Act. Some stubs show one FICA line instead of separate Social Security and Medicare lines; for most employees it's 7.65% of pay (6.2% + 1.45%).
State and local codes
These depend on where you live and work — see the state pages for each state's exact rules.
SIT · SWT · ST TAX · STATE WHState income tax withholding
Withheld under your state's own formula. Nine states — Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming — have no tax on wages, so this line won't appear there.
SDI · CASDI · TDI · DBL · VPDIState disability insurance
A payroll premium that funds short-term disability benefits in states that have a program — California (SDI, 1.30% of all wages in 2026), New Jersey (TDI), New York (DBL), Rhode Island (TDI) and Hawaii (TDI). VPDI on a California stub means the employer runs an approved voluntary plan instead of the state plan.
PFL · FLI · PFML · FAMLI · WA PFMLPaid family and medical leave
Premiums for a state paid-leave program: New York PFL, New Jersey FLI, Washington and Massachusetts PFML, Colorado FAMLI, Paid Leave Oregon, CT Paid Leave, and Minnesota Paid Leave from 2026. Rates and the employee/employer split differ by state.
SUI · SUTA · UI · UCState unemployment insurance
Almost always paid only by the employer. Alaska, New Jersey and Pennsylvania also take a small employee share from wages (0.50%, 0.425% and 0.07% respectively in 2026), so it shows up as a deduction there.
WA CARES · LTC · LTSSWA Cares Fund
Washington's long-term care program: 0.58% of all wages, with no cap, unless the employee has an approved exemption.
LIT · LOC · CITY · LST · SCH DISTLocal income and school district taxes
City, county or school-district taxes withheld in some places — New York City and Yonkers, Philadelphia and other Pennsylvania localities (including the Local Services Tax), Ohio municipalities and school districts, Maryland counties, and others. They're separate lines from state tax.
Pre-tax deduction codes
Taken out before income tax is figured, which lowers your taxable wages.
401K · 401(K) · 403B · 457 · RETRetirement plan contributions
Traditional 401(k), 403(b) and 457 deferrals reduce the wages federal income tax is figured on, but Social Security and Medicare still apply to them. The 2026 employee limit is $24,500, plus an $8,000 catch-up from age 50 ($11,250 for ages 60–63).
ROTH · 401K ROTH · RTHRoth 401(k) contributions
Taken out after tax, so they don't lower this year's withholding. Roth and traditional deferrals share the same $24,500 limit for 2026.
HSAHealth savings account
Contributions made through payroll under a cafeteria plan are free of federal income tax, Social Security and Medicare. The 2026 limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage, counting employer contributions.
FSA · MED FSA · HCFSAHealth flexible spending account
Pre-tax money set aside for medical costs. The 2026 limit on employee salary reductions is $3,400.
DCAP · DEP CARE · DCFSADependent care FSA
Pre-tax money for child or dependent care. From 2026 the exclusion is up to $7,500 a year ($3,750 if married filing separately), up from $5,000.
MED · DEN · VIS · HLTH · 125 · CAFEHealth, dental and vision premiums
Your share of insurance premiums. Paid through a Section 125 cafeteria plan they're pre-tax for federal income tax and FICA; "125" or "CAFE" on a stub refers to that plan.
After-tax deduction codes
Taken out after taxes are figured, so they don't change your withholding.
GARN · WG · LEVYWage garnishment
A court-ordered or legal deduction. For ordinary debts federal law limits it to 25% of disposable earnings (or less for low earners); federal tax levies follow their own rules.
CS · CHILD SUP · SUPP ORDChild support
Withheld under a support order. Federal law allows up to 50% of disposable earnings (60% if the employee isn't supporting another spouse or child), plus 5% more when payments are over 12 weeks behind.
UNION · DUES · LTD · STD · ADV · LOANUnion dues, disability insurance, advances and loans
Other deductions you've authorized: union dues, voluntary long- or short-term disability premiums, repayment of a pay advance or a 401(k) loan. Most states require written authorization for deductions like these.
Totals and column headings
The labels that tie the numbers together.
GROSS · NET · NET PAY · TAKE HOMEGross pay and net pay
Gross is everything earned before deductions; net is what's left after taxes and deductions — the amount actually paid to you.
YTD · CUR · CURRENTYear to date and current
Current is this pay period; YTD is the running total since January 1. YTD figures are what lenders check and what should match your W-2 at year end.
EE · EREmployee and employer
EE marks the employee's share of a tax or benefit; ER marks the employer's. Only EE amounts come out of your pay.
DD · DIR DEP · CHKDirect deposit and check
How net pay was delivered — to which account, or by paper check. Split deposits show one line per account.
Codes that depend on your state
State taxes, disability insurance and paid-leave premiums differ by state. Each state pay stub page lists which ones apply, at what rate, with official sources. To see what comes out of your own pay, try the free paycheck calculator. To see the codes in place, the pay stub example walks through a sample stub line by line.