FICA Taxes

FICA taxes are the Social Security and Medicare taxes paid by individuals and employers. The total FICA tax through 2010 is 15.3%. That percentage is applied to the employee's gross pay.

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Here is the breakdown on these taxes:

• The employer and employee each pay 7.65%.
  Breaking these percentages down further:
  
• The OASDI (Social Security) portion is 6.2% (4.2% in 2011), up to the annual maximum wages subject to Social Security.
  
• The Medicare portion is 1.4% on all employee earnings.

The Social Security portion is capped each year at a set amount; the Medicare portion is not capped.

For 2011 only the employee portion of FICA tax has been reduced by 2%. The employer portion is not reduced.

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