Assume that social security taxes are payable at a 6.0% rate and Medicare taxes are payable at a 1.5% rate with no maximum earnings, and that federal and state unemployment compensation taxes total 6.2% on the first $7,000 of earnings. If an employee earns $2,500 for the current week and the employee's year-to-date earnings before this week were $6,800 , what is the total employer payroll taxes related to the current week?

For Social Security taxes, the taxable amount for the current week is the lesser of the earnings for the week ($2,500) or the Social Security wage base limit ($142,800 for the year 2021).

Taxable amount for Social Security = $2,500

Social Security tax for the week = Taxable amount × Rate

= $2,500 × 0.06

= $150

Medicare Taxes:

Rate: 1.5%

No maximum earnings

Medicare tax for the week = Earnings for the week × Rate

= $2,500 × 0.015

= $37.50

Federal and State Unemployment Compensation Taxes:

Rate: 6.2%

Maximum taxable earnings: $7,000

The taxable earnings for state unemployment tax are limited to $7,000 per employee per year. Since the employee's year-to-date earnings before this week were $6,800, the taxable earnings for state unemployment tax in this week is:

Taxable