Federal Insurance Contributions Act

Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax (/ˈfaɪkə/) is a United States federal payroll (or employment) tax imposed on both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare—federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, disabled people, and children of deceased workers.

The tax also provides funds to the health care system for institutions that provide healthcare for workers that do not have health insurance and cannot afford healthcare treatment. Social Security benefits include old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI); Medicare provides hospital insurance benefits for the elderly. The amount that one pays in payroll taxes throughout one's working career is associated indirectly with the social security benefits annuity that one receives as a retiree. This has caused some to claim that the payroll tax is not a tax because its collection is tied to a benefit. The United States Supreme Court decided in Flemming v. Nestor (1960) that no one has an accrued property right to benefits from Social Security. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act is currently codified at Title 26, Subtitle C, Chapter 21 of the United States Code.

In the United States, the term payroll tax usually refers to the FICA tax; income tax refers to other federal and state employment taxes.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities states that three-quarters of taxpayers pay more in payroll taxes than they do in income taxes. The FICA tax is considered a regressive tax on income with no standard deduction or personal exemption deduction. The Social Security portion of the tax is imposed on only the first $113,700 of gross wages in 2013, $117,000 in 2014, and $118,500 in 2015 and 2016. The FICA tax is not imposed on investment income such as rental income, interest, or dividends.

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