Kentucky Paystub Generator

What Is a Kentucky Paystub?

A Kentucky paystub is the statement attached to each paycheck that shows how gross wages became the amount deposited. The parts that make a paystub readable are the same everywhere: the pay period and pay date, hours and rate, every tax and deduction, net pay and year-to-date columns that should add up to the W-2 at the end of the year.

Kentucky stubs carry one line their neighbors often do not. Alongside federal tax, Social Security, Medicare and the flat 3.5% state tax sits a local occupational license tax, withheld for the city, county or school district where the work is performed. A Lexington check stub shows 2.25% going to Fayette County, while the same pay earned in a county without an occupational tax shows nothing on that line. Anyone comparing two Kentucky stubs should look at the work location before assuming one employer withheld too much.

How Do You Make a Kentucky Paystub?

Making a Kentucky payroll stub takes four pieces of information, then the arithmetic follows:

1. Employer and employee details. Business name and address, employee name and the work location, which decides the local tax rate.
2. The pay basis. Hourly rate and hours or a salary, plus the pay frequency and the pay period dates.
3. Earlier pay this year. The number of previous pay dates and the wages already paid, so the year-to-date column is right.
4. Deductions. The state tax at 3.5% and FICA are worked out for you. Add the city or county occupational tax and anything voluntary such as health insurance or a retirement plan.

The general walkthrough of how to make paystub documents covers each field in order. Once the preview looks right, the stub downloads as a PDF that a landlord or a lender can read without explanation.

Can You Create Proof of Income in Kentucky With Online Paystub?

Yes, as long as the stub reflects pay that was genuinely earned. Proof of income is the most common reason people rebuild a Kentucky stub: a Louisville leasing office asking for the last two, a credit union underwriting a car loan or a state benefits office checking household earnings. What those reviewers want is internal consistency, so the layout keeps gross pay, each deduction, net pay and the year-to-date totals together.

• Free preview before paying. The finished stub appears on screen, so a wrong rate, address or local tax is corrected before checkout.
• One flat price. $4.99 a stub, no subscription and no surcharge for Kentucky or for contractor pay. Any promotion in effect is applied at checkout.
• A refund route. The terms of service allow a refund request within 7 days of purchase when the service did not work as described.
• Year-to-date totals that carry forward. A set of stubs reconciles instead of contradicting itself.
• Instant PDF and 24/7 support. The file downloads immediately and questions are answered around the clock.

Back the stub with matching bank deposits and your W-2. Falsifying income documents is fraud under Kentucky and federal law.

Kentucky Withholding in 2026: A Flat 3.5%

For wages paid in 2026, Kentucky withholds income tax at a flat 3.5%, according to the Department of Revenue's employer payroll withholding page. The standard deduction built into the 2026 formula is $3,360, up $90 from 2025. The calculation is simple enough to check by hand:

1. Multiply the wages for the pay period by the number of pay periods in a year.
2. Subtract the $3,360 standard deduction.
3. Multiply the result by 3.5% and divide by the number of pay periods.

For a $1,680 biweekly paycheck: ($1,680 × 26 − $3,360) × 3.5% ÷ 26 = $54.28 of Kentucky tax. Employees who hold more than one job only get the standard deduction once, so the state formula suggests extra withholding of $117.60 a year on the second job.

Form K-4 and Reciprocity With Neighboring States

Kentucky's Form K-4 has no allowances. Because everyone is taxed at the same rate after the same standard deduction, the form only asks whether the employee is exempt and whether extra tax should be withheld. The exemptions cover:

• Employees who expect no Kentucky tax liability
• Fort Campbell workers and qualifying military spouses
• Residents of reciprocal states: Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, West Virginia and Wisconsin, plus Virginia residents who commute daily and Ohio residents who do not own 20% or more of an S corporation employer

A worker from Evansville, Indiana who files an exempt K-4 with a Henderson employer should see no Kentucky tax line, only Indiana withholding.

Local Occupational License Taxes on Kentucky Pay Stubs

Many Kentucky cities, counties and school districts tax wages through occupational license taxes and employers withhold them from each paycheck. The rate depends on where the work is performed and some jurisdictions also charge a separate school district tax.

Lexington publishes its current rate on the city's occupational license fee page. For any other city or county, check the local occupational tax office before generating the stub, because rates and the county and school district add-ons vary widely.

What Kentucky Law Requires on a Pay Statement (KRS 337.070)

KRS 337.070 requires employers that make deductions from wages to give employees a paper or electronic statement with each payment showing the amount of each deduction and the general purpose it was made for. Electronic stubs are fine as long as the employee can use a computer and printer to view them. Penalties run from $100 to $1,000 per violation.

Beyond the legal minimum, a stub that lenders and landlords accept also shows gross pay, hours and rate, net pay and year-to-date totals. The standard pay stub abbreviations explain the short labels most payroll systems print.

Sample Kentucky Paystub Generator Output

Here is a preview from the generator for a Lexington employee paid biweekly. The highlighted lines are the Kentucky state tax, the Lexington occupational license fee and the resulting net pay.

Scenario: hourly employee of an equine services company at 300 E Main St, Lexington, KY 40507, paid biweekly. Pay period Sep 4 to Sep 17, 2026, pay date Sep 22, 2026. $21.00 an hour for 80 hours, no overtime. This is the 19th paycheck of the year.

The local tax takes more than two-thirds as much as the state tax on this check. A worker earning the same pay in a county without an occupational tax would take home about $37 more every two weeks.

Kentucky Minimum Wage 2026: $7.25 and the $2.13 Tipped Wage

Kentucky follows the federal minimum. For tipped workers, list cash wages and reported tips separately so the stub shows the $7.25 floor was met.

Paydays and Final Paychecks in Kentucky

• Pay frequency: at least semimonthly, covering wages earned up to no more than 18 days before payday (KRS 337.020).
• Final pay: whether the employee quits or is let go, wages are due by the next normal pay period or 14 days after separation, whichever is later (KRS 337.055).
• Year-end forms: employers file Form K-5 with W-2 information through MyTaxes by January 31.