OASDI is the Social Security tax taken out of your paycheck. The letters stand for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance, the official name of the Social Security program. In 2026 your employer withholds 6.20% of your Social Security wages for it, up to $184,500 of wages in the year.
In brief: OASDI and Social Security tax are the same line. You pay 6.20% and your employer pays a matching 6.20% that never shows on your stub. It stops once your wages for the year reach $184,500, so the most one employer can withhold in 2026 is $11,439.00. Medicare is a separate line.
What does OASDI stand for?
OASDI stands for Old-Age, Survivors, and Disability Insurance. It is the program most people call Social Security: monthly benefits for retired workers, for disabled workers, and for the families of workers who die. The Social Security Administration uses the OASDI name when it sets the yearly wage limit (SSA contribution and benefit base).
The tax that pays for it is one half of FICA, the Federal Insurance Contributions Act. The other half is Medicare. Payroll systems print the two as separate lines, which is why a stub can show both OASDI and Medicare (IRS Topic 751).
How much is OASDI on a paycheck?
The employee rate is 6.20% of Social Security wages for the pay period. Multiply your Social Security wages by 6.20% and you have the OASDI line.
Your employer pays the same 6.20% again from its own money, so the total going to Social Security is 6.20% plus 6.20%, or 12.4%. The employer share is a business cost. It is not taken from your pay and does not appear as a deduction on your stub.
What OASDI looks like on a pay stub
Every payroll system names the line a little differently. These labels all mean the employee share of Social Security tax:
| Label on the stub | What it means |
|---|---|
| OASDI | Social Security tax, by its program name |
| OASDI/EE or Fed OASDI/EE | The employee (EE) share of OASDI |
| OASDI/ER | The employer (ER) share, shown for information only, not deducted |
| SS, Soc Sec or SS Tax | Social Security tax |
| FICA-SS or FICA OASDI | The Social Security part of FICA |
| MED, Medicare or FICA-MED | Not OASDI: the Medicare part of FICA |
Each line has a current amount for this pay period and a year-to-date amount. The YTD column is the one that tells you how close you are to the yearly limit.
OASDI on a real pay stub: an example
Here is a project coordinator in Springfield, Missouri, on a $58,500 salary paid every two weeks, which is $2,250 a pay date. They put 5% into a traditional 401(k) and pay $120 a period for health insurance under a cafeteria plan. Our generator worked out the stub with the 2026 tables.
| Step | Line | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 3 | Salary | $2,250.00 |
| 4 | Gross pay | $2,250.00 |
| 5 | 401(k) deferral, 5% of gross | -$112.50 |
| 5 | Health premium (Section 125) | -$120.00 |
| 5 | Income tax wages (gross minus both) | $2,017.50 |
| 5 | Social Security and Medicare wages (gross minus health only) | $2,130.00 |
| 6 | Federal income tax | -$158.25 |
| 7 | Social Security | -$132.06 |
| 7 | Medicare | -$30.89 |
| 8 | Missouri income tax | -$58.77 |
| 9 | After-tax deductions (none in this example) | $0.00 |
| 10 | Net pay (gross minus taxes and deductions) | $1,637.53 |
Now check the Social Security line: $132.06. That is 6.20% of $2,130, not of the $2,250 salary. The $120 health premium came off before OASDI was figured; the $112.50 that went into the 401(k) did not.
OASDI is the second-largest tax on this stub, after federal income tax. Unlike income tax, it would not move if the coordinator filed a new W-4 or saved more in the 401(k): it is a flat rate on Social Security wages.
Why are OASDI wages lower than my gross pay?
Some pre-tax deductions lower Social Security wages and some do not. Health, dental and vision premiums paid through a Section 125 cafeteria plan are not Social Security wages, so they come off first (IRS Publication 15-B).
Traditional 401(k) deferrals work the other way. They lower the wages for federal income tax, but they are still Social Security and Medicare wages (IRS Publication 15). So a 401(k) can shrink your income tax line while OASDI stays the same. Our guide to FIT on a pay stub covers the income tax side.
When does OASDI stop coming out of my paycheck?
OASDI stops once your Social Security wages for the calendar year reach the wage base, $184,500 for 2026. The paycheck that crosses the limit is taxed only on the part below it, and later paychecks in that year show no OASDI at all. Withholding starts again with the first paycheck of January.
At 6.20% of $184,500, the most one employer withholds in 2026 is $11,439.00. The wage base changes each year with the national average wage index, which the SSA uses to set it. Medicare has no such limit and keeps coming out, as Medicare on a pay stub explains.
Do I get OASDI money back?
Not in the normal case. OASDI is not like income tax withholding: there is no year-end refund of correctly withheld Social Security tax. It counts toward your Social Security work record and future benefits instead.
The exception is too much withholding. If you had two or more employers and together they withheld more than $11,439.00, you claim the excess as a credit on your federal tax return.
If a single employer withheld too much, that employer should correct it; if it does not, you can claim a refund on Form 843 (IRS Topic 608).
Can you opt out of OASDI?
Most employees cannot. Social Security tax applies to wages whether or not you expect to claim benefits. A few groups are exempt by law, and each exemption depends on the job or visa, not on a choice made at hiring:
- Students employed by the school, college or university where they are pursuing a course of study (IRS student exception).
- Some nonresident aliens on F-1, J-1, M-1 or Q-1 visas, for work allowed by their visa (IRS: aliens employed in the US).
- Some state and local government workers who belong to a qualifying public retirement system and are not covered by a Section 218 agreement (IRS: state and local government employees).
- Members of recognized religious groups who apply for the exemption on Form 4029 and give up the benefits.
OASDI vs Medicare vs FICA
FICA is the umbrella. OASDI and Medicare are the two taxes under it, and they work differently (the employer’s matching share and Form 941 are covered in what FICA tax is):
| Detail | OASDI (Social Security) | Medicare |
|---|---|---|
| Employee rate | 6.20% | 1.45% |
| Employer match | 6.20% | 1.45% |
| Yearly wage limit | $184,500 in 2026 | None |
| Extra tax for high earners | None | 0.9% on wages over $200,000, employee only |
| Pays for | Retirement, survivor and disability benefits | Hospital insurance |
Both rates are set by law, and the IRS and SSA publish the wage base each year. Our guide to gross pay vs net pay shows where both lines sit between gross and take-home pay.
OASDI for 1099 contractors and the self-employed
Nobody withholds OASDI from a contractor’s payments. Instead, self-employed people pay self-employment tax, which covers both the employee and the employer share of Social Security, 12.4%, on most of their net earnings up to the same wage base. It is worked out on Schedule SE and paid through estimated taxes.
Half of self-employment tax is deductible on the income tax return (IRS self-employment tax). If you are paid on a 1099, a 1099 earnings statement can record each payment, and it will show no OASDI taken out, because none is.
Where OASDI shows up on your W-2
At the end of the year your W-2 reports Social Security wages in box 3 and the OASDI withheld in box 4. Box 3, together with any tips in box 7, cannot go above the wage base, and box 4 cannot go above $11,439.00 (IRS W-2 instructions).
Box 4 should also match the year-to-date OASDI on your last pay stub of the year. Employers can prepare employee copies with our W-2 generator.
