What is FICA tax? Social Security and Medicare in 2026

FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It's the law behind two taxes taken from almost every paycheck: Social Security and Medicare. On a pay stub they may show as FICA-SS and FICA-Med, OASDI and HI, or just Social Security and Medicare. Unlike income tax, FICA isn't based on your W-4. It's a flat percentage of your wages, and your employer pays a matching amount.

FICA rates and the 2026 wage base

The Social Security cap is called the wage base. For 2026 it's $184,500, so the most an employee can owe in Social Security tax for the year is $184,500 × 6.2% = $11,439. The employer pays a matching $11,439. Medicare has no cap (IRS Topic 751).

For a typical salary the math is simple. On $60,000 a year, Social Security is $3,720 and Medicare is $870, so $4,590 in total. Paid biweekly, that's $143.08 and $33.46 per check. The paycheck calculator shows both for any salary and pay frequency.

What FICA is figured on

Salary, hourly pay, overtime, bonuses and commissions are all subject to FICA. Pre-tax deductions don't all work the same way, though:

• Traditional 401(k) contributions lower your income tax but not FICA. Social Security and Medicare are still taken on the money you put in.
• Section 125 cafeteria plan deductions, such as health, dental and vision premiums and HSA contributions made through payroll, are generally free of FICA.
• After-tax deductions, such as Roth 401(k) contributions and garnishments, don't change FICA at all.

That's why the Social Security and Medicare wages on a W-2 (boxes 3 and 5) are often higher than the income tax wages in box 1. The pre-tax vs post-tax deductions article has a worked example.

The employer match

Your employer pays its own 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare on your wages, on top of what comes out of your check. You won't see the employer half as a deduction on your pay stub, because it doesn't come out of your pay. The employer deposits both halves along with the income tax it withheld and reports them to the IRS, usually each quarter on Form 941. There is no employer match for the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.

Additional Medicare Tax

An extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to high earners. Employers must start withholding it once the wages they pay you pass $200,000 in a calendar year, whatever your filing status and whatever you earn elsewhere. What you actually owe depends on your filing status and total wages, and you settle the difference on Form 8959 with your tax return (IRS questions and answers).

Because the withholding rule and the liability rule differ, the two can drift apart. A married couple who each earn $150,000 have nothing withheld, since neither employer pays more than $200,000, but together they earn $300,000. They owe 0.9% of the $50,000 over their $250,000 threshold, or $450, on their return. The reverse happens too: if one spouse earns $220,000 and the other earns nothing, $180 is withheld, but their combined wages are under $250,000, so it's credited back when they file.

Worked example: hitting the wage base

Say you earn $260,000 a year, paid biweekly, so $10,000 per check. Social Security comes out at 6.2% until your year-to-date wages reach $184,500, and the extra 0.9% Medicare starts once they pass $200,000.

On check 19 only $4,500 of room is left under the wage base, so Social Security is 6.2% of $4,500, or $279.00. From check 21, Medicare is $145.00 (1.45%) plus $90.00 (0.9% of the $10,000 over $200,000). The employer pays $11,439 in Social Security and $3,770 in Medicare (1.45% of $260,000) and nothing toward the extra 0.9%. Your take-home pay jumps from check 20 on, then drops back in January when the wage base resets. The year-to-date column on your stub is what payroll uses to track this; see what YTD means on a pay stub.

Two jobs: getting excess Social Security back

Each employer withholds Social Security on the wages it pays, up to the full wage base, without knowing about your other job. If your combined wages pass $184,500, too much can come out. With $120,000 from one job and $100,000 from another, $7,440 and $6,200 are withheld, $13,640 in total. The most you owe is $11,439, so $2,201 is excess. You claim it as a credit on your federal return (IRS Topic 608 explains how). Married couples work this out for each spouse separately.

If a single employer withheld too much, you can't claim it on your return. Ask that employer to correct it; if it doesn't, you can ask the IRS for a refund on Form 843. The same two-job worker may also owe Additional Medicare Tax: neither employer paid over $200,000, so none was withheld, but a single filer with $220,000 of wages owes 0.9% of $20,000, or $180, on Form 8959.

FICA vs self-employment tax

Self-employed people and independent contractors don't have FICA withheld. They pay self-employment tax instead, which covers both the employee and employer halves: 15.3%, made up of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. It's figured on Schedule SE and generally applies to 92.35% of net earnings, and it's usually owed once net earnings from self-employment reach $400 (IRS Topic 554). You can deduct half of it when figuring adjusted gross income.

Example: $60,000 of net profit × 92.35% is $55,410. At 15.3%, self-employment tax is $8,477.73, and half of it ($4,238.87) is deductible. An employee earning $60,000 in wages pays $4,590 in FICA and the employer pays another $4,590. The Social Security part of self-employment tax stops once your combined wages and self-employment earnings reach $184,500 for 2026. If you're weighing a job against contract work, see W-2 vs 1099.

Who doesn't pay FICA

The exemptions are narrow. Three that apply to common situations:

• Students working for their own school. Wages a student earns from the school, college or university where they're pursuing a course of study are generally exempt.
• Nonresident alien students on F-1, J-1 or M-1 visas, for work their status allows. This usually covers the first five calendar years in the US, while they remain nonresident aliens.
• Children under 18 working for a parent, when the business is the parent's sole proprietorship or a partnership owned only by the child's parents.

Outside cases like these, assume FICA applies. When making a pay stub for an exempt worker, the Advanced W-4 panel can turn the Social Security or Medicare row off.