The Social Security payroll tax rate is 12.4%, with employees paying 6.2% through paychecks. Employers pay the remaining 6.2%.

According to the Social Security Administration, workers will pay 6.2% on earnings up to $176,100 in 2025, with a maximum of $10,918.20. Once employees reach that maximum, they stop paying into the program for the rest of the year.

The 2025 adjustment will have a bigger impact on self-employed people because “they’re paying both sides of it,” meaning they’ll owe the full 12.4%, said Lovison, who is also a certified public accountant.

The government also collects 2.9% in Medicare payroll taxes, with employees and employers each paying 1.45%. But there is no limit on taxable income for Medicare.

Self-employed people are also responsible for both sides of the Medicare tax, for a combined share of 15.3% between Social Security and Medicare. However, they can deduct 50% of the self-employment tax from their individual returns, even if they do not itemize.

The latest changes to Social Security come amid growing concerns about the program’s solvency. The trust funds used to pay out benefits are expected to run out by 2035, the trustees’ report showed in May.

In the meantime, some advocates have pushed for an increase in Social Security’s wage base to provide more funding.

The Social Security Administration’s 2024 trustees report outlines more than 150 options to close the funding gap, including ways to reduce benefits and increase revenues.

“It is clear that the greatest financial gain will come from eliminating the taxable cap,” Alicia Munnell, director of the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, wrote about the report in August.

Future changes are unclear, however, because control of Congress and the White House is uncertain.