Payroll Deductions

Payroll terms for voluntary deductions, required withholding, arrears, and carry-forward amounts.

Payroll Deductions

This section covers the employee-side amounts taken out of pay and the rules that explain when those amounts reduce taxable wages and when they do not.

Start here when an amount is being taken out of pay and you need to know what it is doing inside payroll.

Current pages:

In this section

  • Benefit Arrears
    What benefit arrears mean in payroll, why they happen, and how payroll handles previously missed benefit-related deductions.
  • Carry-Forward Deduction
    What a carry-forward deduction means in payroll, why it happens, and how it relates to arrears handling.
  • Deduction Arrears
    What deduction arrears mean in payroll, why they happen, and how payroll handles previously missed deduction amounts.
  • Involuntary Deduction
    What an involuntary deduction is, why payroll must apply it, and how it differs from employee-elected deductions.
  • Payroll Deduction
    Amount taken from employee pay for taxes, benefits, garnishments, or other payroll obligations.
  • Post-Tax Deduction
    What a post-tax deduction is, how it affects net pay, and why it differs from a pre-tax deduction.
  • Pre-Tax Deduction
    What a pre-tax deduction is, how it affects payroll, and why it can change taxable wages without changing gross pay.
  • Voluntary Deduction
    What a voluntary deduction is, how it differs from required payroll reductions, and where it appears in payroll.
Revised on Friday, April 24, 2026