Sometimes people look at their pay stub from work and they see something called FICA tax. They wonder, "Well, what is this? Don't I pay income tax?" Actually, FICA is distinct from income tax. It's a different tax altogether. What FICA really stands for is the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. It has two parts: old age survivors and disability insurance. This is commonly referred to as Social Security. When people talk about Social Security benefits, they are usually referring to the benefits for retirees. It is intended to be supplemental income for people who have retired. There are also survivors benefits for the children of deceased workers and benefits for people who are disabled. In addition to the Social Security component, there is also another part of FICA called Medicare. Medicare is medical insurance for Americans who are 65 and older, as well as for people who are younger than 65 but have certain types of disabilities. We tend to associate Medicare with benefits for the elderly population, but it also covers people with disabilities. FICA is automatically withheld from your paycheck, so you don't have to file a return for it. In some cases, FICA can be more than what employees are paying in income taxes. If you are self-employed, you would have to file and pay your own FICA taxes. When you are an employee, your employer shares the responsibility of paying FICA taxes. You pay 6.2% for Social Security and 1.45% for Medicare, while your employer pays the other half. The total FICA tax is 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare, making it a hefty tax. However, if you are self-employed, you have to pay the full 15.3% yourself. Most people who work for someone else have their employer share the burden. There is a wage base for Social...