A term encompassing both 'salary' and 'wage(s)'
Your employee income tax is calculated as a fraction of your overall ________, be it through wages or salary, but not your gains from invested savings."
what do I put down in the ______ ? Is it "income"? Something else?
Depends on what country (legal jurisdiction) you're in, and the context of the document or conversation. What others have suggested:
- Remuneration
- Compensation
- Total Compensation
- Income
- Earnings
- Earned Income
- Pay
The conditions on the left side and right sides of your snippet really narrows the field:
be it through wages or salary, but not your gains from invested savings
- Remuneration (a old geeky word, hard to pin down, so it could work, but it's mouthful to pronounce in conversation)
- Compensation (still works)
- Total Compensation (this could cause confusion as it might include invested savings)
- Income (no, income in 90% of the world also includes investments)
- Earnings (works, but some could construe the interest in that)
- Earned Income (maybe the best, especially if you're in the U.S.)
- Pay (works, sufficiently broad, if that is desirable)
Like I said, it's a context issue. Writing a legal document? Policy document?
If you were writing a conditional job offer, a brochure, or in a face-to-face with a recruit or employee, my choice would be compensation package. That's the common phrase in those forum.
edited for spelling errors
'Remuneration'
: an amount of money paid to someone for the work that person has done
— Merriam-Webster
- Compensation
A worker is "compensated" for his/her labor, whether by the hour (wages) or by the year (salary).
Sometimes, to make clear that the compensation includes tips, bonuses, stock options, perks, or other money received from an employer (in addition to salary or wages) people use the term:
- Total [Annual] Compensation
Note: there is also Workers' Compensation, usually paid by the state, to workers who are unable to work for a period. This is compensation for hours not worked, and is often not considered "income" ** for tax purposes**. The IRS does not consider it part of one's AGI (Adjusted Gross Income), so it is not taxable at the federal level. (It is, in a sense, an insurance payout, as it is funded by premiums in the form of payroll deductions). Various states, however, might treat Workers' "comp" differently with regard to taxation. Unemployment compensation is similarly funded, by unemployment insurance premiums deducted from workers' paychecks, and may be treated similarly for tax purposes.
I would personally use "earnings" in lieu of income:
Earnings: money obtained in return for labour or services, or income derived from an investment or product.