How Much Tax Is Deducted From Your Arkansas Paycheck?

How much tax is deducted from your Arkansas paycheck depends on three layers: federal income tax set by your W-4, a flat 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare, and Arkansas state income tax that tops out at a 3.9% marginal rate. There is no city or county income tax anywhere in Arkansas, and the state does not take disability or unemployment contributions out of employee pay, so the pay stub is shorter than in many other states.

Social Security and Medicare: A Flat 7.65%

FICA is the one deduction you can calculate in your head. It comes off every paycheck at a fixed rate, and nothing on your W-4 changes it.

Social Security takes 6.2% of gross wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Once year-to-date earnings cross that ceiling, Social Security withholding stops for the rest of the calendar year.¹
Medicare takes 1.45% of all gross wages, with no cap.²
Once your wages pass $200,000 in a calendar year, an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax starts coming out automatically. Your employer begins withholding it at that threshold regardless of your filing status.²

For most workers, the combined employee share is 7.65% of gross pay. On a $1,000 weekly check, that’s $76.50 before federal or state income tax is even calculated.

Federal Income Tax

Federal income tax is usually the largest line on an Arkansas paycheck. Your employer figures the amount from the IRS withholding tables using what you put on Form W-4: filing status, dependents, other income, and any extra deductions you asked to claim.³

The tax itself is progressive. Only the income inside each bracket is taxed at that bracket’s rate, so the first dollars you earn are taxed at 10% and 12% before higher rates reach the rest. Because withholding is an estimate of your annual bill spread across pay periods, the dollar amount pulled from each check moves with the size of that check and with the elections on your W-4.

Arkansas State Income Tax

Arkansas uses a progressive rate schedule that caps at 3.9%. The Department of Finance and Administration indexes the brackets each year, so the dollar thresholds shift slightly with inflation while the rate structure holds. Based on the 2024 indexed brackets:

0% on the first ~$5,500 of taxable income
2% from roughly $5,500 to $10,899
3% from roughly $10,900 to $15,599
3.4% from roughly $15,600 to $25,699
3.9% on taxable income above roughly $25,700⁴

The 2026 withholding tables are already in effect for employer payroll.⁵

Before the brackets apply, Arkansas reduces your income by a standard deduction. For 2025 that’s $2,470 for single filers and $4,940 for married couples filing jointly.⁶ These are modest numbers compared to the federal standard deduction, so more of your income is exposed to state tax than many people expect.

The amount your employer actually withholds for Arkansas tax is set by Form AR4EC. You claim allowances for yourself and dependents, and each one reduces the income subject to withholding. You can also ask for an additional flat dollar amount to come out of each check.⁷ If you never file an AR4EC, your employer withholds as though you claimed zero allowances and zero dependents, which produces the maximum withholding.

What Arkansas Does Not Deduct

A few deductions that appear on paychecks in other states are simply absent in Arkansas.

No city or county income tax exists in Arkansas. State law blocks local governments from taxing income, so there is no local line item.

Arkansas has no state disability insurance program and no mandatory paid family leave contribution. State unemployment insurance is funded entirely by employers, so no SUI amount comes out of your pay either. Compared to states like California or New Jersey, the Arkansas pay stub is noticeably shorter.

Pre-Tax Benefits Reduce What’s Deducted

If you want to lower the income tax coming out of your paycheck without changing your W-4, the lever is pre-tax benefits. These deductions come off your gross pay before federal and state income tax is calculated, so they shrink the taxable base.

401(k) contributions. The 2026 employee limit is $24,500, rising to $32,500 at age 50 and $35,750 for workers aged 60 through 63.⁸
Employer-sponsored health, dental, and vision premiums, deducted pre-tax under Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code.
Health Savings Account contributions. The 2026 limits are $4,400 for self-only coverage and $8,750 for family coverage.⁹
Healthcare and dependent care Flexible Spending Accounts.

Traditional 401(k) and HSA deductions generally also come out before Social Security and Medicare are calculated. Someone putting $500 a month into a 401(k) is not just deferring income tax; they’re also keeping $38.25 a month that would otherwise go to FICA.

Wage Garnishments

If a court or agency has ordered garnishment for unpaid child support, back taxes, defaulted student loans, or consumer debts, your employer is required to withhold the ordered amount from your check.

For most consumer debts, federal law caps the garnishment at the lesser of 25% of your disposable earnings or the amount by which weekly disposable earnings exceed 30 times the federal minimum wage.¹⁰ Disposable earnings means what remains after taxes and mandatory payroll deductions. At or below $217.50 per week in disposable income, consumer-debt garnishment is generally not allowed.

Child support and alimony orders have their own, steeper limits that can reach 50% to 65% of disposable earnings depending on your circumstances. Federal tax levies and student loan garnishments follow separate rules that can override the standard 25% cap.

Changing What Comes Out

If you consistently owe a large balance in April or get back an oversized refund, your withholding is misaligned. Both are fixable without waiting for next year.

For federal withholding, submit a new Form W-4 to your employer. You can change filing status, update dependents, or add a specific extra dollar amount per pay period. Marriage, divorce, and a new child are the usual reasons to update. Your employer must put the change into effect no later than the start of the first payroll period ending on or after the 30th day after they receive the form.³

For Arkansas, submit an updated AR4EC. You can raise or lower your allowances or add a flat extra amount of state withholding. If a divorce or a change in dependents reduces the allowances you’re entitled to, you’re required to file a new AR4EC within 10 days. If your allowances go up, you can file a new form at any time but aren’t required to.⁷ The extra-withholding line is especially useful if you have investment, rental, or freelance income on the side, since using it avoids the need to send Arkansas quarterly estimated payments.

1
Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
2
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate
4
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. State of Arkansas Indexed Tax Brackets Tax Year 2024
5
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Withholding Tax – Low Income Tax Tables Effective 01/01/2026
6
Arkansas Department of Finance and Administration. Arkansas 2025 Individual Income Tax Instructions
7
State of Arkansas. Employee’s Withholding Exemption Certificate Form AR4EC
8
Internal Revenue Service. 401(k) Limit Increases to $24,500 for 2026
9
Internal Revenue Service. Revenue Procedure 2025-19
10
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 15 U.S. Code 1673 – Restriction on Garnishment