Social Security tax is paid by nearly every working person in the United States, along with their employer. If you work for someone else, you pay 6.2% of your gross wages and your employer pays another 6.2%, for a combined 12.4%. If you work for yourself, you pay the full 12.4% on your own. In 2026, the tax applies only to the first $184,500 of earnings; wages above that are not subject to Social Security tax at all.
Employees and Employers Each Pay 6.2%
Federal law splits the bill down the middle. Internal Revenue Code Section 3101 makes every employee owe 6.2% of wages for Social Security, technically known as Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3101 – Rate of Tax Section 3111 puts the same 6.2% on the employer as a separate tax for having workers on payroll.2Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 3111 – Rate of Tax Your employer withholds your share from each paycheck and sends both halves to the IRS. On your pay stub, the line is labeled FICA.
An employer can’t shift its 6.2% onto you through lower wages or payroll adjustments; the law treats it as a separate obligation. If a company fails to withhold your share, the company still owes both halves to the IRS. Deposit deadlines fall on either a monthly or semi-weekly schedule depending on the size of the payroll.
Tips have their own rule. If you receive $20 or more in cash tips in a calendar month, you must report them to your employer so Social Security tax can be withheld on that income.3Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 761, Tips – Withholding and Reporting Tips below that monthly threshold don’t have to be reported to the employer, though income tax on them is still owed at filing.
Social Security tax is only one piece of FICA. Medicare tax adds 1.45% on the employee and 1.45% on the employer, with no wage cap and a separate 0.9% surtax on high earners. Those rules run alongside Social Security tax but aren’t part of it.
Self-Employed Workers Pay the Full 12.4%
When you work for yourself as a freelancer, independent contractor, or sole proprietor, there is no employer to pick up the other half. Internal Revenue Code Section 1401 makes you responsible for the full 12.4% Social Security tax on your net earnings from self-employment.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 1401 – Rate of Tax The calculation goes on Schedule SE with your annual return.
The 12.4% doesn’t apply to your entire net profit. You first multiply net earnings by 92.35% (a factor of 0.9235), then apply the tax rate to that reduced figure.5Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax This adjustment mirrors the treatment traditional employees get, since they don’t pay Social Security tax on the employer’s share.
You can also deduct half of your total self-employment tax from adjusted gross income under IRC Section 164(f), which reduces your income tax but not the self-employment tax itself.6Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 USC 164 – Taxes Because nobody is withholding for you, the IRS expects quarterly estimated tax payments covering both income tax and self-employment tax. Missing those deadlines triggers underpayment penalties even if you’re due a refund at filing.7Internal Revenue Service. Estimated Taxes
Household Employers Pay Too
Hire a nanny, housekeeper, or other domestic worker and pay them $3,000 or more in cash wages during 2026, and you become a household employer with Social Security tax obligations of your own.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide You withhold 6.2% from the worker’s pay for Social Security (plus 1.45% for Medicare) and contribute a matching 7.65% from your own funds.9Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 756, Employment Taxes for Household Employees
The threshold applies per worker, per calendar year. Paying a weekend babysitter $2,500 across the year triggers nothing. Paying a full-time nanny $30,000 does. You’ll need an Employer Identification Number and will report the taxes on Schedule H, filed with your personal tax return.8Internal Revenue Service. Publication 926 (2026), Household Employer’s Tax Guide The IRS commonly discovers unreported household employment when the worker later files for Social Security benefits and no earnings history exists.
The Wage Base Cap in 2026
Social Security tax doesn’t apply to every dollar you earn. The government sets an annual cap, called the contribution and benefit base, above which no further Social Security tax is owed. For 2026 that cap is $184,500.10Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base Once your year-to-date wages cross it, both you and your employer stop paying the 6.2%. The same limit applies to self-employed workers.
If you earn $184,500 or more in 2026, your maximum Social Security contribution is $11,439 (6.2% of $184,500). Your employer pays a matching $11,439. High earners often notice a bump in take-home pay partway through the year when withholding stops at the cap. The Social Security Administration adjusts the cap each year based on changes in the national average wage index.10Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base
Multiple Jobs and Overwithholding
The cap creates a problem when you hold more than one job. Each employer withholds Social Security tax on its own, with no way of knowing what the other has already taken. If your combined wages from two or more employers pass $184,500, more than $11,439 will come out of your paychecks, which is more than you actually owe.
The fix is on your tax return. The IRS lets you claim a dollar-for-dollar credit on Form 1040 for any Social Security tax withheld above the annual maximum.11Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 608, Excess Social Security and RRTA Tax Withheld You’ll need your W-2s from each employer to document the Social Security wages and tax withheld. The employers don’t get anything back; each was legally required to withhold on the wages it paid.
Who Doesn’t Pay Social Security Tax
Almost everyone pays, but federal law carves out a few narrow groups.
- Members of recognized religious sects that are conscientiously opposed to insurance benefits can apply for exemption using IRS Form 4029. The sect must have existed continuously since December 31, 1950, and must provide a reasonable level of living for its dependent members. Ministers and members of religious orders use Form 4361 to claim exemption from self-employment tax specifically.12Internal Revenue Service. Form 4029, Application for Exemption From Social Security and Medicare Taxes and Waiver of Benefits
- Some state and local government employees covered by a qualifying public retirement system may be exempt, depending on whether their state has a Section 218 agreement with the Social Security Administration. These agreements cover positions rather than individuals, and coverage decisions typically involve a referendum among affected employees.13Social Security Administration. Section 218 Agreements
- Foreign teachers, researchers, and other professionals temporarily in the U.S. on J-1 or Q-1 visas are generally exempt from Social Security tax for less than two calendar years, so long as their work aligns with the purpose of their visa. The exemption ends if they change to a non-exempt status or become resident aliens.14Internal Revenue Service. Alien Liability for Social Security and Medicare Taxes of Foreign Teachers, Foreign Researchers and Other Foreign Professionals
- Students enrolled at and working for the same university or college are generally exempt from Social Security tax on that campus employment, though the details depend on enrollment status and work hours.
Claiming any of these exemptions means giving up the Social Security benefits those taxes would have funded. For religious exemptions in particular, the waiver is permanent; there is no route back in later to collect retirement benefits based on those years of earnings.