- Nov
- 14
- 2018
End-of-year news from Northwell’s payroll department
Social Security wage base increases to $132,900 for 2019
The Social Security Administration (SSA) announced that the 2019 Social Security wage base will be $132,900, an increase of $4,500 from $128,400 in 2018.
As in prior years, there is no limit to the wages subject to the Medicare tax, therefore all covered wages are still subject to the 1.45% tax. Wages paid in excess of $200,000 in 2019 will be subject to an extra 0.9% Medicare tax that will be withheld from employees’ wages.
The FICA tax rate, which is the combined Social Security tax rate of 6.2% and the Medicare tax rate of 1.45%, will remain 7.65% for 2019 for wages up to the Social Security wage base. The maximum Social Security tax employees and employers will each pay in 2019 is $8,239.80, an increase of $279.00 from $7,960.80 in 2018.
So…more money comes out of our paychecks in 2019 for SS and Medicare?