Research

The Payroll Tax Report 2026: FICA, Medicare, FUTA, and Federal Revenue

By The Ledgerism Editorial Team · The Ledgerism Brief Editorial Team produces original, methodology-disclosed accounting and tax research—data trackers, databases, and reference guides built to be the most-cited source in the field. Every figure is verified against primary sources including FASB, the IRS, the PCAOB, NASBA, the AICPA, and state boards of accountancy.

A primary-source data profile of the U.S. payroll and employment tax system for 2026, built for CPAs, payroll and finance leaders, M&A advisors, journalists, and researchers. Every figure below is labeled with its exact year and geography (United States) and linked to a Tier-1 primary source. Where a commonly cited number could not be verified to a primary source, it is flagged, not presented as fact.

Prepared by The Ledgerism Brief. Data current as of 2026-06-29.

Executive summary

• The 2026 Social Security (OASDI) taxable wage base is $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025, a 4.77% increase driven by growth in the national average wage index (Social Security Administration, 2026).
• The combined FICA tax rate is 15.30% of covered wages in 2026: 12.40% OASDI (6.20% employee plus 6.20% employer) plus 2.90% Medicare (1.45% each); these statutory rates have been unchanged since 1990 (IRS Topic No. 751, 2026; SSA Office of the Chief Actuary).
• The IRS collected $1.661 trillion in gross employment taxes in fiscal year 2024, which was 32.6% of all federal gross collections that year (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1).
• Federal payroll (social insurance) taxes were about $1.7 trillion in fiscal year 2024, roughly 5.9% of GDP, the second-largest source of federal revenue after individual income taxes (Congressional Budget Office, 2024).
• The combined Social Security (OASI and DI) trust funds are projected to be depleted in 2034, at which point continuing tax income would cover about 83% of scheduled benefits (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
• The 75-year OASDI actuarial deficit widened to 4.42% of taxable payroll in the 2026 Trustees Report, up from 3.82% in the 2025 report (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
• The IRS had provided about $283 billion in Employee Retention Credit (ERC) refunds as of June 2025, of which about $235 billion (roughly 83%) was issued from 2022 through June 2025 (U.S. GAO, GAO-26-107456, February 2026).
• TIGTA reported that about 184,923 ERC returns claiming $41.8 billion were not screened for pre-refund examination, and estimated that a policy change resulted in $2 billion of erroneous ERC payments (TIGTA Report No. 2024-400-068, September 2024).

Key findings

1. The 2026 OASDI wage base is $184,500 in the United States, an $8,400 (4.77%) rise over the 2025 base of $176,100 (SSA, Contribution and Benefit Base, 2026).
2. The maximum 2026 employee OASDI tax at the wage base is $11,439.00 (6.20% x $184,500); the employer pays an equal amount (derived from SSA rate and base, 2026).
3. The Medicare (Hospital Insurance) tax has no wage cap; the 1.45% employee and 1.45% employer rates apply to all covered wages in 2026 (IRS Topic No. 751, 2026).
4. The Additional Medicare Tax is 0.90% on an employee’s wages above $200,000 in a calendar year, withheld by the employer without regard to filing status, with no employer match (IRS Topic No. 751, 2026).
5. The Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA) rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee’s wages, generally reduced to a net 0.6% by a 5.4% state credit (IRS, FUTA / Form 940 guidance, 2026).
6. For the 2025 tax year, California employers faced a 1.2% FUTA credit reduction (effective 1.8% rate) and the U.S. Virgin Islands a 4.5% reduction, because of unrepaid federal unemployment loans (IRS, FUTA Credit Reduction, tax year 2025).
7. The self-employment (SECA) tax rate is 15.30% for 2026, applied to 92.35% of net self-employment earnings, split 12.40% OASDI (capped at $184,500) and 2.90% Medicare (uncapped) (IRS, Self-Employment Tax, 2026).
8. The IRS collected $1.661 trillion in gross employment taxes in FY2024, up from $1.566 trillion in FY2023 (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1).
9. Within FY2024 employment taxes, FICA gross collections were $1.550 trillion and SECA (self-employment) collections were $96.3 billion (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1).
10. FUTA (unemployment insurance) gross collections were $8.13 billion and railroad retirement collections were $6.93 billion in FY2024 (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1).
11. Payroll (social insurance) taxes were the second-largest federal revenue source, at about $1.7 trillion (about 5.9% of GDP) in FY2024 (CBO, 2024).
12. The combined OASDI trust funds are projected to be depleted in 2034, after which continuing income would fund about 83% of scheduled benefits (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
13. The OASDI 75-year actuarial deficit was 4.42% of taxable payroll in the 2026 Trustees Report, up 0.60 percentage points from 3.82% in the 2025 report (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
14. As of June 2025, the IRS had provided about $283 billion in ERC refunds; about $235 billion was issued from 2022 through June 2025 (U.S. GAO, GAO-26-107456, February 2026).
15. TIGTA identified about 184,923 ERC returns claiming $41.8 billion that were not screened for pre-refund examination and estimated $2 billion of erroneous ERC payments from a processing-policy change (TIGTA Report No. 2024-400-068, September 2024).

1. FICA tax rates for 2026

FICA (the Federal Insurance Contributions Act) funds Social Security and the Hospital Insurance portion of Medicare through a tax split between employees and employers. The statutory rates for 2026 are unchanged from prior years.

The combined base FICA rate of 15.30% (12.40% OASDI plus 2.90% HI) has been in effect since 1990, when the scheduled OASDHI employee-employer rate of 7.65% each reached its current level (SSA, Office of the Chief Actuary, FICA and SECA tax rate history).

The Additional Medicare Tax thresholds, set by the Affordable Care Act and not indexed for inflation, are $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly, and $125,000 for married filing separately when computed on the individual return; employers withhold at $200,000 of wages regardless of filing status (IRS Topic No. 751, 2026).

Context: because the Additional Medicare Tax thresholds are fixed in statute and never indexed, wage growth pulls more workers above them each year. This is a structural creep, not a legislated increase.

Citation: Source: Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates, 2026.

2. Social Security wage base: 2026 and history

The Social Security wage base, formally the OASDI contribution and benefit base, is the maximum annual earnings subject to the 12.40% OASDI tax. It rises each year with the national average wage index. There is no cap on the 2.90% Medicare tax.

Note: the reduced 4.2% employee OASDI rate in 2011 and 2012 reflects the temporary payroll tax holiday enacted for those years; the employer rate stayed at 6.2%. All other years shown use the standard 6.2% employee rate.

Context: the wage base rose from $106,800 in 2010 to $184,500 in 2026, a 72.8% increase over 16 years. The single largest jump was the 9.0% increase for 2023, reflecting strong pandemic-era average wage growth in the reference year.

Citation: Source: Social Security Administration, Contribution and Benefit Base, 2026; historical series confirmed against SSA data.

3. FUTA (federal unemployment tax) for 2026

FUTA funds the federal share of the joint federal-state unemployment insurance system. Employers, not employees, pay FUTA.

• The gross FUTA rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of each employee’s annual wages, a $420 maximum per employee (IRS, Form 940 / Topic No. 759).
• Employers who pay state unemployment tax on time generally receive a 5.4% credit, reducing the net FUTA rate to 0.6%, or $42 per employee per year (IRS).
• The $7,000 FUTA wage base has not changed since 1983 and is not indexed to inflation (IRS, FUTA guidance).
• In credit reduction states, which have unrepaid federal unemployment loans, the 5.4% credit is reduced, raising the effective FUTA rate. For tax year 2025 the reductions were 1.2% for California (net rate 1.8%) and 4.5% for the U.S. Virgin Islands (IRS, FUTA Credit Reduction).

Context and flag: the $7,000 FUTA base, frozen since 1983, means the effective FUTA burden as a share of total payroll has fallen sharply over four decades even at the unchanged 0.6% net rate. The final 2026 credit-reduction state list is certified in November 2026 and is not yet available; the 2025 list is used here and labeled accordingly.

Citation: Source: Internal Revenue Service, FUTA Credit Reduction, tax year 2025; Topic No. 759, Form 940.

4. Self-employment (SECA) tax for 2026

Self-employed individuals pay both the employee and employer share under the Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA).

• The 2026 SECA rate is 15.30%: 12.40% OASDI on net earnings up to $184,500 and 2.90% Medicare on all net earnings (IRS, Self-Employment Tax).
• SECA is computed on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings, an adjustment that mirrors the employer-side FICA deduction available to employers (IRS).
• Filing is required when net self-employment earnings reach $400 or more in a year (IRS).
• Taxpayers may deduct 50% of SECA tax as an above-the-line adjustment to income, though this reduces income tax, not the SECA tax itself (IRS).
• The 0.90% Additional Medicare Tax also applies to self-employment income above the same $200,000 / $250,000 / $125,000 thresholds (IRS).

Citation: Source: Internal Revenue Service, Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes), 2026.

5. Employment tax collections: IRS Data Book, FY2024

The IRS Data Book reports gross federal collections by tax type. Fiscal year 2024 ran October 1, 2023 to September 30, 2024. All amounts United States, in current dollars.

Net employment tax collections (after $12.1 billion of refunds) were $1.649 trillion in FY2024, or 36.3% of net federal collections (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1). The IRS processed 33,662,190 employment tax returns (Forms 940, 941, 943, 945) in FY2024, down 7.2% from FY2023 (IRS Data Book 2024, Table 2).

Context: employment taxes are the second-largest slice of IRS gross collections after individual and estate/trust income taxes (54.2% in FY2024). SECA collections rose 24.9% year over year in FY2024, a faster rate than wage-based FICA (+5.2%).

Citation: Source: Internal Revenue Service Data Book, 2024, Table 1 (Collections and Refunds by Type of Tax) and Table 2 (Returns Filed).

6. Payroll taxes as a share of federal revenue

Payroll (social insurance) taxes are the federal government’s second-largest revenue source. Two lenses are useful: the CBO budget lens (payroll taxes as a macro revenue category) and the IRS collections lens (gross collections by tax type, shown in Section 5).

• Payroll (social insurance) taxes totaled about $1.7 trillion in FY2024, about 5.9% of GDP (Congressional Budget Office, 2024).
• Payroll taxes are projected by CBO to stay between 5.8% and 5.9% of GDP through 2034, near the 50-year average of about 6.0% of GDP (CBO, 2024-2025).
• In FY2025, payroll (social insurance) tax receipts dipped from 5.9% to 5.8% of GDP even as the dollar amount rose modestly (CBO, Monthly Budget Review, fiscal year 2025 summary).
• The FY2025 federal deficit was $1.8 trillion, and total federal revenues rose about 6% ($317 billion) over FY2024 (CBO, fiscal year 2025 summary).

Flag on the exact FY2025 payroll dollar figure: CBO’s in-year Monthly Budget Reviews report individual income and payroll taxes combined, so a clean standalone FY2025 payroll-tax dollar total is not published in those monthly documents. The FY2024 standalone figure of about $1.7 trillion (5.9% of GDP) is used as the most recent verifiable point-estimate; a FY2025 figure of roughly $1.75 trillion can be derived from the reported near-2% year-over-year growth but is labeled as derived, not primary.

Citation: Source: Congressional Budget Office, Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2025 (November 2025) and Budget and Economic Outlook, 2024.

7. Social Security trust fund flows and depletion outlook

The OASI and DI trust funds hold Social Security’s reserves. The Trustees issue an annual report; the 2026 report is the most recent.

• The combined OASI and DI trust funds are projected to be depleted in 2034; at depletion, continuing tax income would cover about 83% of scheduled benefits (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
• The 75-year OASDI actuarial deficit is 4.42% of taxable payroll in the 2026 report, up from 3.82% in the 2025 report, a worsening of 0.60 percentage points (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
• In the prior (2025) report, combined reserves were $2.72 trillion at the end of 2024, having declined $67 billion during 2024 from a peak of $2.91 trillion in 2021 (2025 OASDI Trustees Report).
• The 2025 report showed the OASI fund depleting in 2033 (about 77% of benefits payable then) and the combined funds in 2034 (about 81% payable) (2025 OASDI Trustees Report).
• Since 2021, total OASDI cost has exceeded total income every year, a gap projected to persist across the 75-year horizon (2025 and 2026 OASDI Trustees Reports).

Context: the actuarial deficit widened by 0.60 points of taxable payroll between the 2025 and 2026 reports, and the share of scheduled benefits payable at combined depletion improved from about 81% (2025 report) to about 83% (2026 report). Because the 12.40% OASDI rate and the wage base ceiling are the program’s structural revenue levers, the deficit is customarily expressed as a percent of taxable payroll rather than in dollars.

Citation: Source: The 2026 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the OASI and DI Trust Funds; The 2025 OASDI Trustees Report.

8. The Employee Retention Credit (ERC): volume, cost, and fraud

The ERC was a refundable payroll tax credit created in 2020 to encourage employers to keep workers on payroll during the COVID-19 pandemic. It became one of the largest sources of improper-payment concern in the federal tax system.

• The IRS had provided about $283 billion in ERC refunds as of June 2025 (U.S. GAO, GAO-26-107456, February 2026).
• About $235 billion (roughly 83% of ERC refunds) was issued from 2022 through June 2025 (U.S. GAO, February 2026).
• On September 14, 2023, the IRS imposed a moratorium on processing new ERC claims to add anti-fraud safeguards; by then it had processed about 3.6 million claims (IRS, 2023-2024).
• In June 2024, the IRS reported that a review of more than 1 million claims worth more than $86 billion found 10% to 20% in the highest-risk group showing clear signs of being erroneous (IRS, June 2024).
• TIGTA reported about 184,923 ERC returns claiming $41.8 billion were not screened for pre-refund examination, and estimated a processing-policy change resulted in $2 billion of erroneous payments (TIGTA Report No. 2024-400-068, September 2024).
• TIGTA’s Office of Investigations reported helping the IRS prevent about $3.5 billion in potentially improper ERC and related pandemic credit payments (TIGTA press release).
• An IRS voluntary disclosure program that closed March 22, 2024 drew over 2,600 applications covering $1.09 billion of improper ERC claims (IRS, 2024).

Context: the ERC illustrates the tension between speed and integrity in refundable-credit administration. Even conservative primary-source figures (TIGTA’s $41.8 billion of unscreened claims, the IRS’s $86 billion of claims flagged for high-risk review) represent a meaningful fraction of the roughly $283 billion disbursed.

Citation: Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-107456 (February 2026); TIGTA Report No. 2024-400-068 (September 2024); Internal Revenue Service ERC announcements (2023-2025).

9. Original synthesis: three derived insights

These insights are computed by The Ledgerism Brief from the primary sources above. Formulas, inputs, and limitations are stated for each.

Insight A. The Payroll Tax Ceiling Erosion Index (share of an executive’s pay that is OASDI-taxable)

Logic: because OASDI applies only up to the wage base, high earners pay the 12.40% tax on a shrinking share of their pay as the base fails to keep pace with top-end wage growth. This index measures the OASDI-taxable share of a fixed $500,000 salary.

Formula: Taxable share = wage base / $500,000.

Finding: for a $500,000 earner, the OASDI-taxable share of pay rose from 21.4% in 2010 to 36.9% in 2026. Because the base has grown faster than a fixed salary, the “ceiling erosion” for high earners actually reversed over this window; the base is catching up to a static high salary. Inputs: SSA wage base series. Limitation: uses a fixed nominal $500,000 salary; real top-end pay has itself grown, so for earners whose pay rose faster than the base the taxable share would still be falling. This is an illustrative index, not a claim about actual high-earner incomes.

Insight B. Employment tax revenue concentration (FICA vs. self-employment)

Logic: quantify how concentrated employment tax revenue is in wage-based FICA versus self-employment SECA, using FY2024 IRS gross collections.

Formula: FICA share = FICA / OASDHI total; SECA share = SECA / OASDHI total.

• FICA: $1.550 trillion / $1.646 trillion = 94.1% of OASDHI employment tax collections (FY2024).
• SECA: $96.3 billion / $1.646 trillion = 5.9% of OASDHI employment tax collections (FY2024).

Finding: wage-based FICA accounted for 94.1% of Social Security and Medicare employment tax collections in FY2024, while self-employment tax contributed just 5.9%, even though SECA collections grew 24.9% year over year (versus 5.2% for FICA). Inputs: IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1. Limitation: SECA collections in the Data Book are Treasury estimates (the Data Book notes OASDHI splits are estimated under Section 201(a) of the Social Security Act), so the split is approximate.

Insight C. ERC improper-payment exposure ratio

Logic: express the primary-source improper-payment concern as a share of total ERC disbursed, to size the integrity problem without overstating it.

Formula: Flagged share = flagged claims / total ERC provided.

• TIGTA unscreened claims: $41.8 billion / $283 billion = 14.8% of ERC provided.
• IRS high-risk review pool: $86 billion / $283 billion = 30.4% of ERC provided was routed through high-risk review (of which the IRS estimated 10-20% clearly erroneous).

Finding: TIGTA’s $41.8 billion of unscreened ERC claims equals about 14.8% of the roughly $283 billion of ERC provided as of June 2025, and the IRS itself routed the equivalent of about 30.4% of total ERC through high-risk review. Inputs: GAO-26-107456 ($283B); TIGTA 2024-400-068 ($41.8B); IRS June 2024 announcement ($86B). Limitation: the $283 billion (as of June 2025) and the flagged figures (2024) are from different dates, so the ratios are approximate cross-period comparisons; “flagged” and “high-risk” do not mean confirmed fraud.

10. Charts to create

1. Title: “Social Security Wage Base, 2010-2026.” Data: annual wage base. Source: SSA Contribution and Benefit Base. Insight: the base rose 72.8% over 16 years with a standout 9.0% jump in 2023. Citation-worthy because it is the single most-referenced payroll planning number and the trend line frames every year-end withholding update.
2. Title: “Federal Employment Tax Gross Collections, FICA vs. SECA vs. FUTA, FY2024.” Data: $1.550T FICA, $96.3B SECA, $8.13B FUTA, $6.93B RRTA. Source: IRS Data Book 2024, Table 1. Insight: FICA dwarfs every other employment tax line. Citation-worthy as a clean primary-source revenue breakdown.
3. Title: “Payroll Taxes as a Share of GDP, near the 6.0% 50-year average.” Data: 5.8-5.9% of GDP, FY2024-2025 and CBO projection to 2034. Source: CBO. Insight: payroll tax pressure is stable relative to the economy. Citation-worthy for macro-fiscal context.
4. Title: “Social Security Combined Trust Fund Depletion: 2034 and 83% of benefits payable.” Data: depletion year and payable share, 2025 vs 2026 reports. Source: OASDI Trustees Reports. Insight: the solvency date held at 2034 while the actuarial deficit widened to 4.42% of taxable payroll. Citation-worthy as the defining Social Security policy statistic.
5. Title: “ERC: $283 Billion Disbursed vs. $41.8 Billion Unscreened.” Data: GAO total and TIGTA flagged. Source: GAO-26-107456; TIGTA 2024-400-068. Insight: sizes the integrity concern against total disbursement. Citation-worthy for pandemic-relief oversight coverage.

11. Methodology

• Source selection: Tier-1 primary sources were prioritized. Used: Social Security Administration Office of the Chief Actuary (wage base, tax rates, Trustees Reports), Internal Revenue Service (Topic No. 751, FUTA and Form 940 guidance, self-employment tax guidance, ERC announcements), IRS Data Book 2024 (collections and returns), Congressional Budget Office (payroll tax revenue, deficit), U.S. Government Accountability Office (ERC totals), and TIGTA (ERC integrity). A reproduced SSA wage base series (Wikipedia) was used only to assemble the historical table and was cross-checked against SSA figures.
• Inclusion rule: every statistic carries a year and geography (United States) and links to a primary source. Figures that could not be traced to a primary source were excluded.
• Handling conflicts: where the 2025 and 2026 Trustees Reports differed (deficit 3.82% vs 4.42%; payable share 81% vs 83%), both are shown and the 2026 report is treated as current. Where CBO reports individual and payroll taxes combined, the standalone FY2024 payroll figure is used and the FY2025 figure is labeled derived.
• Derived figures: the three insights in Section 9 state their formulas, inputs, and limitations. The maximum OASDI tax ($11,439) is a direct computation from the SSA rate and base.
• Limitations: IRS Data Book OASDHI/FICA/SECA splits are Treasury estimates under Section 201(a) of the Social Security Act; FUTA credit-reduction certification for 2026 was not final at publication; the exact FY2025 standalone payroll dollar total is not published by CBO.
• Date of last update: 2026-06-29.

12. Source quality ranking

Tier 1 (primary: government, official actuarial and oversight bodies):
– Social Security Administration, Office of the Chief Actuary: Contribution and Benefit Base; FICA and SECA tax rate history; 2025 and 2026 OASDI Trustees Reports.
– Internal Revenue Service: Topic No. 751; FUTA Credit Reduction and Topic No. 759 / Form 940; Self-Employment Tax guidance; ERC announcements and FAQs.
– IRS Data Book 2024 (Publication 55B): Table 1 (collections and refunds), Table 2 (returns filed).
– Congressional Budget Office: Monthly Budget Review, Summary for Fiscal Year 2025; Budget and Economic Outlook.
– U.S. Government Accountability Office: GAO-26-107456 (February 2026), ERC totals.
– Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: Report No. 2024-400-068 (September 2024); ERC-related press releases.

Tier 2 (credible reproductions used only for table assembly, cross-checked to Tier 1):
– Wikipedia, “Social Security Wage Base” (used to assemble the historical wage base table; each figure cross-checked to SSA).

Tier 3: none relied upon for factual claims.

Excluded and why: payroll and HR vendor blogs (OnPay, Paychex, Paycom, Paycor, Mercer, Anders) surfaced in research were not used as citation sources because their figures trace to the SSA and IRS primary sources cited directly here. Any secondary “payroll tax revenue” aggregates that did not tie to CBO, IRS Data Book, or Treasury primary data were excluded.

13. Citation format (for major statistics)

• Source: Social Security Administration, Contribution and Benefit Base, 2026.
• Source: Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates, 2026.
• Source: Internal Revenue Service Data Book, 2024, Table 1.
• Source: Congressional Budget Office, Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2025, November 2025.
• Source: The 2026 Annual Report of the Board of Trustees of the OASI and DI Trust Funds.
• Source: U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-107456, February 2026.
• Source: Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Report No. 2024-400-068, September 2024.

14. Journalist-friendly additions

Most quotable statistics

• The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500, up 4.8% from $176,100 in 2025 (SSA, 2026).
• The combined FICA rate is 15.30% and has been unchanged since 1990 (IRS; SSA).
• The IRS collected $1.661 trillion in gross employment taxes in FY2024, 32.6% of all federal collections (IRS Data Book 2024).
• Social Security’s combined trust funds are projected to deplete in 2034, with about 83% of scheduled benefits then payable (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
• The IRS had provided about $283 billion in ERC refunds as of June 2025 (GAO, 2026).

Data limitations

• CBO reports individual and payroll taxes combined in monthly documents, so a clean standalone FY2025 payroll-tax dollar total is not published; the FY2024 figure (about $1.7 trillion) is the most recent verified point.
• IRS Data Book FICA/SECA splits are Treasury estimates, not exact returns-based totals.
• The final 2026 FUTA credit-reduction state list is certified in November 2026 and was unavailable at publication; 2025 values are shown.
• ERC total ($283B, June 2025) and flagged amounts (2024) are from different dates, so ratios comparing them are approximate.

Downloadable dataset: recommended fields

metric_name, category, value, unit, year_or_period, geography, tax_rate_pct, wage_base_usd, source_organization, source_document, source_url, methodology_note, limitation_flag, last_updated

Press summary (about 150 words)

The Payroll Tax Report 2026 compiles the verified U.S. payroll tax picture from primary federal sources. For 2026 the Social Security wage base rises to $184,500, up 4.8% from 2025, while the combined FICA rate holds at 15.30% (12.40% Social Security plus 2.90% Medicare), a rate unchanged since 1990. The self-employment tax remains 15.30% on 92.35% of net earnings, and net FUTA stays 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages. Employment taxes generated $1.661 trillion of IRS gross collections in fiscal 2024, 32.6% of all federal collections, and payroll taxes are the second-largest federal revenue source at about 5.9% of GDP. Social Security’s combined trust funds are projected to deplete in 2034, when about 83% of scheduled benefits would be payable, with a 75-year deficit of 4.42% of taxable payroll. The IRS had disbursed about $283 billion in Employee Retention Credit refunds as of June 2025, with billions flagged for review.

Suggested headlines

1. Social Security Wage Base Hits $184,500 for 2026, a 4.8% Jump
2. FICA at 15.3%: The Payroll Tax Rate That Has Not Changed Since 1990
3. Employment Taxes Now One-Third of All IRS Collections
4. Social Security Trust Funds on Track to Deplete in 2034, Trustees Say
5. $283 Billion Later: The ERC’s Cost and Its Fraud Reckoning

FAQs

1. What is the 2026 Social Security wage base? $184,500, up from $176,100 in 2025 (SSA, 2026).
2. What is the 2026 FICA tax rate? 7.65% each for employee and employer (6.2% OASDI plus 1.45% Medicare), 15.30% combined (IRS, 2026).
3. Is there a cap on Medicare tax? No; the 1.45% Medicare tax applies to all covered wages, with no wage limit (IRS, 2026).
4. What is the Additional Medicare Tax? 0.9% on wages above $200,000, withheld by the employer with no employer match (IRS, 2026).
5. What is the 2026 self-employment tax rate? 15.30% on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings (IRS, 2026).
6. What is the net FUTA rate? Generally 0.6% on the first $7,000 of wages after the 5.4% state credit (IRS, 2026).
7. How much do payroll taxes raise for the federal government? About $1.7 trillion in FY2024, roughly 5.9% of GDP (CBO, 2024).
8. How much did the IRS collect in employment taxes in FY2024? $1.661 trillion gross, 32.6% of all federal collections (IRS Data Book 2024).
9. When will Social Security’s trust funds run short? The combined funds are projected to deplete in 2034, with about 83% of benefits then payable (2026 OASDI Trustees Report).
10. How much has the ERC cost? About $283 billion provided as of June 2025, with about $41.8 billion of claims flagged as unscreened by TIGTA (GAO, 2026; TIGTA, 2024).

15. Sources

1. Social Security Administration, Contribution and Benefit Base, 2026: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html
2. Social Security Administration, 2026 COLA Fact Sheet: https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/cola/factsheets/2026.html
3. Social Security Administration, Office of the Chief Actuary, FICA and SECA Tax Rates: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/taxRates.html
4. Social Security Administration, Social Security Tax Rates (OASDI): https://www.ssa.gov/oact/progdata/oasdiRates.html
5. The 2026 OASDI Trustees Report, Overview and Highlights: https://www.ssa.gov/oact/TR/2026/II_A_highlights.html
6. Social Security Board of Trustees press release, June 9, 2026: https://www.ssa.gov/news/en/press/releases/2026-06-09.html
7. The 2025 OASDI Trustees Report: https://www.ssa.gov/OACT/TR/2025/
8. 2025 OASDI Trustees Report, Conclusion (II.E): https://www.ssa.gov/oact/tr/2025/II_E_conclu.html
9. Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc751
10. Internal Revenue Service, FUTA Credit Reduction: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/futa-credit-reduction
11. Internal Revenue Service, Topic No. 759, Form 940: https://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc759
12. Internal Revenue Service, Self-Employment Tax: https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/self-employment-tax-social-security-and-medicare-taxes
13. Internal Revenue Service Data Book, 2024 (Publication 55B): https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p55b.pdf
14. IRS SOI Tax Stats, Gross Collections by Type of Tax (Data Book Table): https://www.irs.gov/statistics/soi-tax-stats-gross-collections-by-type-of-tax-irs-data-book-table-6
15. Congressional Budget Office, Monthly Budget Review: Summary for Fiscal Year 2025: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/61307
16. Congressional Budget Office, An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: 2024 to 2034: https://www.cbo.gov/publication/60419
17. U.S. Government Accountability Office, GAO-26-107456, COVID-19 Relief: IRS Lessons Learned on Improper Payments: https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-26-107456
18. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, Report No. 2024-400-068 (ERC), September 2024: https://www.tigta.gov/sites/default/files/reports/2024-10/2024400068fr.pdf
19. TIGTA press release, $3.5 Billion in Potentially Improper Pandemic Credits Prevented: https://www.tigta.gov/articles/press-releases/tigta-identifies-fraud-scheme-alerts-irs-prevent-35-billion-potentially
20. Internal Revenue Service, Frequently Asked Questions about the Employee Retention Credit: https://www.irs.gov/coronavirus/frequently-asked-questions-about-the-employee-retention-credit
21. Tax Policy Center, What are the major federal payroll taxes, and how much money do they raise?: https://taxpolicycenter.org/briefing-book/what-are-major-federal-payroll-taxes-and-how-much-money-do-they-raise

Related research

More original, sourced datasets from The Ledgerism Brief:

• Federal Revenue & Spending Report — FY2025 receipts, outlays, deficit, and debt.
• Tax Filing Season Report — Refunds, e-file rates, and processing timing.
• The State of the American Taxpayer — Returns, AGI, refunds, and effective rates.
• Tax Preparation Industry Report — How Americans get their taxes done.