Payroll Articles
Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax includes two separate taxes. One is the Social Security tax and the other is the Medicare tax. Different rates apply for each of these. For 2006, the Social Security tax rate is 6.2 %, which applies to the first $94,200 of an Employee's wages paid by each employer. The Medicare tax rate is 1.45 %, which applies to all of the Employee's wages. If you worked for two or more employers in 2005 and your total wages exceeded $94,200, too much Social Security tax may have been withheld from your pay. You can claim the excess as a credit on your 2005 tax return.