Does FICA include federal income tax?

No. FICA consists of Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. Federal income tax withholding is a separate line and uses different rules.

Why did Social Security withholding stop but Medicare continue?

A likely reason is that covered Social Security wages reached the 2026 wage base of $184,500. Medicare has no comparable wage-base limit. Payroll should confirm the YTD wage totals.

Can I opt out of FICA?

Most covered employees cannot simply elect out. Narrow statutory exceptions exist, but eligibility depends on the work and worker. Ask payroll and consult official IRS guidance before assuming an exemption.

Payroll taxes

What Is FICA on a Paycheck? Social Security and Medicare Explained

By Onoir Studio LimitedPublished August 29, 2026Source links reviewed August 29, 2026

FICA is the federal payroll-tax system that funds Social Security and Medicare Hospital Insurance. A pay stub may show one FICA total or separate Social Security and Medicare lines.

Key takeaways

For 2026, the employee Social Security rate is 6.2% on covered wages up to $184,500.
The employee Medicare rate is 1.45% on covered wages, with no wage-base limit.
An employer generally pays a matching 6.2% Social Security and 1.45% Medicare share; that match is not taken from the employee’s net pay.
Additional Medicare Tax can add 0.9% withholding after one employer pays an employee more than $200,000 in the calendar year.

What FICA includes in 2026

Component	Employee rate	2026 wage limit	Common stub labels
Social Security	6.2%	$184,500	SS, OASDI, FICA-SS
Medicare	1.45%	No wage-base limit	MED, MED/EE, FICA-MED
Additional Medicare	0.9%	Employer withholds above $200,000 paid by that employer	Additional Medicare, MED Addl

The 6.2% and 1.45% figures are the employee shares. Combining them gives 7.65% on wages subject to both taxes. That shortcut stops being complete once Social Security wages reach the annual base or Additional Medicare withholding begins. Some compensation can also have special tax treatment, so use the Social Security and Medicare taxable-wage lines rather than assuming every gross-pay item is subject to FICA.

Worked paycheck example

Assume a paycheck contains $2,000 of wages subject to both taxes, the worker has not reached the Social Security wage base, and Additional Medicare Tax does not apply:

Calculation	Amount
Social Security	$2,000 × 6.2% = $124
Medicare	$2,000 × 1.45% = $29
Employee FICA total	$153

The employer would generally contribute another $124 for Social Security and $29 for Medicare. That $153 employer share is a separate employer expense, not an extra employee deduction.

How the Social Security wage base works

In 2026, one employer generally stops withholding the 6.2% Social Security employee tax after that employer’s covered wages for the employee reach $184,500. The maximum employee Social Security tax on that amount is $11,439. Medicare withholding continues because Medicare has no wage-base limit.

If you change jobs, each employer ordinarily applies the wage base to wages it pays. This can cause total Social Security withholding to exceed the annual maximum. IRS Topic 608 explains that excess caused by multiple employers may be claimable as a credit on the employee’s income tax return. If a single employer alone overwithheld, the correction process is different and normally begins with that employer.

FICA withholding is not federal income tax

Federal income tax withholding varies with taxable pay and Form W-4 entries. Ordinary Social Security and Medicare withholding uses statutory percentages on the applicable wage bases and is not changed by claiming dependents on Form W-4. A traditional pretax retirement contribution may reduce federal income-tax wages while still remaining subject to Social Security and Medicare tax. This is one reason the taxable-wage columns on a pay stub or Form W-2 can differ.

Some workers or payments are covered by special rules or exemptions, including certain government employment, qualifying students employed by their schools, and specific visa situations. A missing FICA line should be verified with payroll rather than treated automatically as an error.

Where this comes from

IRS Publication 15 (2026), Social Security and Medicare Taxes (opens in a new tab)
IRS Topic 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates (opens in a new tab)
Social Security Administration, Contribution and Benefit Base (opens in a new tab)
IRS Topic 608, Excess Social Security Tax Withheld (opens in a new tab)

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