---
title: Additional Medicare tax — what it means and why it matters | Allocate AI
description: An extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married couples, on top of the regular 1.45%.
canonical: https://allocateai.io/glossary/additional-medicare-tax
site: Allocate AI — https://allocateai.io
---

# Additional Medicare tax

An extra 0.9% Medicare tax on wages above $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married couples, on top of the regular 1.45%.

The additional Medicare tax is a 0.9% surcharge on earned income above a threshold: $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, and $125,000 for married people filing separately. It stacks on the regular 1.45% Medicare tax, so wages above the line are taxed at 2.35% for Medicare. Unlike the Social Security tax, there is no upper cap. These thresholds are fixed by law and do not adjust for inflation.

Employers must start withholding it once your wages with them pass $200,000 in a year, no matter your filing status. That creates a mismatch for some households. A married couple where each spouse earns $180,000 has $360,000 of combined wages, $110,000 over the joint threshold, but neither employer withheld anything because neither salary crossed $200,000. The $990 owed shows up on the tax return.

The reverse happens too: a single earner at $230,000 married to someone with no income has withholding on $30,000 of wages but owes it only on the amount over $250,000, which is zero, so the withholding comes back as a credit.

The amounts are small relative to income, but the common mistake is being surprised by them. Bonuses and RSU vests count as wages here, so a big equity year can push a household over the line for the first time. A quick check against the thresholds in the fall is enough to plan for it.

## Related terms

- [FICA (Social Security and Medicare tax)](https://allocateai.io/glossary/fica) — Payroll taxes taken from every paycheck: 6.2% for Social Security up to a yearly wage cap and 1.45% for Medicare with no cap, matched by your employer.
- [Social Security wage base](https://allocateai.io/glossary/social-security-wage-base) — The maximum amount of yearly wages subject to Social Security tax, $184,500 in 2026; income above it is not taxed for Social Security.
- [Withholding gap](https://allocateai.io/glossary/withholding-gap) — The difference between the tax your employer took out during the year and the tax you actually owe, which becomes a bill or a refund in April.

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