The Social Security Administration announced that the wage base for figuring the Social Security tax will rise from $117,000 in 2014 to $118,500 in 2015. The tax rate itself will remain unchanged at 6.2% resulting in a tax increase of $93 each for both the employee and the employer when wages reach $118,500 or more in 2015.
In addition to the Social Security Tax there is the Medicare tax which will not change. This is 1.45% for both the employee and the employer. Certain taxpayers may also encounter the 0.9% additional Medicare tax – this is dependent on the employee’s filing status and total earned income.
Note that those taxpayers that are self-employed pay both the employee and the employer components of these taxes.
