Medicare tax calculator (2026)
Medicare tax is 1.45% on all your wages — no cap — plus an additional 0.9% on wages over $200,000. Enter your wages to see the total.
📅 Updated for the 2026 tax year · built from primary IRS sources
Medicare tax (2026)
$870/yr
≈ $33.46 per biweekly paycheck
- Base rate (all wages)
- 1.45%
- Medicare on wages
- $870.00
- Additional 0.9% over $200,000
- $0.00
Your employer pays a matching 1.45%. Self-employed people pay both halves. Estimate only — not tax advice.
How Medicare tax works
Medicare (the "HI" portion of FICA) is withheld at 1.45% from every paycheck with no wage cap, and your employer matches it for a combined 2.9%. High earners pay an Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% on wages above $200,000 (single) — employers start withholding it automatically once you cross that point in the year, and it is not matched by the employer.
Self-employed workers pay both halves (2.9%, plus the 0.9% surtax where applicable) through SECA.