The single most common mistake people make with Texas child support is multiplying the percentage by gross pay. The second most common is multiplying it by take-home pay. Texas uses neither — it uses net resources, a specific figure defined by Family Code §154.062 that sits somewhere between the two. Get this number right and the rest is simple arithmetic.
Step 1 — Add up almost all income
Net resources start broad. Under §154.062(b) you include essentially every source of money, not just salary:
- Wages, salary, tips, commissions, overtime, and bonuses
- Self-employment and business income (net of legitimate expenses)
- Rental income, interest, dividends, and capital gains
- Pensions, retirement, annuity, and trust income
- Severance pay, unemployment benefits, and disability benefits
- Spousal maintenance the parent receives
The breadth is deliberate: a parent can't shrink the obligation by shifting compensation from salary to bonus, or by living off rental income instead of wages. If money comes in regularly, it almost certainly counts. (Self-employment income has its own wrinkles — the self-employment guide covers which business expenses courts accept.)
Step 1b — What's excluded
A short list of items is not counted as resources:
- Return of principal or capital — selling an asset and getting your own money back isn't income
- Accounts receivable
- TANF and foster-care payments
- A new spouse's income — remarriage doesn't raise (or lower) the calculation
- The child's own SSI benefits
The new-spouse exclusion surprises people on both sides: the paying parent's new household income doesn't push support up, and the receiving parent's remarriage doesn't push it down. The formula looks at one person: the parent ordered to pay.
Step 2 — Subtract the allowed deductions
From that broad total, you subtract a short, defined list to arrive at net resources:
- Federal income tax — calculated for a single person taking the standard deduction (the Attorney General publishes this assumption each year), regardless of how the parent actually files
- Social Security tax (6.2%) and Medicare tax (1.45%)
- Union dues, if any
- The cost of the child's health and dental insurance premiums (§154.062(d))
- Non-discretionary retirement contributions, for those not covered by Social Security
Notice what's missing from the list: rent, car payments, credit-card minimums, student loans, 401(k) contributions, and the parent's own health insurance. None of them reduce net resources. That's the design — the statute treats support to the child as coming ahead of discretionary spending and voluntary savings.
Why net resources ≠ your take-home pay
Because the deduction list is so short, the "net" figure on a child-support worksheet is almost always higher than the deposit in your bank account. A paycheck typically has 401(k) deferrals, the employee's own medical premium, maybe an HSA or garnishment withheld — all invisible to §154.062. The federal tax figure is also standardized (single filer, standard deduction), so a parent who files jointly or itemizes will see a legal "net" that doesn't match their actual withholding. When your paycheck says one thing and the court's worksheet says another, the worksheet isn't wrong — it's answering a different question.
Step 3 — The 2026 tax assumptions
For an employed (W-2) parent, the Texas Office of the Attorney General's 2026 Tax Charts convert gross wages to net using these figures:
| Item | 2026 value |
|---|---|
| Social Security (OASDI) | 6.2% on wages up to $184,500/yr |
| Medicare | 1.45% (no cap at these income levels) |
| Federal income tax | Single filer, $16,100 standard deduction, 2026 brackets |
| State income tax | None (Texas) |
A worked example: $5,000 gross
Suppose the paying parent earns $5,000 a month in gross wages as a W-2 employee, with no union dues and no child-insurance deduction:
| Gross monthly wages | $5,000 |
| − Social Security (6.2%) | $310.00 |
| − Medicare (1.45%) | $72.50 |
| − Federal income tax (single, std. deduction) | ≈$418 |
| = Monthly net resources | ≈$4,199 |
For one child (20%), guideline support is about $840/month (20% of $4,199). For two children (25%), about $1,050. If this parent also paid, say, the child's health insurance premium, that premium would come off before the percentage applies — every deductible dollar reduces support by 20–25 cents.
A second example: $6,000 gross
At $6,000 a month gross the same method gives: $6,000 − $372.00 Social Security − $87.00 Medicare − $584.17 federal income tax = $4,956.83 in net resources. One child (20%) is about $991/month; two children (25%) about $1,239. This matches the Attorney General's published tax chart to the penny — and it's exactly what the calculator on this site does for you. The full chart by income runs the same method from $2,000 to $10,000 gross.
Irregular income: how variable pay gets handled
Commissions, overtime, and bonuses rarely arrive in neat monthly amounts, so the practical approach is to annualize: add up income over a representative period — often the past year or more — and divide by twelve to get a monthly figure. A single unusually strong (or weak) month doesn't set the number; a recurring pattern does. Parents with genuinely seasonal or commission-heavy income should expect the court to look at tax returns and year-to-date pay stubs rather than one paycheck.
No income — or hidden income
Net resources can't be zeroed out by simply not working. If a parent has little or no provable income, Texas presumes earnings at federal minimum wage for a 40-hour week (§154.068): about $1,257 gross and $1,161 net per month, which works out to roughly $232/month for one child. And if a court finds a parent is intentionally unemployed or underemployed, it can base support on earning potential rather than actual earnings (§154.066). The unemployment guide covers both rules.
The cap and the low-income floor
Two limits sit on top of this calculation. Net resources are capped at $11,700/month for guideline purposes (effective September 1, 2025) — income above that only matters through a proven-needs showing, as the cap guide explains. And if net resources are below $1,000/month, a reduced "low-income" percentage schedule applies instead of the standard one (15% rather than 20% for one child, and so on).
Frequently asked questions
Is Texas child support based on gross or net income?
Net — specifically net resources under §154.062. Start with income from nearly all sources, subtract federal income tax (single filer, standard deduction), Social Security, Medicare, union dues, and the child's health and dental insurance premiums. The guideline percentage applies to what's left.
Why are my net resources higher than my take-home pay?
Only five categories come off. Your 401(k), your own medical premium, and other paycheck withholdings don't count as deductions, so the legal figure usually exceeds your actual deposit. Budget with that in mind rather than assuming the percentage applies to what you take home.
Does Texas subtract state income tax?
No — Texas has no state income tax, so there's nothing to subtract. That keeps the gross-to-net conversion to three tax lines: federal income tax, Social Security, and Medicare.
Do overtime and bonuses count?
Yes, along with tips, commissions, rental income, and self-employment income. Expect a court to average variable pay over a representative period instead of cherry-picking a high or low month.
Is my new spouse's income counted?
No. A new spouse's income is expressly excluded, as are TANF, foster-care payments, the child's SSI, return of capital, and accounts receivable.