What Is Social Security Employee Tax? Rate, Wage Base, and Exemptions

The Social Security employee tax is a 6.2% payroll deduction your employer takes from your gross wages each pay period, up to an annual earnings cap of $184,500 in 2026.¹² The money funds retirement, disability, and survivor benefits through the federal Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance program. Your employer pays a matching 6.2% on the same wages, so the total contribution on your paycheck is 12.4%.³

The 6.2% Rate and Where It Sits on Your Pay Stub

Social Security tax is one half of what’s collected under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The other half is Medicare tax, withheld at 1.45% of your wages with a matching 1.45% from your employer. Added together, your total FICA withholding is 7.65% of gross wages.²

If you earn more than $200,000 in a calendar year, or $250,000 if you’re married filing jointly, an extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to wages above that threshold. Your employer does not match the additional Medicare amount.⁴ That surtax is separate from Social Security tax and does not affect the 6.2% rate.

The 2026 Wage Base Limit

You don’t pay Social Security tax on every dollar you earn. Federal law caps the annual earnings subject to the 6.2% rate through the contribution and benefit base, commonly called the wage base.⁵ For 2026, that cap is $184,500.²

Once your year-to-date wages hit $184,500, your employer stops withholding Social Security tax for the rest of the calendar year. Withholding resumes at the start of the next year. The Social Security Administration adjusts this cap annually based on changes in national average wages. Medicare tax works differently: it applies to all of your earnings with no wage base limit.²

What Counts as Wages

Your employer applies the 6.2% to gross wages each pay period. Federal law defines wages broadly for Social Security purposes: all remuneration for employment, including bonuses, commissions, tips, vacation pay, and compensation paid in forms other than cash.⁵ Your employer totals all of that each pay period to figure the correct withholding.

If You Work Two or More Jobs

Each employer withholds independently and doesn’t know what the others have already taken out. If your combined wages from all jobs top $184,500, you’ll overpay Social Security tax during the year. You can claim the excess as a credit when you file your federal income tax return.⁶

If You’re Self-Employed

The 6.2% employee rate assumes someone else is paying the matching employer share. If you work for yourself, you pay both halves under the Self-Employment Contributions Act, for a combined 12.4% Social Security rate.⁷ You also owe the full 2.9% Medicare share, so total self-employment tax comes to 15.3%.

The rate isn’t applied to your whole net profit. You apply 15.3% to 92.35% of your net self-employment earnings, which roughly mirrors how employees are treated (employees aren’t taxed on their employer’s share). You can also deduct half of your self-employment tax when calculating adjusted gross income, which lowers your income tax but not the self-employment tax itself.⁸⁹

Who Doesn’t Pay Social Security Tax

Most workers pay. Federal law carves out a few narrow exceptions.

Students Working for Their School

If you’re enrolled and regularly attending classes at a college or university and you work for that same institution, your wages may be exempt from FICA tax. The work has to be part of your education, not a career job that happens to sit on a campus.¹⁰

Certain Nonresident Aliens

Foreign students and professionals in the U.S. on F-1, J-1, or M-1 visas are generally exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes as long as they are classified as nonresident aliens for tax purposes and the work fits their visa terms. The exemption typically applies during the first five calendar years of presence in the United States.¹¹

Members of Certain Religious Groups

Members of recognized religious groups conscientiously opposed to insurance benefits, including Social Security, can apply for exemption by filing Form 4029 with the IRS. The group must have existed continuously since December 31, 1950, and must provide a reasonable level of living for its dependent members. Filing waives all future Social Security and Medicare benefits.¹²¹³

What Your Contributions Buy

The 6.2% you pay funds three categories of benefits under OASDI: retirement payments for workers who reach the eligible age with enough credits, disability payments for workers with a severe medical condition that prevents work, and survivor payments to the spouses, children, or other dependents of deceased workers.

You earn Social Security credits based on covered earnings. In 2026, you get one credit for every $1,890 in earnings, up to four credits a year, which you reach at $7,560 in wages. You need 40 credits, or roughly ten years of work, to qualify for retirement benefits. Disability and survivor benefits may require fewer credits depending on your age and situation.¹⁴

If Your Employer Didn’t Withhold Correctly

If your employer treated you as an independent contractor when you should have been classified as an employee, Social Security tax may not have been withheld from your pay. You can file Form 8919 with your federal tax return to report and pay only the employee’s 6.2% share instead of the full 15.3% self-employment rate.¹⁵ Filing the form also gets those earnings credited to your Social Security record, which matters when you claim benefits later.

1
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax
2
Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
3
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
4
Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet
5
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3121 – Definitions
6
Social Security Administration. Social Security Tax Limits on Your Earnings
7
Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1401 – Rate of Tax
8
Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax
9
Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes)
10
Internal Revenue Service. Student FICA Exception
11
Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Student Liability for Social Security and Medicare Taxes
12
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
13
Internal Revenue Service. Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
14
Social Security Administration. Social Security Credits and Benefit Eligibility
15
Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8919, Uncollected Social Security and Medicare Tax on Wages