Both the IRS and the CA Franchise Tax Board refer to these
as "tax rates," because withholding is considered a tax that
you are required to pay on income *at the time the income is
received* but can apply for a partial refund of at a later time.
If you try to adjust your withholding during the year as you
describe, you may find yourself liable for a fine for insufficient
tax payments during the year, along the same lines of what
happens if a self-employed individual underpays estimated tax
during the year and then sends a big check for the full year's
tax liability on April 15.
Chiming in a bit late here, but this is a common error that needs
correcting: Greg's original comment - "bonuses have a higher tax rate
(55-60% IME)" - and the responses to it have all incorrectly referred to
the *tax rate* on bonuses when it's really the *withholding* that you're
talking about.
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