Almost every worker in the United States pays Social Security and Medicare taxes, and so does their employer. Collected together under the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, the combined rate is 15.3% of wages: W-2 employees split it evenly with their employer at 7.65% apiece, while self-employed people cover the full 15.3% themselves. A narrow set of religious, student, and government-worker exemptions exist, and high earners owe an extra 0.9% on top.
What W-2 Employees and Their Employers Each Pay
If you get a paycheck, your employer withholds 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare every pay period.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax The employer then pays a matching 6.2% and 1.45% from its own funds.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3111 – Rate of Tax You never see the employer’s share on your pay stub, but it is a real cost of employing you.
The Social Security portion only applies to earnings up to an annual cap called the wage base. For 2026, that cap is $184,500.3Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Once your wages for the year cross that line, neither you nor your employer owes another cent of Social Security tax on the excess. Medicare is different: there is no wage base, so the 1.45% applies to every dollar you earn.4Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
What Self-Employed Workers Pay
Freelancers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors pay both halves because no employer picks up the other side. The Self-Employment Contributions Act sets the combined rate at 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, for a total of 15.3%.5Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) That rate applies to 92.35% of your net self-employment earnings rather than the full amount, mirroring the fact that W-2 employees do not pay FICA on the employer’s share.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax You calculate the tax on Schedule SE and file it with your annual return.
The code also lets you deduct half of your self-employment tax when figuring adjusted gross income on Form 1040.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax The deduction does not reduce the self-employment tax itself; it lowers the income on which you owe regular income tax. It is the government’s way of putting you on roughly equal footing with a W-2 employee whose employer share never becomes taxable income.
Because no one is withholding from your pay, you are expected to send the IRS estimated payments four times a year if you will owe $1,000 or more when you file.7Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes Missing those deadlines triggers penalty interest running from the original due date, so most self-employed people build the payments into quarterly cash flow.
High Earners Owe an Extra 0.9%
On top of the standard 1.45% Medicare tax, higher-income workers owe an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on earnings above set thresholds. Added by the Affordable Care Act, this surtax falls on the individual only, with no employer match.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax The thresholds by filing status are $200,000 for single filers and heads of household, $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, and $125,000 for married filing separately. They are set by statute and do not adjust for inflation.8Internal Revenue Service. Instructions for Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax Self-employed people owe the same 0.9% on net self-employment income above those thresholds, and wages and self-employment income are combined to determine whether you have crossed the line.9Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1401 – Rate of Tax
Your employer starts withholding the extra 0.9% once your wages from that job pass $200,000 in a calendar year, no matter what your actual filing status is. If you are married filing jointly and your combined household income exceeds $250,000 but neither spouse individually earns over $200,000, no employer withholding kicks in and you settle up when you file, on Form 8959.10Internal Revenue Service. About Form 8959, Additional Medicare Tax If your employer withheld the 0.9% but your joint income ends up under $250,000, you claim the overpayment as a credit on your return.
Household Employers Pay Too
If you pay a nanny, housekeeper, or other domestic worker $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026, you become a household employer and must withhold and pay FICA taxes on those wages.11Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide The threshold is per worker, not total across the household. You withhold the worker’s 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare shares from each payment, then pay the matching employer shares yourself.
Rather than filing quarterly like a business, household employers report these taxes once a year on Schedule H, attached to their personal Form 1040.12Internal Revenue Service. About Schedule H (Form 1040), Household Employment Taxes You also owe federal unemployment tax if you paid $1,000 or more in any calendar quarter to household employees.11Internal Revenue Service. 2026 Publication 926, Household Employer’s Tax Guide People often stumble into this obligation without realizing it, and the IRS does audit for it.
Who Is Exempt
Most workers cannot opt out of Social Security and Medicare taxes. A handful of narrow exemptions exist.
Members of Qualifying Religious Groups
If you belong to a recognized religious sect that has provided for its own members since at least December 31, 1950, and you are conscientiously opposed to accepting any form of public or private insurance benefits, you can apply for an exemption from self-employment tax. Approval requires waiving all future Social Security and Medicare benefits for yourself.13Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1402 – Section G, Members of Certain Religious Faiths This is the exemption most commonly associated with certain Amish and Old Order Mennonite communities.
Students Working at Their School
If you are enrolled at and regularly attending a college or university, wages you earn working for that same school are generally exempt from FICA, provided the work is incidental to your education rather than the main reason you are there.14Internal Revenue Service. Student FICA Exception Medical residents, postdoctoral researchers, and similar positions generally do not qualify because the work is not considered incidental to coursework.
Nonresident Alien Students and Exchange Visitors
Foreign nationals temporarily in the U.S. on F-1, J-1, or M-1 student visas who are still nonresident aliens for tax purposes are exempt from Social Security and Medicare taxes on wages tied to their visa’s purpose.15Internal Revenue Service. Foreign Student Liability for Social Security and Medicare Taxes The exemption generally lasts for the first five calendar years. After that, if you meet the substantial presence test and become a resident alien for tax purposes, you start owing FICA like any other worker. If your employer withheld these taxes in error, you can request a refund using Form 843.
Certain State and Local Government Employees
State and local government workers who are covered by a qualifying public retirement system and are not covered under a Section 218 Agreement between their state and the Social Security Administration may be exempt from Social Security tax.16Internal Revenue Service. State and Local Government Employees Social Security and Medicare Coverage Since 1986, however, virtually all state and local government employees are required to pay Medicare tax whether or not they participate in Social Security. The coverage rules are complex and depend on your state’s specific agreement with SSA, so checking with your employer’s payroll office is the fastest way to know where you stand.
What to Do If You Work Multiple Jobs
Each employer withholds Social Security tax independently, with no knowledge of what your other employers are doing. If you work two or more jobs in 2026 and your combined wages exceed the $184,500 wage base, too much Social Security tax comes out across those jobs. You claim the excess as a credit on your income tax return.17Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 608, Excess Social Security and RRTA Tax Withheld The instructions for Form 1040 walk through the calculation, and if you are filing jointly, each spouse figures the excess separately.
Your employers, on the other hand, do not get a refund of their matching share. Each employer’s obligation is based on the wages it pays, regardless of what you earn elsewhere. The government collects employer-side Social Security tax on more than $184,500 of your combined earnings when you hold multiple jobs, even though your personal liability is capped.