Yes. You have to pay Social Security tax after age 66 on any wages or self-employment income you earn, and the same is true at 70, 75, or any age beyond. FICA withholding is tied to working, not to your age or to whether you have already started collecting Social Security benefits. If you have a paycheck, your employer takes out 7.65% for Social Security and Medicare exactly as it does for a coworker in their twenties.
Why Age 66 Doesn’t Change Your Payroll Tax
The confusion is understandable. Once you qualify for Social Security, it feels like you should be done paying in. But the law makes no such connection. FICA is a flat-rate tax on earned income, and it applies from your first job to your last with no age cutoff and no exemption for current beneficiaries.
There is a related point worth clearing up. If you were born in 1960 or later, your Full Retirement Age is 67, not 66.1Social Security Administration. Benefits Planner: Retirement – Born in 1960 or Later So a person who is 66 today has usually not yet reached FRA. That distinction won’t change your payroll tax bill, but it does affect the earnings test on your benefits, which is a separate issue covered further down.
What Comes Out of Your Paycheck
FICA has two pieces. The Social Security portion is 6.2% of your wages, matched by 6.2% from your employer. The Medicare portion is 1.45% from you and 1.45% from your employer. Your share adds up to 7.65% of gross wages.2Social Security Administration. Social Security and Medicare Tax Rates
The two parts have different ceilings. The Social Security tax stops once your wages for the year cross the annual wage base. For 2026, that base is $184,500.3Social Security Administration. Contribution and Benefit Base After you hit it, the 6.2% comes off no more paychecks that calendar year. This cap applies the same way at 30 or 70.
Medicare tax has no ceiling. Every dollar of earned income is subject to the 1.45% rate. Higher earners also pay an additional 0.9% Medicare surtax on earned income above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for joint filers, which brings the total Medicare rate to 2.35% on income above those levels.4Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
Your employer handles the withholding and reports the totals on your annual Form W-2.5Internal Revenue Service. About Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement If you work two jobs and your combined pay exceeds the wage base, each employer withholds on its own, but you claim the excess Social Security tax back as a credit on your return.
If You’re Self-Employed
Working for yourself after 66 doesn’t change the rules; it just changes who writes the check. Because there’s no employer to split the cost with, you pay both halves. The IRS spells out that self-employment tax applies regardless of age and even if you’re already receiving Social Security.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) The combined rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare.2Social Security Administration. Social Security and Medicare Tax Rates
Self-employment tax kicks in once your net earnings reach $400 for the year.6Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) You calculate it on 92.35% of your net self-employment income, not the full amount.7Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax That adjustment reflects the fact that employees don’t pay FICA on the employer’s share of their wages. Schedule SE is where the math happens on your return.
The same $184,500 Social Security wage base applies. If you have both a W-2 job and side self-employment income, the cap covers your combined earnings. Once the total crosses it, the 12.4% Social Security part shuts off for the rest of the year. The 2.9% Medicare part and the 0.9% surtax keep going with no ceiling.4Internal Revenue Service. Questions and Answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
One built-in break helps offset the sting: you can deduct half of your self-employment tax when figuring your adjusted gross income.8Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 26 U.S. Code 164 – Taxes It’s an above-the-line deduction, so you get it whether or not you itemize. The deduction represents the employer-equivalent share that W-2 workers never see on their pay stubs.
The Upside: More Work Can Raise Your Benefit
The payroll taxes you keep paying after 66 aren’t a one-way loss. Social Security bases your retirement benefit on your highest 35 years of indexed earnings. If a current year of wages beats out a lower-earning year or a zero year in that history, your monthly benefit goes up.9Social Security Administration. Additional Work Can Increase Your Future Benefits
You don’t have to apply for the increase. Social Security reviews every beneficiary’s earnings record each year and automatically recalculates the payment if new earnings would result in a higher amount.10Social Security Administration. Code of Federal Regulations 404-0285 The effect depends on your history. If you already have 35 strong earning years on the books, a part-time job in your late sixties may not shift much. If you had years out of the workforce or years with low income, late-career wages can meaningfully lift your check.
Other Tax Consequences of Working Past 66
FICA is only one piece of the picture. Working while collecting Social Security tends to trigger a few other tax effects that people often confuse with payroll tax.
More of Your Benefits Become Taxable
Federal income tax on your Social Security benefits is calculated separately from FICA. The IRS uses provisional income (your adjusted gross income, plus tax-exempt interest, plus half your annual benefits) to decide how much of your benefits are taxable.11Internal Revenue Service. IRS Reminds Taxpayers Their Social Security Benefits May Be Taxable
- Single filers with provisional income between $25,000 and $34,000: up to 50% of benefits may be taxable.
- Single filers above $34,000: up to 85% of benefits may be taxable.
- Joint filers between $32,000 and $44,000: up to 50% of benefits may be taxable.
- Joint filers above $44,000: up to 85% of benefits may be taxable.
These thresholds haven’t been indexed for inflation since the early 1990s, so wages from a job after 66 usually push provisional income well past them. A large share of your benefit ends up in the taxable column.
Higher Medicare Premiums Two Years Later
Medicare Part B and Part D premiums are income-adjusted through the Income-Related Monthly Adjustment Amount (IRMAA). The surcharge is based on your tax return from two years earlier, so wages earned in 2024 drive your 2026 premiums.12Social Security Administration. Medicare Annual Verification Notices: Frequently Asked Questions For 2026, IRMAA kicks in above $109,000 of modified AGI for single filers and $218,000 for joint filers, then steps up through five tiers.13Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. 2026 Medicare Parts A and B Premiums and Deductibles A year of full-time wages after semi-retirement can push you over the first threshold and add hundreds or thousands of dollars a year in premiums.
The Earnings Test if You Haven’t Reached FRA
If you’re collecting Social Security before reaching Full Retirement Age (67 for anyone born in 1960 or later), the retirement earnings test can temporarily reduce your monthly checks when your wages get too high. In 2026, someone under FRA for the full year loses $1 in benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480; someone reaching FRA during the year loses $1 for every $3 above $65,160, counting only the months before their FRA.14Social Security Administration. Exempt Amounts Under the Earnings Test The test disappears at FRA, and any withheld benefits are eventually returned to you through a higher monthly payment.15Social Security Administration. How Work Affects Your Benefits This is a benefit reduction, not a tax, but it’s the rule people most often confuse with FICA when they ask whether Social Security still costs them something after 66.