FICA Tax Employee Share: Rates, Wage Base, and Exemptions

The FICA tax employee share is the 7.65% of your gross wages withheld from each paycheck to fund Social Security and Medicare. That 7.65% splits into two pieces: 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.¹ Your employer pays a matching 7.65% out of its own funds, but that match never appears on your check and never comes out of your pay.

How the Employee Share Breaks Down

Federal law sets the Social Security tax on employee wages at 6.2% and the Medicare tax at 1.45%.² On a $1,000 paycheck, that’s $62 to Social Security and $14.50 to Medicare, for a total employee deduction of $76.50. These rates have held since 1990 and apply to nearly all forms of pay: salary, hourly wages, overtime, bonuses, commissions, severance, and vacation pay.³

On your pay stub, the two pieces usually appear as separate line items labeled “Social Security” or “OASDI” and “Medicare” or “MED.” Tips count too. If you receive $20 or more in cash tips in a calendar month, you have to report them to your employer, who then withholds the 7.65% from your other wages or from funds you provide.⁴

The Social Security Wage Base

The 6.2% Social Security portion only applies up to an annual cap called the wage base. For 2026, that cap is $184,500.⁵ Once your year-to-date earnings with a given employer hit that number, the 6.2% withholding stops for the rest of the calendar year. Earn $200,000 in 2026 and you pay Social Security tax on the first $184,500 and nothing on the remaining $15,500.

That makes $11,439 the maximum Social Security tax any single employee owes in 2026 ($184,500 × 6.2%). High earners often see a small bump in take-home pay in the last months of the year once they cross the threshold. The 1.45% Medicare portion has no cap. It applies to every dollar you earn, no matter how high your income goes.¹

The Extra 0.9% Medicare Tax on High Wages

An Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% kicks in once wages pass a threshold that depends on your filing status:²

Single filers: wages above $200,000
Married filing jointly: combined wages above $250,000
Married filing separately: wages above $125,000

This one is entirely on the employee. Your employer does not match it.⁶ Your employer must start withholding the extra 0.9% as soon as your wages from that job pass $200,000 in a calendar year, regardless of your filing status. If you’re married filing jointly and your wages alone are $210,000, your employer will withhold on the last $10,000 even though your household may not actually owe it. You reconcile the difference on your annual return.

The trap works the other way too. If you and your spouse each earn $150,000, neither employer withholds anything extra, but your combined $300,000 exceeds the $250,000 joint threshold by $50,000. You’ll owe 0.9% on that $50,000 at filing. Two-earner households routinely get surprised by this bill.

What Reduces Your FICA Wages and What Doesn’t

Not every pre-tax deduction on your check lowers your FICA. The distinction matters, because it affects both how much comes out now and what shows up in Boxes 3 and 5 of your W-2.

401(k) and 403(b) Contributions Don’t Reduce FICA

Traditional 401(k) contributions cut your federal income tax but not your FICA. Earn $80,000 and defer $10,000 into a 401(k), and your income tax runs on $70,000, but your FICA tax still runs on the full $80,000.⁷ Roth 401(k) deferrals and 403(b) plans work the same way.

Section 125 Cafeteria Plans Do Reduce FICA

Health insurance premiums and flexible spending account contributions run through a Section 125 cafeteria plan come out of your pay before FICA is calculated. Both your income tax and your payroll tax drop. Pay $5,000 a year in health premiums through a cafeteria plan and that $5,000 escapes the 7.65% deduction, saving roughly $383 on the employee side alone.

Working Two Jobs and Getting the Excess Back

If you work two or more jobs and your combined wages top the $184,500 wage base, each employer withholds Social Security tax independently. Neither one knows what the other is doing, so you can end up paying more than the annual maximum. When that happens, you claim the overpayment as a credit on your Form 1040 for the year.⁸

On a joint return, each spouse figures the excess separately; you can’t pool wages. And the Form 1040 credit only works when the overpayment comes from multiple employers. If a single employer over-withholds by mistake, ask that employer to correct it, or file Form 843 to request a refund from the IRS directly.⁸

Who Is Exempt From the Employee Share

Nearly everyone with a paycheck pays FICA. A handful of narrow exemptions exist:

Students working for their own school. If you’re enrolled at least half-time at a college or university and work for that same institution, your wages may be exempt as long as the job is incidental to your studies and doesn’t carry professional-level benefits like retirement contributions or paid leave.⁹
Certain nonresident aliens. International students on F-1 visas and exchange visitors on J-1 visas are generally exempt during their first five calendar years (students) or first two calendar years (non-student scholars and researchers) in the U.S., provided they haven’t become tax residents.
Members of qualifying religious groups. If you belong to a recognized religious sect that opposes public insurance, you can apply for an exemption using IRS Form 4029. Filing it permanently waives your right to Social Security and Medicare benefits.¹⁰

Workers on H-1B, TN, O-1, and E-3 visas get no nonresident exemption. They pay FICA from day one, just like any other employee.

Checking Your Pay Stub and W-2

Your year-end W-2 shows the totals in Box 4 (Social Security tax withheld) and Box 6 (Medicare tax withheld). The math for a standard 2026 employee is straightforward: Box 4 should equal your Social Security wages (Box 3, capped at $184,500) times 6.2%, and Box 6 should equal your Medicare wages (Box 5, no cap) times 1.45%. Earn above $200,000 and Box 6 should also reflect the additional Medicare tax withholding. Any mismatch is worth raising with payroll before you file, because fixing errors after a return is filed is much harder than catching them beforehand.

If You’re Self-Employed

The employee-share framing only applies when someone else issues you a paycheck. Work for yourself and there’s no employer to pick up the other half. You pay the full 15.3% through self-employment tax on your net self-employment income, split 12.4% for Social Security (subject to the same $184,500 wage base) and 2.9% for Medicare (no cap).¹¹ The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to self-employment income above the same filing-status thresholds. You can deduct the employer-equivalent portion (half of your self-employment tax) when figuring adjusted gross income, but that deduction only reduces income tax, not the self-employment tax itself.¹² Wage earners get no comparable deduction. The employee share of FICA is never deductible on your personal return.

1
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
2
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC Ch. 21 – Federal Insurance Contributions Act
3
Social Security Administration. FICA and SECA Tax Rates
4
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 3121 – Definitions
5
Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
6
Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
7
Internal Revenue Service. Are Retirement Plan Contributions Subject to Withholding for FICA, Medicare, or Federal Income Tax
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic no. 608, Excess Social Security and RRTA Tax Withheld
9
Internal Revenue Service. Student FICA Exception
10
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
11
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1401 – Rate of Tax
12
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)