How a bonus is withheld in Alaska
Alaska has no state income tax and no local income taxes, so the only deductions from a bonus are the federal ones: income tax withholding at the flat 22% supplemental rate (or under the aggregate method), Social Security at 6.2% up to the $184,500 wage base, and Medicare at 1.45%. On a $10,000 bonus the percentage method withholds $2,200, $620 and $145, leaving $7,035, the highest net any state can offer on that bonus.
The aggregate method adds the bonus to a regular paycheck and withholds federal tax on the combined amount under the normal tables. For a $60,000 earner paid every two weeks it withholds about $2,700 rather than $2,200 on a $10,000 bonus, because the combined paycheck annualises to $320,000 and is withheld at the rates that salary would pay. Either way, the difference between withholding and the tax finally owed is settled on the return.
What the withholding means for your federal return
For a single filer on $60,000 the federal marginal rate is 12% up to $50,400 of taxable income and 22% above it. A $10,000 bonus straddles that line, so the true federal tax on it is about $1,450 against $2,200 withheld under the flat method, and roughly $750 comes back as part of the refund. Alaska residents also receive the Permanent Fund Dividend, which is taxable federal income but is not withheld through payroll. The Alaska paycheck calculator shows the federal marginal rate for any salary.
Alaskans who earn a bonus for work performed in another state may owe that state's tax on it; a bonus earned by an Alaska resident working in Washington or Nevada is untaxed by any state, but one earned on a project in Oregon or California is taxable there.