An independent calculator for the real cost of a bonus clawback.

Who runs this

Cost Of Quitting.com is published by Red Goggles LLC, an independent operator of free web calculators and reference tools. We are not a law firm, an accounting firm, a payroll provider, or an employer, and we are not affiliated with the IRS or any government agency. We don't give personalized advice, we don't collect leads, and we don't take your information — the calculator runs on your device and nothing you type is sent to us.

Why this tool exists

When you leave a job inside a bonus clawback window, the offer letter usually just says "repay the bonus." But the true out-of-pocket cost is rarely the headline figure. It depends on three stacked questions almost nobody fuses together: whether your agreement prorates the repayment by time served, whether you repay in the same tax year you were paid or a later one (which flips the calculation between repaying net and repaying gross), and whether you can recover the tax you already paid through an IRC §1341 claim of right. Search the web and you'll find law-firm explainers, forum threads, and CPA blog posts that each cover one piece — but no tool that combines them into a single after-tax number. That gap is the reason this calculator exists.

How it's calculated

The estimate is built from three decisions, applied in the open and driven entirely by what you enter:

• Proration. If your agreement prorates by time served, the tool owes back only the unvested fraction (months remaining ÷ vesting period). There is no universal proration rule — it's whatever your agreement or controlling state law says — so the output is labeled "based on the terms you entered," never "what the law requires."
• Same-year vs. cross-year (the gross/net fork). The dates you enter set this branch. Repay in the same tax year and the general mechanic is that your employer reverses the withholding, so you effectively repay the net; repay in a later year and you generally repay the gross, then recover the tax separately.
• IRC §1341 claim-of-right recovery. On a cross-year repayment above the commonly cited $3,000 threshold, §1341 lets you take either a deduction in the repayment year or a credit for the tax you overpaid originally — the two-method election, taking whichever is better. The tool estimates this at the marginal rate you supply.

Your marginal rate is user-supplied — there are no feeds. The tool doesn't know your bracket; it uses the federal (and optional state) rate you type in, and a wrong rate skews the §1341 recovery. The full method is spelled out on the calculator page under How the math works and what §1341 is.

How we stay accurate and current

This is a money-and-legal topic, so we describe the general shape of the federal law for educational purposes and point you to the primary sources to confirm it — 26 U.S.C. §1341 and IRS Publication 525. We do not model whether a clawback is enforceable in your state, and we quote no state-specific figures — state clawback statutes vary and change, so we surface only that state limits may exist and tell you to check your state's current law or an employment attorney. Tax rules and thresholds change; verify current figures before you act.

How the site is funded

Cost Of Quitting.com is free and supported by display advertising. Ads are kept calm — the audience is often mid-resignation and stressed — and they never mix with your inputs. See our privacy page for exactly what is and isn't collected.

Questions or corrections? Reach us on the contact page.