Employer Payroll Taxes

Employer payroll taxes are taxes paid on the wages and salaries of employees by the employer. These taxes are used to finance social insurance programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Some employer payroll taxes are below.

The federal Social Security and Medicare programs are funded by the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxation. 15.3% of a person's wages are owed in total each pay period; half of that amount is paid by the employee and the other half by the employer. This entails that each party contributes 1.45% for Medicare with no cap and 6.2% for Social Security up to a wage base limit of $147,000. However, companies are not required to match the additional 0.9% Medicare premium that employees earning above $200,000 may be charged.