Your benefits department was not helpful most likely because they don't have the first clue about taxes. Their specialty/function is benefits - not taxes. Here's a better breakdown of how tax rates work. That last website I provided you falsely leads the reader to believe that all of their income is taxed at the same rate, and that's just not true.
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="
https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/taxes/federal-income-tax-brackets/">https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/...>
Now the top of that page shows the brackets/ranges for 2018. Scroll down a bit to get the new limits for the 2019 tax year.
