FICA — Payroll Definition
Federal Insurance Contributions Act — the Social Security and Medicare tax on your paycheck.
Federal Insurance Contributions Act — the Social Security and Medicare tax on your paycheck.
FICA stands for the Federal Insurance Contributions Act, a U.S. law that mandates a payroll tax on both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare. In 2026, employees pay 6.2% for Social Security (up to a wage base of $184,500) and 1.45% for Medicare (no cap), for a total FICA rate of 7.65%. Your employer matches this amount, meaning the total FICA contribution is 15.3%.
Example: $2,000 biweekly gross × 7.65% = $153.00 in employee FICA ($124.00 Social Security + $29.00 Medicare)
Common pay stub code: FICA
FICA Rates and Wage Base for 2026
FICA is made of two separate taxes with different rules. Social Security (OASDI) is 6.2% of gross wages up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500, which caps the employee share at $11,439.00 for the year. Medicare is 1.45% of every dollar of wages with no cap at all. Together they give the familiar 7.65% employee FICA rate. Employees earning above $200,000 also pay a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on the excess, which the employer must start withholding once year-to-date wages cross $200,000 regardless of filing status.
Who Pays FICA — Employee and Employer
FICA is a matched tax. The employee pays 7.65% through payroll withholding and the employer pays an equal 7.65% out of its own funds, for a combined 15.3%. Only the employee half appears as a deduction on a pay stub; the employer half is a company expense and never reduces net pay. The one exception to the match is the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax, which is withheld from the employee only and is not matched by the employer.
How FICA Appears on a Pay Stub
Few stubs print the word "FICA" as a single line. Payroll systems usually split it into two deductions: the Social Security half shows as OASDI, SS, SOC SEC, or FICA-SS, and the Medicare half shows as MED, MEDEE, FICA-MED, or FICA-HI. Add the two together and the result should equal 7.65% of your gross wages for that period until you hit the Social Security wage base. Pre-tax Section 125 benefits such as medical premiums, HSA, and FSA reduce the wages FICA is figured on, while traditional 401(k) deferrals do not.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Who pays FICA taxes?
- Both the employee and the employer pay FICA. The employee pays 7.65% of wages through payroll withholding (6.2% Social Security plus 1.45% Medicare) and the employer pays a matching 7.65%, for a combined 15.3%. Self-employed workers pay both halves themselves as self-employment tax.
- What is the FICA tax rate for 2026?
- The 2026 employee FICA rate is 7.65%: 6.2% for Social Security on wages up to the $184,500 wage base, plus 1.45% for Medicare on all wages. Employees earning more than $200,000 pay an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on the amount above that threshold.
- Is FICA the same as Social Security?
- No. Social Security is one of the two taxes inside FICA. FICA is the umbrella term for Social Security (6.2%, capped at $184,500 of wages in 2026) plus Medicare (1.45%, uncapped). A stub showing only OASDI is showing the Social Security portion of FICA.
- Can I get a FICA refund if I overpaid?
- If you worked for two or more employers in the same year and their combined wages pushed your Social Security withholding above the annual maximum of $11,439.00 for 2026, you claim the excess as a credit on your federal income tax return. A single employer that over-withholds must correct it directly rather than through your return.