REG — Quick Sheet
Employee Benefits & Payroll Tax
Read time: ~5 minutes
One-minute revision
- Social Security 6.2% each side (wage base cap); Medicare 1.45% each side (no cap); additional 0.9% employee only
- FUTA is employer only; SE taxpayers pay both halves and deduct half above the line
- Worker classification driven by control (behavioral, financial, relationship)
- Trust fund recovery penalty = 100% of unremitted withholding, personally against responsible persons
- Group-term life excluded up to $50,000 of coverage; excess is imputed income
- Cash and gift cards are never de minimis