<prompt> Human: Hello, I live and work in Manhattan, New York.Im getting my first paycheck on Friday 25th.Since there was delays with my H1b visa transition, I havent been paid yet although I started working on October 3rd.To make up for it, my company is giving me a small bonus.Here are the details:- From October 3rd to November 15th: I was supposed to get 13,538.They are paying me this as a Transition Bonus and are rounding it to 15,000 meaning they gave me 1,462 for the trouble- From November 16th to November 19th: I am getting 1,269 at a 52.88 rate, for 3 daysI am getting this paycheck on November 25th. paychecks work with a week delayThe total is 16,269 and here are the taxes: OASDI: 1,008.69 6.2 Medicare: 236.90 1.45 Federal Withholding: 3,909.57 24 State Tax - NY: 1,493.55 9.2 City Tax - NY: 670.31 4.1 NY SDI: 1.20TOTAL: 7,319.22731916269 45 !!!What am I doing wrong here?Am I crazy to think 45 total tax is HUGE?When I started the job I was told it would be around 33-37Whats going on, can someone explain all this please? Im very confusedAm I going to get back 10 in April when I file for taxback? How does this work?Thanks a lot!P.  <response>: Bonuses are usually withed at a higher rate. This is because if theyre on top of your regular income, and the taxes withheld for the regular income are accurate, then the entire bonus will essentially be taxed at your marginal rate. Your employer probably has a standard method for figuring this tax rate for bonuses. Or they are treating it like a normal paycheck, which will still skew your taxes way up. If youre set up for bi-weekly paychecks, theyll take the federal tax brackets and divide them by 26. Then theyll withhold the appropriate amount. So youll essentially have taxes withheld as if youre making 16,269 every 2 weeks.All that being said, your state and local tax rates seem too high. From what Im seeing online, the highest marginal state of NY tax rate is 8.82. Id expect your effective rate to be somewhere in the 5 - 6 range. NYC tax should be in the 3 range. Id inquire about those, for sure. Also, if the check hasnt been cut yet, you could ask them to look a little more closely at the way theyve calculated the federal withholding or you can wait until April and get it back on your tax return. 