<prompt> Human: Hello Pf! I hope youre all doing well.I have recently accepted a job offer paying me 78kyear. I recently got my first check for one weeks worth and it was at a total of 1500. Around 451 went to taxes - this is around 30 tax.I have claimed 0 on my federal and illinois w4. Im also single.What I noticed is that my previous job 70kyear the gross was higher.Any idea on where I can change to make the gross higher? I do not want money back from tax returns. I just want to be even but I always claim 00 to be safe. Im also single.Thank you  <response>: 1. The 25 bracket refers to federal income tax only. It does not include Social Security or Medicare tax. It doesnt include statelocal income or payroll tax.2. As another mentioned, your marginal tax rate doesnt mean anything about your effective tax rate, even just looking at federal income tax.3. I would guess that the reason your gross is lower is because you might have worked less than a full pay period, or the pay period may have changed between your old and new job. 