How Idaho taxes a paycheck
Idaho collapsed its brackets into a single rate in 2023 under HB 1 (5.8%), then cut it to 5.695% for 2024 and 5.3% for 2025 under HB 40, where it stays for 2026. The rate applies to taxable income above $4,811 for a single filer and $9,622 for a married couple; income below that is untaxed. Because Idaho starts from federal taxable income, the federal standard deduction of $16,100 single and $32,200 married is already removed, and Idaho has no personal exemption of its own.
The combination of a federal-sized deduction and a zero bracket means Idaho's 5.3% headline overstates what most people pay: the effective rate is about 3.5% on $60,000 and 4.6% on $150,000. There are no local income taxes anywhere in Idaho.
Idaho's grocery tax credit ($155 per person in 2025) offsets the state's 6% sales tax on food and is claimed on the return rather than through payroll, so it does not appear here.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Idaho?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Idaho pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $2,070 in Idaho income tax, leaving roughly $48,320 a year or $1,858 every two weeks. The state share is 3.5% of gross pay.
A married couple on $100,000 pays about $3,080, or 3.1%, since both the $32,200 federal deduction and the $9,622 zero bracket come off first.
Idaho compared with its neighbours
Idaho borders six states and two of them, Washington and Wyoming, tax no wages, while Nevada is a third. Oregon taxes a $60,000 single salary at about $3,980, Utah at about $1,730 and Montana at about $2,060. Idaho's $2,070 is close to Montana and Utah and roughly half of Oregon.
The border that matters most is with Washington. Spokane and Coeur d'Alene are twenty miles apart; a $60,000 earner living on the Idaho side pays about $2,070 in state income tax that a Washington resident does not, though Washington residents pay about $740 a year into paid leave and WA Cares, and Idaho's sales tax is 6% against Washington's 6.5% plus local rates of up to 4%.
Withholding forms and filing status in Idaho
Idaho employers withhold from Form ID W-4, which asks for filing status and allowances; employees who do not file one are withheld as single with no allowances. Because Idaho uses the federal standard deduction and doubles both it and the $4,811 zero bracket for joint filers, a married couple on $100,000 pays the same as two singles on $50,000 each, and there is no marriage penalty at the state level.
Idaho has no reciprocal agreements. Washington residents who work in Idaho pay Idaho tax on those wages, which affects thousands of commuters between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene; Idaho residents who work in Washington owe Idaho tax on those wages with no credit. Idaho's rate is set by statute, not by trigger, so further cuts require a new bill each session.