What's the difference between Social security wages and social security withheld

Forum|Forum|5 years ago
January 4, 2021
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TurboTax Free Edition Online

rjs

Level 15

Social Security wages are the amount of your wages that you pay Social Security tax on. Social Security withheld is the tax on the Social Security wages. The tax is 6.2% of the Social Security wages.

Opus 17

Level 15

Also, there is an annual maximum Social Security wage base. For 2020, it was $137,700. If you earned more than that, then that amount is still the limit of your Social Security wages, and any amount you earned over that amount is not subject to Social Security withholding.

Social Security wages represent income earned from working and may be different from your taxable wages. For example, if you make contributions at work to a 401(k), the contribution is subtracted from your taxable wages but it is still included in your Social Security wages, because you earned the income, even though it is not subject to income tax.

Curious One

Level 5

If my SS wages are lower than my wages (box 3 vs. box 1) and the difference is accounted for by social security tips (box 7), do I have any residual SS tax liability? SS tax w/h is 6.2% of box 1 and 10.4% of box 3.