How North Dakota withholds on a bonus
North Dakota's withholding guide lets employers withhold a flat 1.5% on supplemental wages paid separately, the lowest supplemental rate in the country, reflecting a schedule whose top rate is 2.5% and whose first $48,475 of taxable income is untaxed. On a $10,000 bonus the percentage method withholds $2,200 federal, $620 Social Security, $145 Medicare and $150 North Dakota, leaving $6,885. There are no local income taxes.
For a $60,000 single filer, whose taxable income sits inside the zero bracket, the actual North Dakota tax on a $10,000 bonus is only the part that pushes taxable income past $48,475, about $53 at 1.95%, so the 1.5% withholding ($150) over-withholds slightly and the excess returns. Under the aggregate method the state applies its brackets to the combined paycheck, withholding closer to that figure; the federal line rises to about $2,700.
What the withholding means for your North Dakota return
A North Dakota bonus over-withholds on both sides for a middle earner: 22% federal against a 12% to 22% marginal rate, and 1.5% state against 0% to 1.95%, so roughly $750 federal and up to $150 state return on a $10,000 bonus. Minnesota and Montana residents who earn a bonus in North Dakota are withheld for their home state under reciprocity. The North Dakota paycheck calculator shows the marginal rates for any salary. North Dakota uses the federal W-4, whose entries do not change the flat 1.5% withheld from a separately paid bonus; they matter only under the aggregate method.