A minor’s paycheck loses about 7.65% to Social Security and Medicare taxes, and that piece is essentially unavoidable for a standard job. Federal income tax may also be withheld on top of that, but most minors earning under the 2026 standard deduction of $16,100 can shut off income tax withholding entirely by claiming exempt status on Form W-4. So the realistic answer to how much taxes are taken out of a minor’s paycheck is: 7.65% if the W-4 is handled correctly, and often more if it isn’t.
The 7.65% That Always Comes Out
The Federal Insurance Contributions Act tax funds Social Security and Medicare. The employee’s share is 7.65% of gross wages, split into 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare.1Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 751, Social Security and Medicare Withholding Rates The employer pays a matching 7.65% separately, but the employee never sees that number on their stub.
Age doesn’t change the rate. A teenager working a $3,000 summer job pays the same 7.65% as a $80,000 earner. There is no low-income exemption for FICA, and the Medicare portion has no wage cap at all. The Social Security portion stops applying once yearly wages exceed $184,500,2Social Security Administration. 2026 Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA) Fact Sheet which no minor is going to hit.
One thing worth understanding up front: FICA withheld from a normal paycheck cannot be recovered by filing a tax return. Federal income tax gets refunded when too much is withheld; Social Security and Medicare deductions are final. That’s why the income tax side of the W-4 matters so much — it’s the only piece within a minor’s control.
The Narrow Exception for Working in a Parent’s Business
The one real carve-out from FICA applies when a minor works for a parent. Wages paid to a child under 18 by a parent’s sole proprietorship, or by a partnership in which both partners are the child’s parents, are completely exempt from Social Security and Medicare tax. A separate rule exempts children under 21 from FICA when doing domestic work in a parent’s private home.3Internal Revenue Service. Family Employees
The exemption disappears the moment the business is anything else. If the parent’s business is a corporation, an estate, or a partnership that includes anyone besides the child’s parents, the child owes FICA on every dollar regardless of age.3Internal Revenue Service. Family Employees A parent-owned LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship typically qualifies; a parent-owned S-corp does not. The entity type on paper controls, not who actually runs the day-to-day.
Federal Income Tax: Usually Zero for Minors
Federal income tax withholding is an estimate of what an employee will owe at year’s end, calculated from Form W-4.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 (2026) Employee’s Withholding Certificate For 2026, the standard deduction for a single filer is $16,100.5Internal Revenue Service. IRS Releases Tax Inflation Adjustments for Tax Year 2026, Including Amendments From the One, Big, Beautiful Bill Earned income under that amount is shielded from federal income tax entirely.
Most minors working part-time or seasonal jobs earn well below $16,100 in a year. Their actual income tax liability is zero. Any income tax that comes out of their paycheck is money they’ll wait months to reclaim through a refund. Preventing the withholding in the first place is the better move.
Claiming Exempt on Form W-4
A minor who expects to owe no federal income tax can claim exempt on Form W-4, which tells the employer to skip income tax withholding. The 2026 W-4 requires the employee to check the exemption box and certify two things: they had no federal income tax liability in 2025 and expect none in 2026.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 (2026) Employee’s Withholding Certificate For a teenager starting a first job whose income will stay under $16,100, both are usually true.
To claim exempt on the 2026 form, complete Steps 1(a), 1(b), and 5, check the exemption box, and leave the other steps blank.4Internal Revenue Service. Form W-4 (2026) Employee’s Withholding Certificate Claiming exempt only stops federal income tax withholding. FICA deductions keep coming out at 7.65% either way.
Here’s the piece most people miss. Exempt status expires every year on February 15. If a fresh W-4 claiming exempt isn’t turned in by that date, the employer is required to start withholding as though the employee is a single filer with no adjustments.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No. 753, Form W-4, Employees Withholding Certificate A minor who claimed exempt in January 2026 needs to submit a new W-4 by February 15, 2027, or withholding restarts. Set a calendar reminder.
If a minor’s income later grows past the $16,100 threshold, whether through extra shifts or a second job, they should file a new W-4 and drop the exempt claim. Staying exempt when tax is actually owed can produce a surprise bill at filing time and a possible underpayment penalty.
State and Local Withholding
State income tax withholding follows a similar structure to the federal system, but rates and rules vary widely. Some states have no income tax at all; others tax wages from the first dollar. Most states use their own version of the W-4, and some allow a similar exempt claim for low-income workers. A minor working in a state with an income tax should check whether the state form permits an exempt election.
On top of state tax, roughly 5,000 local jurisdictions across about 17 states impose income or earnings taxes on wages. Rates range from fractions of a percent to several percent, and they can apply to anyone who works within the jurisdiction even if they live elsewhere. A minor working in a city with a local earnings tax will see an extra line-item deduction that low income doesn’t always erase.
Getting Back Income Tax That Was Withheld
If income tax already came out of a minor’s paycheck because they didn’t claim exempt, the only way to recover it is by filing Form 1040.7Internal Revenue Service. Time You Can Claim a Credit or Refund The employer sends a Form W-2 by January 31 of the following year showing total wages and everything withheld.8Social Security Administration. Deadline Dates to File W-2s
On the return, the minor reports wages and claims the standard deduction. If the deduction wipes out taxable income, the calculated tax is zero, and the full amount of federal income tax shown as withheld on the W-2 comes back as a refund. This works even when the minor’s income sits below the threshold that would otherwise require filing. Filing voluntarily is the only mechanism to get the money back.
Filing a 1040 recovers over-withheld federal and state income tax only. It does not return FICA. Social Security and Medicare taxes withheld from a normal paycheck are not refundable through the tax return.
Gig Work Changes Everything
Minors who earn money through freelancing, selling goods online, tutoring, or gig platforms are in a different tax situation. These workers get a Form 1099 instead of a W-2, and no taxes are withheld from their pay at all. No FICA, no income tax, nothing. That feels like a bonus until tax season.
Self-employed workers owe self-employment tax at a combined rate of 15.3% on net earnings of $400 or more.9Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) That 15.3% covers both the employee and employer shares of Social Security (12.4%) and Medicare (2.9%). A minor who makes $2,000 mowing lawns owes roughly $283 in self-employment tax, even though the income is far below the $16,100 standard deduction. The standard deduction shields earned income from income tax but does nothing about self-employment tax.
This catches families off guard constantly. A 16-year-old who made $5,000 on a gig platform might assume they owe nothing because they’re under the standard deduction. In reality they owe about $707 in self-employment tax and need to file Schedule SE with their Form 1040.9Internal Revenue Service. Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) The W-4 exempt trick has no equivalent for 1099 work, because nothing is being withheld to begin with.