Employer Payroll Tax Calculator
Calculate employer Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, and SUTA in one place, with wage-base tracking and credit-reduction handling shown line by line.
Built from IRS Pub. 15, IRC sections 3111 and 3301 to 3306, Form 940 and 941 instructions, and SSA wage-base releases.
Total employer payroll tax
2026$0.00
Per pay period
Social Security wage base remaining: $0.00
Advanced payroll assumptions YTD wages, credit reduction, 501(c)(3), view mode
Wages paid earlier this year by this employer for this employee.
If your state is on Schedule A (Form 940), enable this and enter the add-on.
Example: 1.2 for California (2025), 4.5 for U.S. Virgin Islands (2025).
For qualifying nonprofits, FUTA is exempt for wages paid to their own employees.
Switch between one period and annualized totals.
See the IRS FUTA credit-reduction page for current Schedule A (Form 940) jurisdictions.
Per period accrual schedule
| Period | Cumulative gross | SS (6.2%) | Medicare (1.45%) | FUTA | SUTA | Total | Cumulative total |
|---|
Employer tax breakdown
This is an estimate for planning, not tax advice or a filed return. Confirm anything material with a CPA or enrolled agent.
Scope
What this calculator figures (and what it leaves out)
This calculator estimates employer-side payroll taxes for one employee: Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, and SUTA. It is built for planning and budgeting, not for filing. If you are comparing staffing options, start here and then continue through the Payroll & Owner Pay calculators.
It does not model every payroll edge case. Household workers, agricultural rules, successor-employer wage carryover, third-party sick pay, and multi-state unemployment attribution are covered in the edge-case section below.
Basics
Payroll tax terms, in plain English
FICA
Federal payroll tax that funds Social Security and Medicare. Employers and employees each pay 7.65% on covered wages.
FUTA
Federal unemployment tax paid by employers only. Gross rate is 6.0% on the first $7,000 of wages per employee, but the standard credit brings the effective rate to 0.6%.
SUTA
State unemployment tax. Each state sets its own rate and wage base, and each employer receives an assigned rate based on their claims history.
Wage base
The wage cap for a specific payroll tax. Social Security has an annual wage base ($184,500 in 2026), FUTA has a fixed $7,000 base, and Medicare has no base.
Credit reduction
A reduction in the normal 5.4% FUTA credit for certain states with unpaid federal unemployment loans, which raises the effective FUTA rate above 0.6%.
Additional Medicare Tax
A 0.9% employee surtax above statutory thresholds. Employers withhold it but do not match it, so it is not part of the employer cost.
Formula
How the employer payroll tax is calculated
Employer payroll tax = (6.2% × min(wages, Social Security wage base)) + (1.45% × wages) + (effective FUTA rate × min(wages, $7,000)) + (SUTA rate × min(wages, state SUTA wage base))
Effective FUTA rate is 0.6% in the standard case and increases by the credit-reduction add-on when applicable. The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500; the FUTA base is fixed at $7,000.
The order the calculator runs the math in
Read year and wage bases
Use the selected year to load the Social Security wage base. FUTA keeps the fixed $7,000 base. SUTA uses your entered state base.
Apply Social Security cap
Tax only wages up to the remaining Social Security wage base for this employee, then apply 6.2%.
Apply Medicare with no cap
Apply 1.45% to the full wage amount for the period or annualized view.
Apply FUTA base and rate
Tax only wages up to the FUTA wage base. Use 0.6% effective by default, then add any credit-reduction percentage if applicable.
Apply SUTA base and rate
Tax only wages up to your entered state base at your entered state rate.
Add component totals
Add Social Security, Medicare, FUTA, and SUTA to show the employer payroll tax total and effective rate.
Worked examples
Worked examples: below, at, and above the Social Security wage base
Biweekly pay of $2,500, no prior YTD wages, SUTA 2.7% with a $9,000 SUTA wage base, standard FUTA credit.
- Social Security (6.2%)$155.00
- Medicare (1.45%)$36.25
- FUTA (0.6%)$15.00
- SUTA (2.7%)$67.50
Current wages $2,000 with Social Security YTD wages already at $184,000 in 2026. The period crosses the remaining $500 of Social Security base.
- Taxable Social Security wages this period$500.00
- Social Security tax this period$31.00
- Medicare tax this period$29.00
- FUTA and SUTAcontinue until each base is exhausted
2025 wages with credit reduction enabled and a 1.2% add-on. Effective FUTA rate becomes 1.8% instead of 0.6%.
- FUTA base$7,000
- Effective FUTA rate1.8%
- FUTA tax at 1.8%$126.00
- Standard FUTA at 0.6%$42.00
A qualifying 501(c)(3) organization pays an employee $2,500 biweekly with the same SUTA rate and wage base as the first example. FUTA is zero because section 3306(c)(8) excludes 501(c)(3) employment.
- Social Security (6.2%)$155.00
- Medicare (1.45%)$36.25
- FUTA (exempt)$0.00
- SUTA (2.7%)$67.50
Forms
How the result flows to your Form 940 and Form 941
The result maps to two federal filings: Form 941 for employer FICA and Form 940 for FUTA. When credit reduction applies, Schedule A (Form 940) supplies the add-on percentage.
Standard employee payroll cycle
Form 941 + Form 940Employer runs regular payroll, employee wages are below all wage bases, and no credit reduction applies.
| Form line | What goes there | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Form 941, Part 1 | Employer Social Security and Medicare tax | From SS + Medicare rows |
| Form 940, Line 7 | FUTA taxable wages and tax at effective rate | From FUTA row |
| Form 940, Line 12 | FUTA tax after adjustments | From FUTA total |
FICA is quarterly on Form 941; FUTA is annual on Form 940.
Employee crosses Social Security wage base
Form 941 focusSocial Security wages exceed the annual base during the year, so Social Security tax stops while Medicare continues.
| Form line | What goes there | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Form 941, taxable Social Security wages | Stops increasing after base is reached | $0 additional SS after cap |
| Form 941, taxable Medicare wages | Continues on all wages | No cap |
| Form 940 | Unchanged logic | Still uses $7,000 FUTA base |
The calculator mirrors the point where Social Security tax drops to zero for later payroll runs.
Credit-reduction jurisdiction employer
Schedule A (Form 940)Employer operates in a credit-reduction jurisdiction and enters the add-on percentage from IRS Schedule A.
| Form line | What goes there | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Schedule A (Form 940) | Credit-reduction percentage | User-entered add-on |
| Form 940, adjusted FUTA | 0.6% plus add-on | Higher FUTA result |
| Form 941 | No change from credit reduction | FICA stays the same |
Credit reduction changes FUTA only. It does not change Social Security or Medicare reporting.
Common errors
Employer payroll tax: common mistakes
- Using 6.0% as the normal FUTA cost The common effective FUTA rate is 0.6% after the standard credit, unless credit reduction applies.
- Forgetting FUTA credit reduction A credit-reduction add-on can raise your effective FUTA rate above 0.6%.
- Not tracking the Social Security wage base per employee Social Security tax stops after the annual wage base is reached.
- Adding Additional Medicare Tax to employer cost The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax is employee-only and is not an employer match.
- Treating SUTA like a federal rate SUTA is state-specific and employer-specific, so rate and wage base must come from your state notice.
Testing
How I tested the employer payroll tax calculator
Before publishing this page, I checked the calculator across 32 source-backed test cases. Those checks cover Social Security wage-base crossing, FUTA standard and credit-reduction scenarios, 501(c)(3) FUTA exemption, SUTA wage-base crossing, validation boundaries, share-link round trips, and 2025 versus 2026 year-specific figures.
Every test case maps to the IRC section, Form 940 or Form 941 instruction line, or SSA wage-base figure it comes from. You can download all 32 test cases as JSON. If you find an issue, contact me and I will review it.
FAQ
Employer payroll tax: common questions
What is the employer portion of FICA?
The employer portion of FICA is 7.65% of covered wages: 6.2% for Social Security up to the annual wage base, plus 1.45% for Medicare with no wage cap. Employers match the employee's base FICA rates under IRC section 3111.
What is the FUTA tax rate for employers?
The FUTA rate is 6.0% gross on the first $7,000 of wages per employee, but most employers receive the full 5.4% credit, so the normal effective rate is 0.6%. Credit-reduction jurisdictions have a higher effective rate.
What is SUTA tax?
SUTA is state unemployment tax paid by employers. Each state sets the wage base and assigns each employer a rate based on state rules and experience rating, so the calculator asks you to enter your own state values.
How do I calculate employer payroll taxes?
Calculate Social Security at 6.2% up to the wage base, Medicare at 1.45% on all wages, FUTA at the effective rate on the first $7,000, and SUTA at your state rate up to your state wage base. Then add all four components.
Does the employer pay the Additional Medicare Tax?
No. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax is withheld from the employee only when wages exceed statutory thresholds. Employers do not match that 0.9% amount.
What is a FUTA credit-reduction state?
A credit-reduction jurisdiction receives less than the full 5.4% FUTA credit, which increases the effective FUTA rate above 0.6%. The applicable add-on percentage is listed in Schedule A (Form 940) guidance.
What is the Social Security wage base for 2026?
The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500. The 6.2% employer Social Security tax applies only to wages up to that limit for each employee and employer.
What is the FUTA wage base?
The FUTA wage base is $7,000 per employee, per year, per employer. After an employee reaches that FUTA base, additional wages do not generate more FUTA tax for that year.
What this calculator doesn't model (and why)
Special employment categories
Household employees, agricultural labor, and some visa-based payroll categories follow different federal rules and thresholds.
Complex wage definitions
The calculator applies one entered wage figure across FICA, FUTA, and SUTA. In practice, taxable wage definitions can diverge for specific benefits and deductions.
Multi-state and successor payroll
Multi-state SUTA attribution, successor-employer wage carryover, third-party sick pay, and Form 8974 payroll-tax credit handling are not modeled in this version.
Updates
What's changed
- Initial build. Confirmed the 2026 figures against the latest IRS guidance, including the $184,500 Social Security wage base and the 0.6% effective FUTA rate.
Sources
Where the numbers come from
- IRS Publication 15 (Circular E): Employer's Tax Guide
- IRC section 3111: Employer tax on Social Security and Medicare wages
- IRC section 3301: FUTA gross rate
- IRC section 3302: FUTA state credit and credit reduction
- IRC section 3306: FUTA wage base and exemptions
- Instructions for Form 940: Employer's Annual Federal Unemployment (FUTA) Tax Return
- Instructions for Form 941: Employer's Quarterly Federal Tax Return
- SSA Federal Register notice (FR Doc 2025-19763): 2026 Social Security wage base
- IRS FUTA credit reduction page
- U.S. Department of Labor, 91 FR 1198: FUTA credit reductions applicable for 2025