In the US, FICA deductions refer to those taxes deducted, or subtracted, from employee paychecks to collectively fund the Social Security and Medicare programs. Social Security pays retirement income to elderly Americans based upon their lifetime earnings, disability income to individuals permanently injured or incapable of work due to chronic illness, and income to children orphaned by the death of one or both parents. Known first as Section XIII, the program was renamed the Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) and has continued with various required percentages collected since 1939. FICA deductions are based on an employee's original gross income; the employee's share is subtracted before any other deductions and the total amount of approximately 15 percent of gross earnings is paid equally by the employee and his employer. An employee's FICA deductions, then, are 7.5 percent of his gross income and consist of a larger deduction for the Social Security program and a smaller contribution for the Medica

从雇员工资中扣除的社会保险税是迄今为止FICA扣除项目中较大的一项。 确切的数额是由每年的立法确定的，因此每年都有变化。 在过去的十年中，立法要求约占雇员总工资的7.5%。 然而，在过去的一些经济困难时期，雇员的缴款数额被暂时减少，作为一项促进经济的措施。 社会保险税作为FICA扣除项目之一，其最高缴款额是有上限的，其数额可以每年变化。

第二项也是较小的FICA扣除包括专门用于Medicare的金额。 这项税收的金额也是由国会立法确定的，因此随着时间的推移而波动。 然而，其大致金额徘徊在雇员总工资的1.5%左右。 这项税收用于支付当前的Medicare--或医疗费用和健康保险福利--退休人员和残疾人。 与社会安全税不同，这项FICA扣除没有最高上限。

如前所述，FICA扣除额包括医疗保险和社会保障退休、残疾和遗属福利的费用。 对于大多数受雇于公司和企业的美国人来说，FICA扣除额是他们工资的第一个减项，通常其次是适用地区的州和地方税的扣除额。 此外，雇员收到的工资还可能降低医疗保险费、退休计划和其他可选择参加的计划的自愿扣除额。 虽然FICA扣除额可能不受雇员欢迎，但他们只负责支付所欠税款的一半，而其雇主支付其余部分。 另一方面，那些自雇者或独立承包商则负责向FICA支付全部款项。