Social Security Tax on Everything?

Q. I have a full-time and a part-time job with different companies. My employers are both taking out Social Security tax. Is this correct?

A. Good Question! There are several common misconceptions about Social Security withholding from a paycheck. This is probably one of the biggest. The answer is....a resounding YES! Each employer of record is required to withholding 6.2% of your taxable wage for Social Security purposes up to the annual limit. That is $106,800 for 2010. Even if you have five jobs at once, each employer is required to withhold this amount. Even if you are retired and collecting Social Security and have a job somewhere just for fun, the employer is still required to withhold Social Security tax. You may ask, 'What happens if the income from all my jobs add up to more than that limit? Can I get all my employers to stop withholding Social Security?' The answer is no. You do have the ability to get a refund on your tax return if the total Social Security tax paid during the year was more than the maximum required. That is $6621.60 for 2010. You'll see this on line 69 of the 1040 form. The biggest drawback to this is that the multiple employers are not permitted to recover the overpaid Social Security. They will match 6.2% up to the limit for everyone regardless whether that employee will be refunded overpaid tax later in the year.