Kansas Payroll Tax Guide (2026)

Kansas kept both income tax brackets for 2026 after the Department of Revenue found the Senate Bill 269 trigger unmet, so withholding stays at 5.20% up to $23,000 of taxable income and 5.58% above it, with unemployment contributions due on the first $15,100 of wages.^[8]

10 min read • Reviewed by Rajanikant Patel CPA • Verified Oct 1, 2026 • Sources: KDOR, KDOL, IRS

Quick Facts

Kansas payroll at a glance

Kansas employers run two state payroll taxes: graduated income tax withholding at 5.20% and 5.58%, paid by employees, and unemployment insurance contributions paid entirely by the employer. There is no employee paid state contribution.^[8]

State income tax withholding

5.20%–5.58% ^[3]

UI taxable wage base

$15,100 per employee ^[8]

New employer UI rate

1.75% ^[8]

Experienced UI rate range

0.00%–6.95% ^[8]

Employee-paid state payroll tax

None ^[8]

Social Security wage base

$184,500 ^[2]

FUTA net rate

0.6% = $42 per employee ^[14]

State minimum wage

$7.25 per hour (federal floor) ^[11]

Local minimum wage ordinances

None ^[11]

UI registration trigger

KDOL states that most employers subject to federal unemployment tax are… ^[8]

Exempt salary threshold

$35,568 per year ^[13]

Additional Medicare threshold

Over $200,000, employee only ^[3]

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What changed for Kansas payroll in 2026

Six items moved for Kansas employers this year. Anything below is what have changed since the 2025 tables, so a rate card carried over from last year will be wrong in at least one place.

No SB 269 rate cut for 2026 Rates stay 5.20% and 5.58% UI wage base indexed to $15,100 New employer rate 1.75% 0.00% rate group available Next rate review August 15, 2026

Assuming the Kansas rate trigger fired: Senate Bill 269 set up automatic income tax rate cuts, but both a revenue test and a rainy day fund test must pass in the same year. The rainy day fund cleared at 19.1% but the revenue test failed at the August 15, 2025 review, so 2026 withholding stays at 5.20% and 5.58%. Payroll configured for an expected cut will under withhold all year.

Estimate

2026 Kansas payroll tax calculator

Enter one employee’s annual gross wages to see what the employer owes, what comes out of the paycheque, and the true cost of employment.

Kansas · 2026 rates · per employee, per calendar year

Annual gross wages ($)

Cash wages subject to payroll tax, before any withholding.

Your UI contribution rate

Your exact rate is on the Annual Rate Letter.

Custom UI rate (%)

FUTA basis

FUTA is 6.0% less a 5.4% credit where the state has no outstanding federal loan.

Employer pays

UI, on first $15,100–

FUTA, on first $7,000–

Social Security, 6.2%–

Medicare, 1.45%–

Employer payroll tax–

Withheld from the employee

Social Security, 6.2%–

Medicare, 1.45%–

Additional Medicare, 0.9% over $200,000–

Withheld from employee–

True cost of employment–

Employer tax as % of wages–

Total payroll tax, both sides–

State income tax withholding is not included above: it depends on the employee’s Form K-4 and filing status, so it cannot be estimated from gross pay alone.

Rates & Nexus

Payroll tax rates & the nexus question

Kansas runs two state payroll taxes. The table below is the whole state layer for 2026.^[8]

The state payroll taxes

Tax	Paid by	2026 rate	Wage base
UI	Employer	0.00%–6.95%; 1.75% new	$15,100
Income tax withholding	Employee	5.20%–5.58%	No limit

HB 2570 Schedule C applies for 2026. New construction employers pay 5.55% and rated governmental employers 0.10%.^[8]

Supplemental wages have their own rate. Bonuses, commissions and other supplemental payments are withheld at 5.00% when paid separately from regular wages. That is a state rate only; federal supplemental withholding is a separate 22% layer.^[3]

Who has to register

KDOL states that most employers subject to federal unemployment tax are also required to pay Kansas unemployment tax, so Kansas employment generally triggers registration with the department.^[8] Income tax withholding is administered separately by Kansas Department of Revenue, so most employers end up with two state account numbers, not one.

Multistate and remote employees

When an employee works in more than one state, the four-part test below decides which state the wages are reported to. The tests run in order: you stop at the first one that gives an answer.

1. Localisation of service→
2. Base of operations→
3. Place of direction & control→
4. Employee’s residence

One remote employee is usually enough. A single person working from home in Kansas generally creates an obligation to register and report wages here, even if the business has no office, property or customers in the state.

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Compliance

Registration & return filing

Registration is online and free. The unemployment account and, where one exists, the withholding account are opened separately and carry different numbers.^[8]

How to register

Cross the wage threshold→
KansasLabor.gov employer portal→
Receive account number→
Annual Rate Letter→
File & deposit online

KDOL states that most employers subject to federal unemployment tax are also required to pay Kansas unemployment tax, so Kansas employment generally triggers registration with the department.^[8]

Deposit schedule

Annual Kansas withholding sets the schedule. Up to $200 files annually, $200.01 to $1,200 quarterly, $1,200.01 to $8,000 monthly, $8,000.01 to $100,000 semimonthly, and more than $100,000 quad-monthly with deposits due within three banking days of the 7th, 15th, 21st and last day of each month.^[3]

Returns, reports & due dates

Form	What it is	Due
K-CNS 100, Quarterly Wage Report and Unemployment Tax Return	Quarterly unemployment return	April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31
Form KW-5 deposit report for each reporting period, and Form KW-3 annual…	Income tax withholding returns	Annual Kansas withholding sets the schedule. Up to $200 files annu
Annual reconciliation	Year-end withholding reconciliation	January 31
Form 941	Federal quarterly return	Last day of the month after quarter end
Form 940	Federal unemployment, annual	January 31
New hire report	Report of newly hired employees	Within 20 days of start date

Quarterly unemployment returns are due April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return filed one day late is delinquent, and in most states the penalty attaches to the return, not the payment.^[8]

Watch the rate you actually withhold on: The SB 269 revenue trigger failed at the 15 August 2025 review, missing by $88.5 million, so no rate cut took effect. The 5.20% and 5.58% brackets stand for 2026.^[3]

Pricing

Payroll Pricing

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Line items the big providers quietly bill for

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Setup fee

one-time onboarding

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Every payroll run

each pay cycle

billed
extra

Off-cycle payroll

corrections & bonuses

billed
extra

Year-end filings

W-2s, 1099s & more

billed
extra

All you actually pay

Per employee, per pay run

$6 /emp

Plus a flat $40 minimum per pay run. That’s the whole bill.

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Wage Base

Subject wages vs. exempt payments

Not every dollar an employee receives is a taxable wage. The split below governs what goes into the unemployment wage base and what is reported at year end.^[8]

Subject wages

Salaries, hourly pay, overtime and piece rates
Commissions, bonuses and incentive pay
Most cash tips reported by the employee
Vacation, holiday and paid sick leave when taken as wages
Severance and payments in lieu of notice
The cash value of meals and lodging provided as compensation
Employer contributions to a non-qualified deferred compensation plan

Not subject

Reimbursements of genuine business expenses under an accountable plan
Employer contributions to a qualified retirement plan
Employer-paid premiums for accident and health insurance
Most third-party sick pay after the sixth calendar month
Payments to a genuine independent contractor
Workers compensation benefits

The wage base is per employer, per year, not per job. If you hire someone in August who already earned $15,100 elsewhere, your unemployment clock still starts at zero. The one exception is a successor employer taking over an existing payroll, who inherits the wages already paid.

Reference

Glossary of key terms

Taxable wage base: The slice of each employee’s annual pay that unemployment tax is calculated on. In Kansas that is $15,100 for 2026. Earnings above it are still wages, they are simply no longer taxed for unemployment.
Experience rating: The method Kansas Department of Labor uses to set each employer’s own unemployment rate from its history of claims. Employers with fewer charged claims move down the schedule; those with more move up.
New employer rate: The rate assigned before an employer has enough history to be experience rated. It normally applies for two to three years, then the account moves onto the experience schedule.
Form K-4: The state withholding certificate. It sets how much income tax comes out of each cheque and is filed with the employer, not with Kansas Department of Revenue.
Reserve account: The running balance of contributions an employer has paid in, less the benefits charged against it. The ratio of that balance to taxable payroll is what drives the assigned rate.
Successor employer: A business that acquires another’s payroll may inherit both its experience rate and the wages already paid toward the wage base for the year. Getting this wrong is a common acquisition error.
Localisation of service: The first of four tests deciding which state a multistate employee’s wages are reported to. If substantially all the work is in one state, that state wins and the remaining tests are never reached.
FUTA credit reduction: A reduction in the 5.4% federal unemployment credit applied to states that have carried an outstanding federal loan for two or more consecutive Januaries. It raises the effective FUTA rate and is settled each November.
Supplemental wages: Bonuses, commissions, awards and similar payments made outside the regular payroll cycle. Many states set a separate flat withholding rate for them.

Federal, State & Local

Kansas payroll tax, layer by layer

Federal tax applies everywhere and is the larger number. The state layer is what changes when you cross a border.

Layer 1: Federal

Tax	Rate	2026 base
Social Security	6.2% each side	$184,500
Medicare	1.45% each side	No limit
Additional Medicare	0.9% employee only	Over $200,000
FUTA, standard	0.6% net	$7,000
Federal income tax	Per Form W-4	No limit

Kansas has no FUTA credit reduction for 2026, so the standard 0.6% net rate applies, $42 per employee. The final list is not published until 10 November 2026.^[14]

Layer 2: State

Tax	Rate	2026 base
UI, new employer	1.75%	$15,100
UI, experienced	0.00%–6.95%	$15,100
Income tax, standard	5.20%–5.58%	No limit
Income tax, supplemental	5.00%	No limit

Layer 3, county & city: no payroll tax, but a wage floor

No county or city in Kansas levies its own payroll or income tax withheld by employers. The local layer shows up as minimum wage, not as tax.^[11]

The state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour, which is the federal floor, effective 2026-01-01. The tipped cash wage is $2.13. No local ordinance sets a higher floor. The federal wage and hour tables list a single statewide Kansas rate with no city or county minimum wage rates.^[11]

Overtime exemption is a separate test. A salaried employee is exempt from overtime only above $35,568 a year ($684.00 a week) Federal FLSA standard salary level, and only if the duties test is also met. Paying a salary is not by itself enough.^[13]

FAQ

Kansas payroll FAQs

No. Notice 25-06 from the Department of Revenue confirms there is no rate reduction for tax year 2026. Fiscal year 2025 adjusted collections came in about $88.5 million below the inflation adjusted base year revenues, so the Senate Bill 269 trigger did not fire even though the Budget Stabilization Fund test passed.

Married filing jointly pay 5.20% on the first $46,000 of taxable income and 5.58% above that. All other filers pay 5.20% on the first $23,000 and 5.58% above. Standard deductions are $3,605 single, $8,240 married filing joint, $4,120 married filing separate and $6,180 head of household.

It is driven by annual withholding. Up to $200 files annually, up to $1,200 quarterly, up to $8,000 monthly, up to $100,000 semimonthly, and above $100,000 quad-monthly. Quad-monthly deposits are due within three banking days of the 7th, 15th, 21st and last day of the month.

The 2026 taxable wage base is $15,100 per employee. An employer without 24 consecutive months of experience pays 1.75% of wages, and a new employer in the construction industry pays 5.55%. Your own assigned rate arrives in the Annual Rate Letter in the KDOL employer portal.

Form KW-3, the annual withholding reconciliation, is due January 31 and must be filed electronically along with W-2 and 1099 data. Form K-CNS 100, the quarterly wage report and unemployment tax return, is due April 30, July 31, October 31 and January 31. Employers with 26 or more employees must file the wage report electronically.

No on both counts. No Kansas city or county withholds a local income tax from wages, and the state minimum wage is $7.25 an hour. Tipped employees may be paid a cash wage of $2.13 with a tip credit of up to $5.12.

$15,100 per employee per calendar year. Once an employee reaches that in wages from you, no further unemployment tax is due on that employee for the rest of the year. The count restarts on 1 January and does not carry over from a previous employer.

$7.25 an hour, which matches the federal floor. No local ordinance sets a higher rate. The tipped cash wage is $2.13.

April 30, July 31, October 31, January 31. A return is delinquent the day after the deadline even if the tax itself was paid on time, so file the return whether or not you can pay.

Verification

Sources & methodology

Methodology: every rate, threshold and due date on this page was taken from the administering agency’s own published material for the 2026 tax year, checked on Oct 1, 2026. Where a federal figure applies it comes from the IRS, SSA or US Department of Labor. 5 data points on this page could not be confirmed against a primary source and are either omitted or marked as not published, rather than estimated. Rates change, and some change mid-year, so confirm against your own rate notice before running a payroll.

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