FICA Tax Calculator

What is FICA Tax?

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax is a United States federal payroll tax imposed on both employees and employers. FICA taxes fund two major national social insurance programs: Social Security and Medicare.

FICA Tax Rates & Wage Base Limits

FICA taxes consist of two distinct components:

• Social Security Tax: 6.2% for the employee and 6.2% for the employer (total 12.4%) levied on earnings up to the annual Social Security wage base limit ($168,600 for 2024).
• Medicare Tax: 1.45% for the employee and 1.45% for the employer (total 2.9%) levied on all gross earnings with no wage cap.
• Additional Medicare Tax: High earners pay an additional 0.9% employee-only Medicare tax on gross wages exceeding $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married filing jointly.

FICA Calculation Formulas

For annual gross earnings $W$, Social Security cap $S_{\text{cap}} = 168,600$, and Medicare rate $r_m = 0.0145$:

$$\text{Social Security Tax} = 0.062 \times \min(W, S_{\text{cap}})$$

$$\text{Medicare Tax} = 0.0145 \times W$$

$$\text{Total Employee FICA} = \text{Social Security Tax} + \text{Medicare Tax} + \text{Additional Medicare Tax}$$

Related Tax & Income Calculators

Plan your finances with our Expense Ratio Calculator, calculate investment goals using the FIRE Calculator, or analyze company cash flow with the FFO Calculator.