I noticed my pay stub for 2024 had higher federal, Social Security, and Medicare taxes. My salary is the same, but here are the increases:
Federal withholding: +4.17%
Social security: +0.67%
Medicare tax: +0.68%
Did taxes increase for 2025 or is something else going on here?
Edit: Sorry, I meant to say my pay stub, not W2, and it’s for 2024 (last pay stub).
Not sure what you are comparing here. The tax rates for Social Security and Medicare were the same in 2024.
Could your pre-tax deductions have changed? Like if your health insurance premium went down or if you stopped contributing to an HSA, that might explain it. The FICA rates didn’t increase, so taxes would only go up if your taxable income increased by 0.68%.
@Val
Health insurance premiums can go down??? 
Yeah, maybe if you stopped covering dependents or switched to a different plan like an HDHP.
How did you get a W2 for 2025?
Dani said:
How did you get a W2 for 2025?
I meant the Jan 3 payday stub. It’s for the pay period from 12/14/24 to 12/27/24. I noticed my net pay went down a bit, so I started comparing the lines on the pay stub.
Withholding is not the same as taxes.
Your withholding went up, but your actual tax rates haven’t changed.
FICA hasn’t changed in a long time (except for the Additional Medicare Tax for higher earners). Did anything change with your benefits, like health insurance premiums or your HSA?
Elliott said:
FICA hasn’t changed in a long time (except for the Additional Medicare Tax for higher earners). Did anything change with your benefits, like health insurance premiums or your HSA?
There was a temporary reduction in the employee’s Social Security rate back in 2011 and 2012, but other than that, the rate hasn’t changed.
@Peyton
Right, that was a temporary ‘holiday.’ The regular rate didn’t change.
You must mean your 2024 W-2. We won’t get 2025 W-2s until next year.
Federal tax rates haven’t increased. In fact, the brackets expanded, so your overall tax rate actually went down.
Social Security was 6.2% last year and will be 6.2% in 2025. However, the amount of wages that are subject to this rate increased.
Medicare tax has been 1.45% and will stay at 1.45%. It applies to all wages.
You must be the first person in the US to get a 2025 W-2—most people won’t get theirs until next year!
How are you calculating those percentages? If you’re just dividing by your gross pay, it could be wrong.
Your income tax withholding and payroll taxes aren’t based on your gross pay if you have pre-tax deductions like retirement or health insurance. If those pre-tax amounts change, your taxes as a percentage of your gross pay will change.
(edit: fixed a typo)
@Briar
I looked at my 2024 tax withholding vs. 2025. I divided the increase by my 2024 base amount.
Charlie said:
@Briar
I looked at my 2024 tax withholding vs. 2025. I divided the increase by my 2024 base amount.
What exactly are you comparing? A W-2 and a pay stub aren’t the same thing, and you obviously don’t have a W-2 for 2025. Are you comparing 2024 to 2023?
Are you comparing your gross pay with the pay after pre-tax deductions like health insurance?
FICA and Medicare are still combined at 7.65%. If there was an increase, it would be huge news.
I see you’re looking at a pay stub, not a W-2. Also, the pay is for 2024, not 2025. No tax rates have changed, even for 2025. Are you an hourly worker? If your hours changed, that would affect the amount of tax withheld. If your pay was the same, it’s probably that your deductions changed. Could be 401k, healthcare, or HSA changes. If you share the line items from the two periods, we could help you figure it out.
What was your salary in 2024 and 2025?