Gusto Refund Estimator employer overview

Gusto has partnered with April to offer two free tools to help employees better plan their taxes for more financial clarity:

Refund Estimator: A tool to better forecast next year’s federal income taxes, showing what an employee might pay or be refunded.¹
Paycheck Optimizer: An extension of the Refund Estimator. This tool offers eligible employees suggestions on adjusting their federal withholding based on their projected tax outcome. If the suggestion is accepted, the employee will be immediately prompted to re-sign their W-4 federal tax election form. If signed, the new tax elections should be reflected on their next processed paycheck.

Gusto Wallet Tax tools are free and available to all eligible W-2 employees exclusively on the Gusto Wallet mobile app.

When employees use Gusto Wallet Tax Tools , they can better understand their overall tax situation, what refund they may receive, what taxes they may owe, or how certain life events will affect their tax outcome—ultimately, they can increase savings and reduce their tax bills.

Employees: Click here to learn more about using Tax Tools.

How Gusto Wallet Tax Tools work

The Paycheck Optimizer's recommendations stem from the Refund Estimator's predictions for the upcoming tax year. If an employee is projected to:

Receive a refund: The Paycheck Optimizer will offer to adjust the employee’s W-4 to lessen federal tax deductions, which might increase their take-home pay.
Owe taxes: The Paycheck Optimizer will offer to adjust the employee’s W-4 to increase federal tax deductions, which might decrease their take-home pay.

Estimates and tax information are private between the employee, Gusto, and April—the information is not shared with employers or the IRS.

Gusto Wallet Tax Tools are informational forecast tools for federal taxes only, so employees still need to file their taxes with the IRS and should plan for state and local taxes separately. Forecasts are made solely on the information employees provide and may not provide a complete tax picture.

Gusto Wallet Tax Tools availability

Gusto Wallet Tax Tools are exclusively available to active W-2 employees through the Gusto Wallet mobile app. 1099 contractors cannot access the Tax Tools feature.

Employee eligibility criteria include:

Having a single active employee profile on Gusto, regardless of the total number of profiles the employee has had.
Being classified under salaried or hourly payment types. At this time, owner’s draw and commission only are not supported.
For the Refund Estimator: Having received at least one Gusto paycheck in the current calendar year.
For the Paycheck Optimizer: Having received at least three Gusto paychecks in the current calendar year.

Employer responsibility

As an employer, Gusto Wallet Tax Tools do not require any cost or ongoing work—they have no impact on the company’s payroll schedule, bookkeeping, or taxes. Since Refund Estimator and Paycheck Optimizer are individualized, free, and private informational planning tools for employees, employers are not responsible for anything beyond their normal day-to-day people operations.

_{1. Refund Estimate’s forecast may not be a complete tax picture and should be used for planning and informational purposes only. The estimate may not reflect changes to tax filing statuses and situation, tax law, or information not provided as part of Refund Estimator.}