What is the total amount of income from wages before any payroll deductions?

• A. Gross Income
• B. Net Income
• C. Surplus
• D. Subtotal

Answer: (A)

The main idea here is the difference between earnings before vs after withholdings. The total amount you earn from wages before any payroll deductions is called gross income. It includes all the money you earn from your work—base pay, overtime, bonuses, commissions—before taxes, Social Security, health insurance, retirement contributions, and other deductions are taken out. Net income, on the other hand, is what you actually receive after those deductions are subtracted, sometimes called take-home pay. The other terms don’t fit this idea: surplus is extra beyond what’s needed, and subtotal is just a partial total used in a bigger calculation, not specifically the wages before deductions. For example, earning $12 per hour for 40 hours gives a gross income of $480, and after deductions your net income might be $420.