Is there a wage cap on Medicare tax?

No. Unlike Social Security, which stops at an annual wage base, Medicare applies to all covered earnings. Every additional dollar of wages carries 1.45%, and above the surtax threshold it carries 2.35% for the employee.

Who pays the Additional Medicare Tax?

Individuals whose wages, compensation, or self-employment income exceed $200,000 for single and head of household filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly, or $125,000 for married filing separately. Employers do not match this 0.9%, so it falls entirely on the employee.

Why did my employer not withhold enough?

An employer must start withholding the 0.9% once your wages from that employer exceed $200,000, regardless of your filing status. A married couple each earning below that individually can therefore owe the surtax at filing even though both employers withheld correctly.

Does my employer pay Medicare tax too?

Yes. An employer matches the 1.45% base, so 2.9% reaches Medicare in total for a W-2 worker. This page shows the employee share only, and the Payroll Tax Calculator presents the same figure from a per-paycheck angle.

What if I am self-employed?

You pay both halves, so 2.9% applies through self-employment tax rather than payroll withholding, and it is charged on 92.35% of net earnings. Use the Self-Employment Tax Calculator for that treatment, then return here for the surtax.

Does the surtax apply to investment income?

Not this one. The Additional Medicare Tax applies to earned income. A separate 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax covers investment income above similar thresholds, and it is not calculated anywhere on this page.

Is the year-to-date field required?

No, it defaults to zero. Leave it blank when checking a full year in one go, and use it when testing whether a mid-year raise, bonus, or second job pushes cumulative income past the threshold.

Does this apply outside the United States?

No. Medicare is a US federal programme funded through FICA and SECA contributions. TaxEase paid services for Pakistan cover contributions and filings under an entirely different system with its own rates.

Medicare Tax Calculator with the Additional 0.9% Surtax

Medicare Tax Calculator with the Additional 0.9% SurtaxThe Medicare Tax Calculator is a free browser-based tool that works out the US Medicare portion of FICA on earned income, including the Additional Medicare Tax that applies above a filing-status threshold. Unlike Social Security, Medicare has no wage ceiling at all, so 1.45% applies to every dollar of covered earnings. On top of that, an extra 0.9% applies to wages above $200,000 for single and head of household filers, $250,000 for joint filers, and $125,000 for married filing separately. Enter income, filing status, and any year-to-date earnings to see both components and the combined total.

What people use it for

A dual-income couple checking for a shortfall

Two spouses each earning $160,000 are individually below the $200,000 employer withholding trigger, yet their joint income of $320,000 sits well above the $250,000 threshold. Entering the combined figure exposes the surtax that neither employer withheld, which is precisely the gap that produces an unexpected balance due at filing time.

A physician crossing the threshold mid-year

A salaried doctor whose cumulative income passes $200,000 in October wants to know when the extra deduction starts appearing and how large it becomes by December. Entering year-to-date earnings alongside the remaining income isolates the surtax cleanly rather than leaving it buried inside a payslip full of other deductions that all happen to move in the same month.

Comparing an employee with a self-employed peer

Someone weighing a move into consulting compares 1.45% as an employee against 2.9% as a self-employed person, since the employer match disappears the moment they leave. Doubling the Medicare line is a small percentage in isolation, but on a six-figure income it becomes a real and recurring cost that has to be priced into every consulting rate quoted afterwards.

Explaining a payslip line to a new hire

A payroll administrator fielding a question about the small Medicare deduction can show the arithmetic directly on screen instead of describing it. It is a fixed 1.45% with no ceiling anywhere, which makes it simpler than nearly every other line on the payslip and unusually easy for a new employee to verify against their own gross pay.

How it works

Enter your annual income The earned income subject to Medicare tax for the period you are checking. Medicare carries no wage cap, so this figure is used in full for the base calculation regardless of how large it is.
Select your filing status This sets the Additional Medicare Tax threshold at $200,000 for single and head of household filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly, or $125,000 for married filing separately. Nothing else on this page depends on the choice.
Enter year-to-date income if relevant Earnings already received this year. The tool adds them to the income figure when testing the surtax threshold, so a mid-year check works correctly instead of assuming you are starting from zero.
Press Calculate Medicare Tax The base tax is simply income multiplied by 1.45%. The surtax card only appears when the combined income actually exceeds the threshold for the filing status you selected.
Read the total Medicare tax The large figure at the bottom combines both components. It represents the employee share alone and does not include the matching amount an employer separately contributes on your behalf.

Worked examples

Input: Annual income $75,000, single, no year-to-date income

Result: Medicare tax $1,087.50 and no Additional Medicare Tax, for a total of $1,087.50. The income is well below the $200,000 threshold, so the flat 1.45% is the whole story here and no surtax card appears.

Input: Annual income $250,000, single, no year-to-date income

Result: Medicare tax $3,625.00 plus Additional Medicare Tax of $450.00 on the $50,000 above the threshold, for a total of $4,075.00. The surtax adds only 0.9% but applies to every dollar past $200,000.

Input: Income $60,000, year-to-date $220,000, married filing jointly

Result: Medicare tax $870.00 on the $60,000, plus $270.00 of Additional Medicare Tax because the combined $280,000 exceeds the $250,000 joint threshold by $30,000. Total Medicare tax $1,140.00.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a wage cap on Medicare tax?: No. Unlike Social Security, which stops at an annual wage base, Medicare applies to all covered earnings. Every additional dollar of wages carries 1.45%, and above the surtax threshold it carries 2.35% for the employee.
Who pays the Additional Medicare Tax?: Individuals whose wages, compensation, or self-employment income exceed $200,000 for single and head of household filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly, or $125,000 for married filing separately. Employers do not match this 0.9%, so it falls entirely on the employee.
Why did my employer not withhold enough?: An employer must start withholding the 0.9% once your wages from that employer exceed $200,000, regardless of your filing status. A married couple each earning below that individually can therefore owe the surtax at filing even though both employers withheld correctly.
Does my employer pay Medicare tax too?: Yes. An employer matches the 1.45% base, so 2.9% reaches Medicare in total for a W-2 worker. This page shows the employee share only, and the Payroll Tax Calculator presents the same figure from a per-paycheck angle.
What if I am self-employed?: You pay both halves, so 2.9% applies through self-employment tax rather than payroll withholding, and it is charged on 92.35% of net earnings. Use the Self-Employment Tax Calculator for that treatment, then return here for the surtax.
Does the surtax apply to investment income?: Not this one. The Additional Medicare Tax applies to earned income. A separate 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax covers investment income above similar thresholds, and it is not calculated anywhere on this page.
Is the year-to-date field required?: No, it defaults to zero. Leave it blank when checking a full year in one go, and use it when testing whether a mid-year raise, bonus, or second job pushes cumulative income past the threshold.
Does this apply outside the United States?: No. Medicare is a US federal programme funded through FICA and SECA contributions. TaxEase paid services for Pakistan cover contributions and filings under an entirely different system with its own rates.

Tips

For a married couple, add both incomes together before testing the threshold. Individual payslips will each look perfectly correct while the household still owes the surtax at filing.
If you expect to cross the threshold, adjust withholding or estimated payments during the year rather than absorbing the whole surtax as a single balance due in April.
Remember the 0.9% has no employer match. It is one of the few payroll taxes where the cost is not shared, which makes it more noticeable than its small size suggests.
A job change mid-year can reset wage base and threshold tracking inside payroll systems. Use the year-to-date field to check what the combined annual picture really looks like.

Written by Ahsan Mahmood. Last updated 2026-07-21. This calculator runs entirely in your browser and produces estimates, not tax advice.TaxEase — Medicare Tax Calculator with the Additional 0.9% Surtax