The Federal Insurance Contributions Act (FICA) is a U.S. law that requires employers and employees to contribute a portion of their wages to fund Social Security and Medicare programs. Employers are responsible for withholding the employee's portion of FICA taxes from their paychecks and submitting the taxes to the government on their behalf.

Example
For the 2021 tax year, the FICA tax rate is 7.65% for employees and employers, with 6.2% going toward Social Security and 1.45% going toward Medicare.