There are several types of withholding from your pay. All persons must pay social security and medicare taxes on their income regardless of how much they make and whether or not they are claimed as a dependent.
Whether or not you must pay federal income tax depends on how much total income you will have for the year and whether you are claimed as a dependent by someone else or not. For 2016, you could make up to $6300 of income and be claimed as a dependent and not have to pay any federal income tax. You would pay tax on income above $6300.
Your employer should have given you a W-4 to complete when you started your job. How much federal tax the employer withholds from your pay would depend on how many allowances you claim on the W-4. You can change the W-4 at any time during the year. You can use this IRS calculator to determine how many allowances to claim on your W-4:
If too much federal income tax has been withheld, you will get it back as a refund when you file your tax return.
