What FICA is
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It’s the law behind two payroll taxes that come out of almost every paycheck:
- Social Security (shown as OASDI or SS on pay stubs). It funds retirement, disability and survivor benefits.
- Medicare (MED or MED/EE). It funds hospital insurance.
Unlike federal income tax, FICA doesn’t depend on your W-4, filing status or dependents. It’s a flat percentage of your FICA wages.
2026 FICA rates and limits
| Tax | Employee | Employer | Wage limit 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Social Security | 6.2% | 6.2% | First $184,500 of wages per employer |
| Medicare | 1.45% | 1.45% | No limit |
| Additional Medicare | 0.9% | None | Withheld on wages over $200,000 |
| Total (most workers) | 7.65% | 7.65% |
- Social Security wage base: $184,500 in 2026. Once one employer has paid you that much in the calendar year, it stops withholding Social Security until January.
- Maximum Social Security tax: $11,439.00 per employee per employer.
- Medicare has no wage base. Every dollar of wages is taxed at 1.45%.
Additional Medicare tax
Your employer must withhold an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages it pays you above $200,000 in the calendar year. It must do this regardless of your filing status or other income. The employer doesn’t match this part.
The amount you actually owe is settled on your tax return (Form 8959), where the threshold depends on filing status:
| Filing status | Additional Medicare threshold |
|---|---|
| Married filing jointly | $250,000 |
| Married filing separately | $125,000 |
| Single, head of household | $200,000 |
So a married couple who each earn $150,000 have no Additional Medicare withheld, but they owe 0.9% on $50,000 when they file jointly. A worker earning $220,000 whose spouse earns nothing has 0.9% withheld on $20,000, and gets it back on a joint return because they’re under $250,000.
Examples
$60,000 salary:
- Social Security: $60,000 × 6.2% = $3,720
- Medicare: $60,000 × 1.45% = $870
- Total FICA: $4,590 a year, or about $176.54 per biweekly check
$250,000 salary, single, one employer:
- Social Security: capped at $11,439.00
- Medicare: $250,000 × 1.45% = $3,625
- Additional Medicare: ($250,000 − $200,000) × 0.9% = $450
For your own numbers by pay period, use the paycheck calculator.
Which pay counts as FICA wages
FICA applies to salary, hourly pay, overtime, bonuses, commissions and reported tips. Some pre-tax deductions lower FICA wages and some don’t:
| Deduction | Lowers income tax wages | Lowers FICA wages |
|---|---|---|
| Traditional 401(k), 403(b), governmental 457(b) | Yes | No |
| Roth 401(k) | No | No |
| §125 health, dental and vision premiums | Yes | Yes |
| Health FSA, dependent-care FSA, HSA through §125 | Yes | Yes |
| Transit and parking (up to $340/month each) | Yes | Yes |
That’s why a 401(k) contribution lowers your federal income tax but leaves Social Security and Medicare unchanged. You can test this with the 401(k) paycheck calculator.
The new 2026 deductions for qualified tips and overtime (see the no tax on overtime calculator) are income-tax deductions only. FICA still applies to all tips and overtime.
FICA for the self-employed (SE tax)
If you work for yourself, you pay both the employee and employer halves as self-employment tax:
- Rate: 15.3% in total, made up of 12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare.
- Base: 92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment (business income minus business expenses).
- Threshold: you generally owe SE tax if net earnings are $400 or more.
- Social Security cap: the 12.4% part stops at the same $184,500 wage base. W-2 wages from a job use up the base first.
- Additional Medicare: 0.9% on self-employment income above $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly, $125,000 married filing separately).
- Deduction: you deduct half of your SE tax when figuring adjusted gross income.
You figure SE tax on Schedule SE (Form 1040). The 1099 tax calculator works it out with quarterly estimated payments.
Two employers: getting excess Social Security back
Each employer applies the $184,500 wage base on its own, without knowing what your other job pays. If you have two or more employers in the same year and your combined wages exceed the base, too much Social Security can be withheld.
Example: you earn $120,000 at one job and $100,000 at another in 2026.
- Job 1 withholds $7,440 (6.2% × $120,000).
- Job 2 withholds $6,200 (6.2% × $100,000).
- Together that’s $13,640, but the maximum is $11,439.00.
- The excess, $2,201, comes back as a credit on your Form 1040, either as a larger refund or a smaller balance due.
Some rules to keep in mind:
- The credit only works across two or more employers. If a single employer withheld more than $11,439.00, it’s that employer’s job to fix it. If it doesn’t, you can ask the IRS for a refund on Form 843.
- On a joint return, each spouse figures excess Social Security separately; you can’t combine wages.
- Medicare has no cap, so excess Medicare isn’t refunded. Any over-withheld Additional Medicare is settled on Form 8959.
When Social Security restarts
The wage base resets every January 1. Someone who earns more than $184,500 will see Social Security disappear from their stubs late in the year, then come back on the first paycheck of the new year. That makes January checks smaller, a common reason people ask why their paycheck is lower.