What Is the Percent of Social Security Taxes Taken Out of Your Paycheck?
Social Security programs are funded primarily by taxes, which employers must take out of employees' paychecks. Employers pay a matching amount to the Social Security Administration in the employees' name. Both employee and employer pay 7.65 percent of the employee's paycheck to the SSA.
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Payroll Tax
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Social Security is a payroll tax, meaning that it is taken directly out of every paycheck and figured on an employer's payroll. As a payroll tax, employers shoulder half of the full tax burden. Social Security takes 7.65 out of your paycheck, but your employer also pays 7.65 percent of your paycheck out of her own pocket, for a total of 15.3 percent per employee.
Self-Employment
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If you are self-employed, you shoulder the full tax burden and responsibility of paying the tax. You must pay the full 15.3 percent and you must calculate, save and pay that amount yourself; there is no other employer to deduct it automatically and send it off for you.
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Limits
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You only pay the full Social Security tax on the first $106,800 that you make in a year. After the $106,800 mark, you only continue to pay the percentage that goes towards Medicare, which comes to a much lower 2.9 percent of your paycheck.
Changes
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Tax regulations, including Social Security tax, change with some frequency. Rates have not changed since 1990, but different years see different incentives that change the actual rate that you or your employer pays. For example, a temporary break in 2010 let employers deduct their share of the social security tax.
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