--- title: Here's How Much You'll Have to Earn in 2027 to Stop Paying Social Security Taxes description: Here's how much income you'll have to earn in 2027 to stop paying Social Security taxes — plus the latest on the payroll tax cap debate. authors: - name: Liliana Hall role: Reporter url: https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/ bio: Liliana Hall joined Money in 2025. She is an Austin-based reporter for Money, where she covers a range of topics, including financial news, policy, banking, investing, passive income, financial planning and student loan debt. education: University of Texas at Austin at_money_since: 2025 articles: 144 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Retirement - Shopping social: - https://x.com/lilihallllllll - https://www.linkedin.com/in/liliana-hall/ editors: - name: Julia Glum role: Managing Editor url: https://money.com/author/julia-glum/ bio: A graduate of the University of Florida, Julia has more than eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. In addition to overseeing news and newsletters, she leads Money’s tax coverage, which includes extensive reporting on tax credits, policy changes and the IRS. education: University of Florida at_money_since: 2018 articles: 454 covers: - Taxes - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Education - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Technology also_seen_in: - Newsweek - International Business Times - CBS News - Good Morning America - WUSA9 - Pix 11 - The New York Times - Mashable - The Washington Post - CNBC - Politico social: - https://x.com/superjulia - https://www.linkedin.com/in/julia-glum published: '2026-10-21T18:35:48.000Z' modified: '2026-10-21T18:35:48.000Z' section: Taxes tags: - News word_count: 652 canonical: https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![Workers and calendar](https://img.money.com/2026/10/News-Tax-2027-how-much-to-make.jpg) When the Social Security Administration announced its 3.6% cost-of-living adjustment for 2027 last week, it also unveiled another important change — and this one will affect how much some high earners pay in payroll taxes next year. The maximum amount of annual income subject to Social Security taxes will increase to $192,300, up from $184,500 this year. Social Security taxes help fund retirement, survivor and disability benefits. Most workers pay them automatically through paycheck deductions. But unlike federal income taxes, Social Security taxes apply only to earnings up to the annual cap. Employees pay 6.2% of their covered wages toward Social Security, and their employers pay another 6.2%. Freelancers and independent contractors pay 12.4% on their own. Once workers earn more than the cap, though, they generally stop paying the Social Security portion of payroll taxes for the rest of the year (though Medicare taxes still apply). The higher cap means some high earners will pay more in Social Security taxes in 2027. It also comes as policymakers debate whether the cap should be eliminated to help address Social Security's [long-term funding shortfall](https://money.com/social-security-insolvency-2034-benefit-cuts/). ## How much will you pay in Social Security taxes in 2027? The amount you’ll pay in Social Security taxes next year depends on how much you earn. The tax rate itself isn’t changing, but the amount of income subject to it is. In 2027, that means a traditional full-time employee will pay a maximum of $11,922.60, up from $11,439 in 2026. For workers earning at least $192,300 next year, the higher cap means an additional $7,800 in income will be subject to [Social Security](https://money.com/social-security-cola-2027-announcement/) taxes compared with 2026. That translates to an extra $483.60 increase in the maximum annual employee contribution, with employers paying an additional $483.60. Self-employed workers, who typically pay both the employee and employer portions of Social Security taxes, will see their maximum contribution increase by $967.20. “Nothing will change for most workers who already pay the 6.2% tax on all of their income,” says Leo Chen, an assistant professor of finance at the University of South Florida. “But higher earners will see more income become taxable.” In other words, workers who earn less than the taxable maximum won’t see a change in their Social Security taxes because of the higher cap alone. ## Could the Social Security payroll tax cap be eliminated? Social Security faces a funding shortfall that could eventually lead to benefit cuts if Congress doesn’t act. The Social Security Board of Trustees’ 2026 annual report projects that the trust fund covering retirement and survivor benefits will deplete its reserves in late 2032. At that point, incoming revenue would cover just 78% of scheduled benefits, resulting in an across-the-board cut for all Social Security recipients. Sens. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., and Bernie Moreno, R-Ohio, said in June that they are working on [bipartisan legislation](https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/warren-moreno-pen-nyt-op-ed-our-bipartisan-plan-to-save-social-security/) to eliminate the payroll tax cap, arguing that higher earners should pay Social Security taxes on all their wages, rather than only income that falls below the annual limit. Supporters argue that eliminating this cap would require the country's highest earners to pay Social Security taxes on all their wages, just as most workers already do. But critics say doing so would weaken the connection between what workers contribute to Social Security and the benefits they eventually receive. “I think the strongest argument for keeping it is to preserve the link between what someone pays in and what they get out of it,” Chen says. According to [estimates](https://www.ssa.gov/oact/solvency/provisions/payrolltax.html) from the Social Security Administration, eliminating the cap beginning in 2027 could close about 58% of the program’s long-term funding shortfall if higher earners didn’t receive larger benefits in return for paying more taxes. That figure drops to 45% if those additional taxed earnings also counted toward future benefits. Closing the remaining funding gap would likely require other changes to the program, Chen says, such as additional revenue measures or adjustments to benefits. ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Taxes", "item": "https://money.com/taxes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Payroll Tax", "item": "https://money.com/payroll-tax/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here's How Much You'll Have to Earn in 2027 to Stop Paying Social Security Taxes" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/", "name": "Here's How Much You'll Have to Earn in 2027 to Stop Paying Social Security Taxes", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2026-10-21T18:35:48.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/social-security-payroll-tax-cap-2027/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2026-10-21T18:35:48.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Here's How Much You'll Have to Earn in 2027 to Stop Paying Social Security Taxes", "articleSection": "Taxes", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2026/10/News-Tax-2027-how-much-to-make.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Tax-2027-how-much-to-make" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Liliana Hall", "url": "https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/liliana-hall/#author", "description": "Liliana Hall joined Money in 2025. 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