* In 2010 and 2011, the 111th and 112th Congresses and Democratic President Barack Obama passed three laws that temporarily decreased the Social Security payroll tax during 2011 and 2012 by two percentage points (from 12.4% to 10.4%). These laws also required that monies equivalent to the dec...
Why? As Kyle explained, the portion (50 percent) of payroll taxes paid by employers is from pre-tax income when the portion (50 percent) of payroll taxes paid by employees is post-tax income. So that means 50 percent of Social Security benefits should be treated as taxable income. But ...
Wish I could find all the things I have read about Social Security. One time, on a bored commute into NYC for work, I computed that I’d have to live to 132 in order to “steal” back what was “stolen” from me in SSI payroll taxes. And that was on a “nominal basis” with ...
Most U.S. workers pay Social Security payroll taxes all through their careers. The current tax is 12.4%, typically split in half between workers and employers at 6.2% each (self-employed people pay for the full 12.4%). Thankfully, not all your income is subject to Social Securi...
For contributions that you make to an HSA on a pre-FICA-tax basis (i.e., contributions made as payroll deductions, rather than money going from your checking account into an HSA), yes, they do reduce your Social Security wages for the year. And they will therefore reduce your ultimate ...
11 Workers obtain insurance protection (i.e., insured status) by working for a sufficient number of years in jobs covered by Social Security and subject to its payroll tax. Benefits are based on the worker’s career-average earnings in jobs covered by Social Security, and the program is ...
While the taxable maximum is adjusted each year, the percentage of total earnings above that threshold has increased over time. This year, that meant a top earner with $1 million in gross annual wage incomestopped paying into Social Securityin March. ...
If Social Security were kept off to the side, and we just looked at how much money was being raised by the government through things like income tax (but excluding the Social Security payroll tax) and how much it was spending on normal operations (and excluding Social Security benefit payment...
Payroll taxeswould have to rise by 3.5 percentage points to eliminate Social Security's projectedactuarial deficitover 75 years. This would ensure that the program has the funding to pay scheduled benefits in full over that time frame. The payroll tax rate is 12.4% with workers contributing 6.2%...
If you work as an employee in the United States, your employer will deduct Social Security taxes as part of your payroll. If you are self-employed, you are responsible for remitting your own Social Security taxes. Under both situations, most workers are required to contribute Social Security t...