Payroll taxes for startups: Startup Employer Tax Rates
The Startup Employer Tax Rates carries 10 published figures read from 8 sources' own pages, from 250 to 500,000 USD, read 17 October 2026.
Runwayze sells its own paid plan in this category (our pricing). It is not counted here: every figure in this index is another provider's own published price, read from its own page.
- 6250 to 83,542
- 83,542 to 166,833
- 3166,833 to 250,125
- 250,125 to 333,417
- 333,417 to 416,708
- 1416,708 to 500,000
Bands
| Bucket | Value |
|---|---|
| 250 to 83,542 | 6 sources |
| 83,542 to 166,833 | 0 sources |
| 166,833 to 250,125 | 3 sources |
| 250,125 to 333,417 | 0 sources |
| 333,417 to 416,708 | 0 sources |
| 416,708 to 500,000 | 1 source |
8 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
By figure
| Breakdown | Median | Range | Sources |
|---|---|---|---|
| figuresocial-security-rate-each-side | 6.2% | 6.2 to 6.2% | 3 |
| figuremedicare-rate-each-side | 1.45% | 1.45 to 1.45% | 2 |
| figuresocial-security-wage-base | 184,500USD | 184,500 to 184,500USD | 1 |
| figureFUTA-general-test-quarterly-wages | 1,500USD | 1,500 to 1,500USD | 1 |
| figureFUTA-rate | 6% | 6 to 6% | 1 |
| figureFUTA-wage-base | 7,000USD | 7,000 to 7,000USD | 1 |
| figureFUTA-rate-after-maximum-state-credit | 0.6% | 0.6 to 0.6% | 1 |
| figureadditional-medicare-rate | 0.9% | 0.9 to 0.9% | 1 |
| figureadditional-medicare-threshold | 200,000USD | 200,000 to 200,000USD | 1 |
| figuredelaware-franchise-minimum-tax | 17,500USD | 17,500 to 17,500USD | 1 |
| figuredelaware-foreign-corporation-annual-report-fee | 250USD | 250 to 250USD | 1 |
| figuredelaware-franchise-maximum-tax | 200,000USD | 200,000 to 200,000USD | 1 |
| figuredelaware-assumed-par-value-rate-per-million | 400USD | 400 to 400USD | 1 |
| figurequalified-small-business-payroll-tax-credit-cap | 500,000USD | 500,000 to 500,000USD | 1 |
| figureform-944-annual-liability-threshold | 1,000USD | 1,000 to 1,000USD | 1 |
Every figure, with its source
One row per source: the figure the source's own page publishes, the page, and the day it was read. A figure that is not on a page we read is not on this one.
The sentence each figure was read from (18)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 6765, read 2026-10-03:
The payroll tax credit election is an annual election made by a qualified small business specifying the amount of research credit, not to exceed $500,000, that may be used against the employer portion of social security liability.
- IRS, Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates, read 2026-10-17:
An employer is required to begin withholding Additional Medicare tax in the pay period in which it pays wages in excess of $200,000 to an employee and continue to withhold it each pay period until the end of the calendar year.
- Delaware Division of Corporations, How to calculate franchise taxes, read 2026-10-17:
maximum annual tax is $200,000.00
- IRS, Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, read 2026-10-17:
The social security wage base limit is $184,500.The Medicare tax rate is 1.45% each for the employee and employer, unchanged from 2025.
- Delaware Division of Corporations, Pay taxes / annual report, read 2026-10-12:
The minimum tax is currently $175.00, using the Authorized Shares Method and the Minimum Tax using the Assumed Par Value Capital Method is $400.00 with a maximum tax of $200,000.00 for both methods unless it has been identified as a Large Corporate Filer
- IRS, Topic no. 759, Form 940 and FUTA, read 2026-10-11:
FUTA tax rate: The FUTA tax rate is 6.0%. The tax applies to the first $7,000 you paid to each employee as wages during the year.
- IRS, Topic no. 759, Form 940 and FUTA, read 2026-10-11:
Under the general test, you're subject to FUTA tax on the wages you pay employees who aren't household or agricultural employees and must file Form 940, Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return for 2025 if: You paid wages of $1,500 or more to employees in any calendar quarter during 2024 or 2025, or
- IRS, Employment tax due dates, read 2026-10-17:
Small employers (those with annual employment tax liabilities of $1,000 or less) may file Form 944, Employer's Annual Federal Tax Return, if approved by the IRS, and agricultural employers file Form 943, Employer's Annual Tax Return for Agricultural Employees.
- Delaware Division of Corporations, How to calculate franchise taxes, read 2026-10-17:
The tax rate under this method is $400.00 per million or portion of a million.
- Delaware Division of Corporations, Pay taxes / annual report, read 2026-10-12:
A $250.00 filing fee is required to be paid.
- Social Security Administration, Contribution and benefit base, read 2026-10-17:
The OASDI tax rate for wages paid in 2026 is set by statute at 6.2 percent for employees and employers, each.
- IRS, Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide, read 2026-10-17:
The rate of social security tax on taxable wages is 6.2% each for the employer and employee.
- IRS, Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates, read 2026-10-17:
The current tax rate for Social Security is 6.2% for the employer and 6.2% for the employee, or 12.4% total.
- IRS, Topic no. 759, Form 940 and FUTA, read 2026-10-11:
FUTA tax rate: The FUTA tax rate is 6.0%.
- Social Security Administration, Contribution and benefit base, read 2026-10-17:
Tax rates under the HI program are 1.45 percent for employees and employers, each, and 2.90 percent for self-employed persons.
- IRS, Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates, read 2026-10-17:
The current rate for Medicare is 1.45% for the employer and 1.45% for the employee, or 2.9% total.
- IRS, Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates, read 2026-10-17:
Additional Medicare tax applies to an individual's Medicare wages that exceed a threshold amount based on the taxpayer's filing status. Employers are responsible for withholding the 0.9% Additional Medicare tax on an individual's wages paid in excess of $200,000 in a calendar year, without regard to filing status.
- IRS, Topic no. 759, Form 940 and FUTA, read 2026-10-11:
If you're entitled to the maximum 5.4% credit, the FUTA tax rate after credit is 0.6%.
Read in full, publishes no figure
7 named sources were read in full on the dates shown and print no usable figure. They are counted, never filled in.
- IRS, Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- IRS, Research credit against payroll tax for small businesses, read 2026-10-10: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8974, read 2026-09-12: every candidate on the page was refused
- IRS, About Form 941, read 2026-09-12: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- IRS, Estimated taxes, read 2026-09-26: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US Department of Labor ETA, Significant provisions of state UI laws, read 2026-09-19: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
- US Department of Labor, State minimum wage laws, read 2026-10-01: read in full and no accepted figure on the page
Methodology
Every row is a verbatim sentence read from the named source's own page through our fetch service on the date shown, hash-pinned to the stored read (the sha of the page's visible text; the raw page is mirrored to R2).
8 of the 15 named sources that could be read published a usable figure; 7 published none and are recorded as not published, never filled in; 0 could not be read (blocked, dead or unreachable) and count nowhere.
The headline figures (median, minimum, maximum, quartiles) are over ONE figure per source for each breakdown it prices, in USD (a source's median where its page yielded several accepted sentences for one breakdown), so a page that gives figures for several breakdowns gives one for each and N counts 10 figures, never sentences; 42 candidate sentence(s) were refused by a reviewer with the reason recorded.
The fuller derivation this dataset is chartered to grow into (not yet what the figures above are; they are each source's own published figure as read): one row per figure per year, each quoted from the authority that sets it - social security 6.2% each side to the year's wage base, Medicare 1.45% each side with the additional-rate threshold, FUTA 6.0% on the first $7,000 less the state credit, the state UI wage base per state, the Delaware franchise tax under both methods, and the qualified-small-business payroll offset.
The derivation is the EMPLOYER LOAD: total statutory cost on one payroll dollar at a given salary and state, the point in the year each cap is reached, and the offset a pre-revenue startup can set against it - the number the burn calculator multiplies by.
42 candidate sentences on these pages were refused by a reviewer; each refusal and its reason is recorded in the review ledger.
Sources (15)
- IRS, Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare withholding rates(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Topic no. 759, Form 940 and FUTA(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Publication 15 (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Social Security Administration, Contribution and benefit base(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Qualified small business payroll tax credit for increasing research activities(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Research credit against payroll tax for small businesses(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 6765(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Instructions for Form 8974(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, About Form 941(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Employment tax due dates(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- IRS, Estimated taxes(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Delaware Division of Corporations, How to calculate franchise taxes(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- Delaware Division of Corporations, Pay taxes / annual report(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US Department of Labor ETA, Significant provisions of state UI laws(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
- US Department of Labor, State minimum wage laws(the publisher's own terms; quoted for reporting and comment)
Cite or embed this figure
Cite or embed this figure
The Startup Employer Tax Rates carries 10 published figures read from 8 sources' own pages, from 250 to 500,000 USD, read 17 October 2026.
8 of the 15 named sources read in full publish a figure; 7 publish none, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure social-security-rate-each-side: median 6.20 percent across 3 sources, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure medicare-rate-each-side: median 1.45 percent across 2 sources, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure social-security-wage-base: median 184,500 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure FUTA-general-test-quarterly-wages: median 1,500 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure FUTA-rate: median 6 percent across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure FUTA-wage-base: median 7,000 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure FUTA-rate-after-maximum-state-credit: median 0.60 percent across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure additional-medicare-rate: median 0.90 percent across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure additional-medicare-threshold: median 200,000 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure delaware-franchise-minimum-tax: median 17,500 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure delaware-foreign-corporation-annual-report-fee: median 250 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure delaware-franchise-maximum-tax: median 200,000 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure delaware-assumed-par-value-rate-per-million: median 400 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure qualified-small-business-payroll-tax-credit-cap: median 500,000 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Startup Employer Tax Rates, figure form-944-annual-liability-threshold: median 1,000 USD across 1 source, read 17 October 2026.
Cite as: "Runwayze Startup Employer Tax Rates", updated 2026-10-18, https://runwayze.com/datasets/startup-employer-tax-rates/.
Download the CSV (18 rows, computed 2026-10-18)