INQUIRY 16-10, Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA)

Published: December 15, 2016
Effective: Pay Period 01, 2017

Summary

For payments received on or after January 1, 2017, the Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) rate and maximum amount paid by employees will increase as described below.

Implementation

FICA Employee

The current Federal Social Security (Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance (OASDI)) and Medicare amounts are calculated by multiplying the current FICA-taxable wages by the appropriate FICA rate.

The FICA rate remains at 7.65 percent. Of the 7.65 percent, the 6.2 percent Social Security portion has a maximum annual earnings of $127,200 with a maximum amount paid by the employee of $7,886.40. The FICA Medicare rate remains at 1.45 percent on wages up to $200,000. The Medicare rate remains at 2.35 percent for the portion of wages over $200,000.

Medicare-Only Employee

The Medicare rate remains at 1.45 percent on wages up to $200,000. The Medicare rate remains at 2.35 percent for the portion of wages over $200,000.

No action on the part of the employee or the personnel office is necessary.

Inquiries

For questions about NFC processing, authorized Servicing Personnel Office representatives should contact the NFC Contact Center at 1-855-NFC-4GOV (1-855-632-4468) or via the Internet using the Requester Console.