Is it legal to create my own pay stubs?

Yes, it is completely legal to create your own pay stubs for legitimate purposes. Many people use pay stub generators to document their self-employment income, create proof of income for personal loans, or maintain payroll records for their business. However, falsifying pay stubs—creating fake documentation to defraud lenders, landlords, or employers—is illegal and constitutes fraud. Paystub Pilot is designed for honest income documentation. Always ensure your documented income matches your actual earnings and tax filings.

Will lenders and landlords accept pay stubs from a generator?

Yes. When created accurately with your real income information, professional pay stubs from a generator are widely accepted by lenders and landlords. Banks, mortgage companies, and rental agencies recognize properly formatted pay stubs as legitimate income documentation. The key is ensuring your pay stubs accurately reflect your actual income and include all required tax information. Our professional templates match the format of pay stubs from major payroll providers.

What if there's an error on my pay stub?

We stand behind the accuracy of our pay stubs. If you notice an error, you can regenerate your pay stub free of charge by correcting the input information. Our calculator uses current IRS withholding tables and state tax rates, so recalculations are always available. If you've already purchased a PDF and find an error, contact us for support within 30 days of purchase.

How accurate are the tax calculations?

Our tax calculations are highly accurate. Paystub Pilot uses published IRS federal withholding tables and up-to-date state tax brackets for all 50 states, including states with no income tax, flat-rate states, and states with progressive brackets. We include Social Security (with proper wage base caps), Medicare (including additional Medicare tax at high income levels), and state-specific adjustments like California SDI. For Canada, we use current CRA rates for CPP and EI calculations. However, while our calculations are thorough and accurate estimates based on published tax data, they should not replace professional tax advice from a CPA or tax professional.

Are calculations updated for current tax years?

Yes. We update our tax calculations annually to reflect current IRS withholding tables and state tax rates for the current year. Tax law changes are incorporated to ensure your pay stubs remain accurate and compliant with current regulations.

Do you handle special tax situations?

Our generator handles standard tax withholding for most situations: multiple filing statuses (Single, Married Filing Jointly, Married Filing Separately, Head of Household), various deduction types, and all standard payroll frequencies. For complex situations like high income earners subject to additional Medicare tax, side income, or international workers, we recommend consulting with a tax professional in addition to using our tool.

Do I need an account to use Paystub Pilot?

No account is required to create a single pay stub. Simply fill in your information, preview your pay stub for free, and purchase a PDF if you're satisfied. However, if you want to take advantage of our monthly subscription (unlimited stubs, dashboard history, batch downloads), you'll need to create an account.

What's the difference between W-2 and 1099?

W-2 employment is traditional employment where an employer withholds taxes from your paycheck. You receive a W-2 form at year-end showing your income and tax withholdings. 1099 contractors are self-employed or independent contractors who receive 1099 forms showing their income but handle their own tax payments. With 1099 income, you're responsible for paying self-employment taxes (approximately 15.3% for Social Security and Medicare). Paystub Pilot supports both employment types, calculating appropriate taxes and withholdings for each.

Can I customize the pay stub templates?

We offer 6 professional PDF templates that you can choose from when generating your pay stub. All templates include the required payroll information and comply with standard pay stub formats. You can also add your company logo to any stub.

What deductions are included?

Our pay stub generator includes standard pre-tax deductions (health insurance, 401k, dependent care FSA) and post-tax deductions, with tax-specific handling for each type. You can customize deduction amounts to match your situation. We handle the tax implications correctly—pre-tax deductions reduce your taxable income, while post-tax deductions don't.

Is my information secure?

Yes. All data transmission uses HTTPS with TLS encryption. Payment processing is handled entirely by Stripe, a PCI-DSS Level 1 certified payment processor—we never see or store your credit card information. Your form data is used solely to generate your pay stub and is not sold, shared with third parties, or stored long-term.

Can I download my pay stubs as PDF?

Yes. After payment, your pay stub is immediately available as a downloadable PDF in a professional, print-ready format. There's no watermark on the purchased version. You can download it multiple times if needed.

How do I get my pay stub?

Your purchased pay stub PDF is available for immediate download from our site. Subscription users can also access all their pay stubs from the dashboard history at any time.

What if I lose my download link?

For subscription users, all your pay stubs are accessible from your dashboard history. For one-time purchases, if you lose your download link, contact us with your purchase information and we'll help you retrieve your pay stub.

What's included in the monthly subscription?

The monthly subscription includes unlimited pay stub generation, a dashboard where you can view and download all your created stubs, batch ZIP downloads, and priority support. It's perfect if you need multiple stubs per month.

Can I switch between plans?

Yes. You can upgrade or downgrade your subscription anytime from your account dashboard. Changes take effect at your next billing cycle.

How does the free preview work?

Before purchasing any pay stub, you can preview it for free. The preview shows all calculations, deductions, and details in a watermarked format. Once you're satisfied with the information, you can purchase the clean, unwatermarked PDF for the quoted price.

Paystub Pilot

Frequently Asked Questions

Find answers to common questions about Paystub Pilot, pay stub accuracy, legality, and more.