How Mississippi taxes a paycheck
Mississippi has been phasing its income tax down since 2022. The 2022 Tax Freedom Act removed the 4% bracket and set a single 5% rate above $10,000, then cut it to 4.7% for 2024, 4.4% for 2025 and 4% for 2026. HB 1 of 2025 goes further: it schedules cuts to 3.75% in 2027 and 3.5% in 2028, then 0.25-point reductions in later years when revenue triggers are met, with full repeal as the stated goal.
The first $10,000 of taxable income is untaxed. The standard deduction is $2,300 single and $4,600 married, and the personal exemption is large by comparison: $6,000 single, $12,000 married and $1,500 per dependent. A single filer therefore shelters $18,300 before the 4% applies. There are no local income taxes in Mississippi.
How much taxes are taken out of paychecks in Mississippi?
On a $60,000 salary in 2026, a single filer in Mississippi pays about $5,020 in federal income tax, $4,590 in Social Security and Medicare, and about $1,670 in Mississippi income tax, leaving roughly $48,720 a year or $1,874 every two weeks. The state share is 2.8% of gross, and the 2026 cut is worth about $170 a year on that salary.
A married couple with two children on $100,000 shelters $19,600 plus the $10,000 zero bracket and pays about $2,820.
Mississippi compared with its neighbours
Mississippi borders Tennessee, which taxes no wages, and Alabama, Louisiana and Arkansas. On a $60,000 single salary the state tax is about $1,670 in Mississippi, $2,480 in Alabama, $1,410 in Louisiana and $2,130 in Arkansas. Mississippi and Louisiana, both of which cut rates in 2025 and 2026, are now the cheapest of the four.
The Memphis metro, which straddles the Tennessee and Mississippi line, shows the remaining gap: a DeSoto County resident pays about $1,670 that a Shelby County resident does not. Under HB 1's schedule that figure falls each year.
Withholding forms and filing status in Mississippi
Mississippi employers withhold from Form 89-350, on which employees claim exemptions; the tables apply the 4% rate above the exemptions, deduction and $10,000 zero bracket. Married couples filing jointly get a $12,000 exemption and $4,600 deduction, so a one-earner couple on $60,000 shelters $16,600 plus the zero bracket and pays about $1,340 against a single filer's $1,670. Mississippi also allows married filing combined, which splits income between spouses for the zero bracket.
Mississippi's return, Form 80-105, is due 15 April, and the state accepts the federal extension. Mississippi has no reciprocal agreements. Tennessee residents working in Mississippi pay Mississippi tax on those wages; DeSoto County residents working in Memphis owe Mississippi tax on them with no credit, since Tennessee has none. The phase-down under HB 1 is set in statute for 2027 and 2028 and by trigger thereafter.