Connecticut pay stubs: income tax and CT Paid Leave

State income tax

Connecticut taxes income on a graduated scale, with several brackets. The state also phases out the benefit of its lower brackets for higher-income households, which makes the math more complicated than a simple bracket table. Employers handle that through the state's withholding tables and formulas, driven by the employee's Form CT-W4. On that form, employees choose a withholding code based on their filing status and household income. An employee who never submits a CT-W4 is withheld at the highest rate with no exemption, so collecting the form at hiring matters.

Other state payroll deductions

CT Paid Leave funds paid family and medical leave benefits. Unlike most payroll programs, it is paid by employees: the employer deducts the contribution from wages and sends it to the CT Paid Leave Authority each quarter. The rate for 2026 is 0.5% of wages, the same as prior years. Contributions apply only up to the Social Security wage base, so the deduction stops for the rest of the year once an employee's wages pass that limit. An employer may choose to pay the contribution for its employees, but it is not required to.

Connecticut unemployment insurance is paid by employers and does not come out of employee pay.

Local taxes

Connecticut towns and cities do not tax wages. There is no local income tax line on a Connecticut pay stub.

Federal withholding still applies

State rules sit on top of the federal ones, not in place of them. Every Connecticut paycheck also shows:

• Federal income tax, based on the employee's Form W-4.
• Social Security at 6.2% of wages, up to the annual Social Security wage base.
• Medicare at 1.45% of all wages, plus an additional 0.9% on wages above $200,000 in a calendar year.

Creating a Connecticut pay stub with PayStubNest

In PayStubNest, select Connecticut as the state, then add the pay details: hours for hourly workers or a salary for salaried staff. The exact figures depend on pay, pay frequency, W-4 choices, deductions and year-to-date totals, and PayStubNest calculates all of it automatically, handling the federal and state withholding and carrying year-to-date totals from stub to stub. Check the preview at no cost, and pay only when you are ready to download. Start at /app/new.

Record-keeping tip

Keep CT Paid Leave deductions on their own line, separate from state income tax, and label them clearly. That makes quarterly reporting straightforward and helps employees see what they paid in. For rates and forms, see the Department of Revenue Services and CT Paid Leave.