US FICA tax calculator Use gross payroll wages for employee, employer, or combined payroll views. The calculator applies the 2026 Social Security wage base and the employer Additional Medicare withholding rule, which begins above 200,000 of wages paid to one employee regardless of filing status.
How this calculator works
Employee, employer, or combined payroll: payroll modes split Social Security and Medicare withholding across the employee and
employer sides, and the combined view shows both together.
Prior wages already subject to Social Security: prior year-to-date wages reduce the remaining 2026 wage base and can trigger
Additional Medicare withholding once wages paid to one employee pass 200,000.
Self-employed baseline: use this mode for a simplified Schedule SE-style estimate on net self-employment
income; it keeps the employer-equivalent portion visible without modeling every
return-level edge case.
Quick scenarios
Start from common FICA withholding, employer cost, and self-employment planning cases.
Mode
Enter gross wages for the payroll slice you want to test.
Used for the 2026 Social Security wage base and for the employer Additional Medicare withholding rule that starts above 200,000 of wages paid to one employee.
Display currency
Switch displayed amounts without changing the US FICA assumptions.
Result
$4,039.00
Employee FICA withholding on $100,000.00 of wages.
Social Security tax
$2,139.00
Medicare tax
$1,450.00
Additional Medicare tax
$450.00
Net after FICA
$95,961.00
Remaining Social Security wage base
$34,500.00
Remaining Additional Medicare threshold
$50,000.00
Effective tax rate
4.04%
Taxable wage breakdown
Social Security taxable wages$34,500.00
Medicare taxable wages$100,000.00
Additional Medicare taxable wages$50,000.00
Payroll slice$100,000.00
Assumptions
Payroll modes use the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500.00 and start employer Additional Medicare withholding once year-to-date wages paid to one employee pass $200,000.00, regardless of filing status.
Withholding scope
Payroll modes estimate FICA withholding, not final tax-return liability. Additional Medicare withholding starts above 200,000 of wages per employee even though the eventual liability threshold can differ by filing status.
FICA tax calculator guide: estimate 2026 US Social Security and Medicare withholding
A FICA tax calculator estimates the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes tied to wages or self-employment income. This page also explains the main assumptions behind the fica tax calculator result, highlights the supporting figures shown by the calculator, and helps the reader use the estimate without overstating what a quick online tool can prove.
What FICA includes
FICA is the payroll-tax framework that funds Social Security and Medicare. For wages, the employee and employer each owe Social Security tax up to the annual wage base and Medicare tax on covered wages, with Additional Medicare withholding beginning above the employer withholding threshold.
That is why a FICA calculator is useful beyond a normal take-home pay estimate. It lets you isolate the payroll-tax layer from income tax so you can see how much of a wage payment is being withheld for Social Security and Medicare alone.
How the calculator handles payroll modes
In payroll modes, the calculator uses the 2026 Social Security wage base of 184,500 and applies the standard employee and employer rates to the portion of wages that still fits under that cap. Medicare applies to the full wage amount in the payroll model.
For Additional Medicare, the page models employer withholding rather than final tax-return liability. That means the withholding starts once wages paid to one employee exceed 200,000, regardless of filing status. The actual liability threshold on the tax return can differ for married-filing-jointly or married-filing-separately taxpayers, so this is a payroll estimate, not a final return calculation.
Employee Social Security tax = Min(current wages, remaining wage base) x 6.2%
Social Security withholding applies only up to the remaining 2026 wage base after prior year-to-date wages are considered.
Employee Medicare tax = Current wages x 1.45%
Base Medicare withholding applies to the wage amount entered in the payroll modes.
Employer Additional Medicare withholding starts above 200,000 of wages paid to one employee
This page follows the payroll withholding rule, not the final-filing liability threshold that can vary by filing status.
Employee, employer, and combined payroll views
Employee mode shows the Social Security, Medicare, and Additional Medicare amounts that would usually be withheld from the worker side of payroll. Employer mode shows the matching employer-side cost. Combined payroll mode adds both sides together so you can see the full payroll-tax cost of the same wage amount.
That distinction matters when you compare jobs, estimate hiring cost, or sanity-check a payroll run. A standard FICA calculator should make the employee side, the employer side, and the combined total obvious rather than hiding them inside a single blended number.
Combined payroll tax = employee FICA + employer FICA
Shows the full payroll-tax cost when you want both sides together.
Payroll withholding starts above 200,000 of wages paid to one employee regardless of filing status.
Using the quick scenarios and taxable wage breakdown
The calculator now opens with a midyear payroll example so the wage-base mechanics are visible immediately. The quick scenarios let you switch between an employee FICA withholding estimate, an employer FICA cost estimate, a combined payroll-tax view, and a simplified self-employed baseline without rebuilding the inputs from scratch.
The taxable wage breakdown is especially useful near the Social Security wage base or Additional Medicare threshold. It separates the wages subject to Social Security, the wages subject to base Medicare, the wages subject to Additional Medicare withholding, and the total payroll slice or combined payroll cost so the result is easier to audit.
Why prior wages matter
Prior year-to-date wages already subject to Social Security tax reduce the remaining Social Security wage base. That is why the calculator asks for year-to-date wages instead of only the current paycheck or annual salary figure.
The same prior-wage field also lets the calculator tell you whether Additional Medicare withholding has already been triggered. That makes the estimate more useful for payroll planning, bonus runs, and midyear compensation changes.
Worked example: 100,000 of wages after 150,000 already paid
Suppose an employee receives another 100,000 of wages after 150,000 of prior year-to-date wages have already been paid. Only 34,500 of the new wages still fit under the 2026 Social Security wage base, so employee Social Security tax on this payroll slice is 2,139. Medicare tax on the full 100,000 is 1,450.
Because the cumulative wages now reach 250,000, the payroll withholding model also adds 450 of Additional Medicare withholding on the portion above 200,000. The employee-side FICA total is therefore 4,039, while the combined employee-plus-employer payroll tax on the same wage slice is 7,628.
What the self-employed mode does and does not do
The self-employed baseline mode follows the same simplified Schedule SE assumptions already used elsewhere in Calcipedia. It multiplies net self-employment income by 92.35% to estimate net earnings subject to tax, applies the 12.4% Social Security rate up to the remaining wage base, applies the 2.9% Medicare rate, and reports the deductible half of the tax.
It intentionally excludes Additional Medicare tax and other return-level details. That keeps the scope consistent and truthful for first-pass planning, but it also means the result should not be treated as a full Schedule SE or Form 1040 filing calculation.
Further reading
IRS Publication 15 — Official IRS employer guide for payroll-tax rates and withholding rules.
IRS Publication 334 — Official IRS small-business guide used as context for self-employment tax treatment.
Frequently asked questions
Does this FICA tax calculator show withholding or final tax liability?
Payroll modes show withholding-focused estimates. Additional Medicare withholding starts above 200,000 of wages paid to one employee, even though the final liability threshold on a tax return can differ by filing status.
Why do prior wages matter in the payroll modes?
Prior year-to-date wages determine how much of the 2026 Social Security wage base is still available and whether the current payroll slice crosses the 200,000 Additional Medicare withholding threshold.
Why does the calculator show taxable wages separately from tax owed?
The same compensation amount can be partly inside and partly outside the Social Security wage base. Showing taxable wages separately makes it clear why Social Security tax can stop while Medicare tax keeps applying to the full payroll slice.
Does the self-employed mode include Additional Medicare tax?
No. The self-employed mode is a simplified Schedule SE-style baseline that includes the 92.35% net-earnings adjustment, Social Security tax, Medicare tax, and deductible half of the tax, but not Additional Medicare.
What does FICA stand for?
FICA is the payroll tax framework for Social Security and Medicare. In a paycheck context, the employee and employer each owe their share on covered wages.
Why is employer FICA the same rate as employee FICA?
For the Social Security and Medicare parts, the employer generally matches the employee-side rates on the same wage base. The combined payroll view shows both sides together.
Can I use this as a payroll calculator?
Yes, if you want a focused FICA estimate. It is narrower than a full payroll calculator because it does not model federal income-tax withholding, state withholding, pretax benefits, or custom W-4 entries.
Is FICA the same as self-employment tax?
Not exactly. FICA is the payroll-tax framework used for wages. Self-employment tax uses similar Social Security and Medicare rates, but it is calculated on Schedule SE-style net earnings instead of W-2 wages.
Is FICA the same as income tax?
No. FICA covers Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes. Federal and state income taxes are separate calculations with their own brackets, deductions, credits, and filing rules.
