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Q: What's the difference between gross and net pay?
Gross pay is your salary, the total dollar amount your employer agrees to pay you over a given time period. Net pay is your “take-home pay”: the amount you earn after your employer makes any deductions for taxes or employee benefit programs. Common deductions include federal and state income taxes, Social Security taxes and the cost of employee-benefit programs like health insurance. In essence, your net pay is the money you have to live on. It’s the money you have to cover necessary expenses – food, housing and savings – and, after that, any “discretionary” purchases like cable TV or movie tickets. In general, net pay is approximately 60 percent to 70 percent of gross pay. So, for example, while you may make a salary of $50,000 a year, you may only get $30,000 a year to live on.
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