District of Columbia Paycheck Calculator

Under the Home Rule Act of 1973, Congress prohibited the District from taxing income earned in DC by people who live elsewhere. No US state faces an equivalent restriction — New York, Ohio and Pennsylvania cities all tax non-resident workers routinely.

The practical effect is substantial. A majority of the jobs in DC are held by people living in Maryland or Virginia, and DC provides the roads, policing and infrastructure those workers use each day while collecting no income tax from them. District officials have estimated the forgone revenue in the billions annually, and repeated attempts to overturn the ban have failed in Congress.

For a worker, the rule is straightforward and favourable: if you live in Maryland or Virginia and work in DC, you owe DC nothing and file only in your home state. If you live in DC, you pay DC tax on all your income wherever it is earned.

DC's rates climb quickly at the upper end — 8.5% from $60,000 of taxable income, 9.25% above $250,000, 9.75% above $500,000 and 10.75% above $1 million. That top rate is among the highest in the country.

At the lower end the picture is much gentler. DC's standard deduction matches the federal figure at $16,100 for single filers, which is larger than most high-rate jurisdictions offer, and the 4% and 6% bands cover the first tranches of income.

DC also offers an earned income tax credit set at a high percentage of the federal credit — among the most generous local EITCs anywhere — which makes the District's net position for lower-income working households considerably better than its rate schedule implies.

DC operates a Paid Family Leave programme, but unlike most jurisdictions it is funded entirely by an employer payroll tax. Nothing is deducted from employee wages for it, so it does not appear on a payslip.

That is worth knowing when comparing DC with Maryland or Virginia, both of which have introduced or are introducing employee-funded programmes. A DC worker gets paid leave coverage without a corresponding payroll deduction.

DC does not tax Social Security benefits. It offers an exclusion for certain military and DC government pension income, but ordinary 401(k) and IRA distributions are taxable at ordinary rates.