FICA Tax Calculator 2026: OASDI & Medicare

How to use the FICA calculator

Choose employee (W-2) or self-employed. Employees enter either an annual salary or gross pay per paycheck, the pay frequency and how much in FICA wages has already been paid this year. The calculator then runs every remaining paycheck, applies the 6.2% OASDI tax until the $184,500 wage base is reached, and applies 1.45% Medicare on every dollar. The result card shows the next paycheck and the full year, and the expandable table lists each paycheck with its year-to-date wages.

Add wages from other employers to see the excess Social Security you can claim back, and choose your filing status to see whether Additional Medicare tax is under- or over-withheld. Married couples filing jointly can add the spouse’s wages, because the Additional Medicare threshold applies to their combined wages.

• FICA wages: gross pay minus Section 125 cafeteria-plan deductions such as pre-tax health, dental and vision premiums. Traditional 401(k) deferrals do not reduce FICA wages.
• Year-to-date wages: use the “Social Security wages” YTD figure on your latest pay stub, not federal taxable wages.
• Paychecks left: after a mid-year start or raise, enter only the paychecks still to come.

2026 FICA rates and the 2026 FICA limit

FICA is two taxes. OASDI (Social Security) is 6.2% for the employee and 6.2% for the employer on wages up to the 2026 contribution and benefit base of $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025. Medicare (hospital insurance) is 1.45% each with no wage limit. A further 0.9% Additional Medicare tax applies to the employee only, on wages above $200,000 at any one employer.

The FICA max for 2026 is therefore $11,439.00 of OASDI per worker ($184,500 × 6.2%), compared with $10,918.20 in 2025. There is no maximum for Medicare.

Which paycheck hits the 2026 Social Security wage base?

High earners see their OASDI deduction stop part-way through the year. Take a $260,000 salary paid biweekly ($10,000 a check). The $184,500 base is reached in paycheck 19, which carries only a partial OASDI deduction. From the next check, take-home pay rises by the OASDI amount. Once year-to-date wages pass $200,000, the employer starts withholding the extra 0.9%.

Over the year this worker pays $11,439.00 OASDI, $3,770.00 Medicare and $540.00 Additional Medicare. The employer pays a matching $15,209.00.

FICA tax at common 2026 salaries

Employee FICA for a single filer with one employer, and the employer’s matching share. The employer cost column is what the employer pays in FICA on top of the salary; federal and state unemployment taxes are extra.

Two employers: excess Social Security refund

Each employer applies the wage base separately, because it cannot see your other job. With $130,000 from one job and $100,000 from another, the two employers withhold $14,260.00 of OASDI, but your 2026 liability is capped at $11,439.00. The difference, $2,821.00, is a credit on Schedule 3 (Form 1040), line 11, and is refunded or reduces your balance due.

Neither employer withholds Additional Medicare tax, because neither pays more than $200,000. A single filer still owes $270.00 on the combined $230,000, calculated on Form 8959. The credit only works across different employers. If a single employer withheld too much, ask that employer to correct it; if it does not, the IRS says to file Form 843.

Additional Medicare tax and your filing status

Employers start the 0.9% withholding at $200,000 whatever your filing status, but what you owe depends on the return: above $200,000 for single and head of household, $250,000 for married filing jointly (combined wages) and $125,000 for married filing separately. A married earner on $260,000 with a non-working spouse has $540.00 withheld but owes only $90.00, so $450.00 comes back through Form 8959. Two spouses who each earn under $200,000 but more than $250,000 together owe the tax with nothing withheld; extra W-4 withholding or estimated payments cover it.

Self-employed FICA: SE tax

Self-employed people pay both halves through self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, with the OASDI part capped at the wage base minus any W-2 wages. On $80,000 of profit that is $11,303.64, and half of it, $5,651.82, is deductible in arriving at adjusted gross income. SE tax applies once net earnings reach $400. Switch the calculator to self-employed to run your own figures, or use the self-employment tax calculator for income tax and quarterly payments.