LA Business Daily

Is FICA deductible from my gross income when I file tax?

I have a general quesiton about FICA. Let's assume the following My gross income is 50K FICA withhold is 3500 And there is no other deductible When I file my tax, is my taxable income = 50K - 3500? Or I have to pay my tax on th 50K, being double taxed on the 3500 portion.

Public Comments

1. Not deductible ever. You aren't being double taxed. Statistically (meaning if you live as long as you should.) you get it back as part of your retirement benefits.
2. At that level of income you will pay FICA on the whole amount. If you are having money taken out to fund a retirement plan you will notice that you are only taxed on the net and not the gross for federal income tax, but social security and medicare are calculated on the gross.
3. No, you are not allowed to deduct FICA. Pay withheld for FICA is subject to federal income tax, and has been since the 1930's. Your federal taxable income is 50K minus any "exemptions" to which you are entitled, minus any "adjustments to income", and minus either the "standard deduction" or any "itemized deductions" that you claim. Federal income tax should have been withheld. If it was not, give your employer a new Form W-4 and claim fewer "allowances" than last time.
4. FICA has been deducted from the total income. The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) tax (pronounced /ˈfаɪkə/) is a United States payroll (or employment) tax[imposed by the federal government on both employees and employers to fund Social Security and Medicare —federal programs that provide benefits for retirees, the disabled, and children of deceased workers. Social Security benefits include old-age, survivors, and disability insurance (OASDI); Medicare provides hospital insurance benefits. The amount that one pays in payroll taxes throughout one's working career is indirectly tied to the social security benefits annuity that one receives as a retiree. Now IF you paid an excess (doubtful), that could cause an off-set on your income for the year. No, $3500 seems about normal based on $50K income. That is only about 7.6% - I did not figure out mine, but I imagine it comes out close to that since I grossed just a shade under $50. NOT DEDUCTIBLE - use a free tax program to verify this, such as freetaxusa.com; turbotax,com, etc.
5. It used to be 40 years ago. The democrats under Lyndon B. Johnson removed this tax as a deduction. The republicans fought based on the fact that it is double taxation. Years later, the democrats added another tax on it. Should you live long enough, when you collect your social security, the money you put in, gets taxed again as income when you get your social security taxes. Don't you just love it?