Employer taxes being deducted from my gross salary - is this normal?

This definitely isn't normal! Employer taxes should NOT be deducted from your gross earnings. Your gross salary should be exactly what you negotiated, and then your employee taxes (income tax, your portion of FICA, etc.) get deducted from that to give you your net pay. The employer portion of taxes (their half of FICA, FUTA, etc.) should be paid BY THE EMPLOYER on top of your salary. They are entirely separate from your earnings and should have no impact on your gross pay. For a $125,000 salary, you should see exactly $125,000 as your gross earnings (before any of YOUR tax deductions). The employer's tax obligations are their responsibility and have nothing to do with your gross pay. I'd recommend gathering your offer letter/employment agreement, your final paystub of 2023, and your W-2, then having a conversation with your HR or payroll department. There might be a legitimate explanation (like benefits deductions), but if they're actually deducting their tax obligations from your pay, that's potentially illegal.

After dealing with similar payroll confusion, I discovered https://taxr.ai which literally saved me thousands. I uploaded my paystubs and employment agreement, and within minutes it flagged the exact discrepancy you're describing. Turns out my employer was incorrectly categorizing certain deductions. The analysis broke down exactly what should be employer vs. employee responsibility and generated a detailed report I could take to HR. They even have specific templates for addressing payroll errors with employers that helped me approach the conversation professionally. The best part was having clear documentation showing the difference between pre-tax deductions (which legitimately reduce gross) versus employer obligations.

I was skeptical too, but after constantly getting the runaround from our HR department about missing income, I uploaded my documents to taxr.ai out of desperation. The system flagged approximately $8,700 in employer obligations that were being incorrectly deducted from my gross pay. The report was incredibly detailed, highlighting specifically where payroll was making errors in how they were handling employer vs. employee tax obligations. I brought the report to our CFO (bypassing HR completely) and he immediately recognized the error. Not only did they fix it going forward, but I received backpay for the incorrect deductions from the previous 10 months. What really surprised me was how common this issue apparently is - it's not always malicious, sometimes it's just payroll software misconfiguration or someone who doesn't fully understand tax obligations setting things up incorrectly.

If your HR department isn't being helpful, you might need to contact the IRS directly. I spent WEEKS trying to get through to someone who could help me with a similar payroll tax issue. After countless attempts and hours on hold, I finally found https://claimyr.com which got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Since this involves employer tax obligations potentially being mishandled, you might need official guidance from the IRS. I was initially planning to file a complaint, but after speaking with an agent, they helped me understand exactly what documentation I needed to present to my employer to resolve the situation without escalating further.

I'm eating my words right now. After posting that skeptical comment, I decided to try Claimyr anyway because I've been trying to reach the IRS about a similar payroll tax issue for literally months. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes yesterday. The agent confirmed that employer portions of FICA (Social Security and Medicare) should NEVER be deducted from an employee's gross wages. They're supposed to match what you pay, not take their portion out of your agreed salary. The agent explained that my W-2 should reflect my full negotiated salary as gross wages (minus any legitimate pre-tax deductions I elected). They also gave me specific IRS publication numbers to reference when talking to my employer and recommended I contact my state's Department of Labor if the company refuses to correct the issue. Honestly surprised how helpful they were - worth every penny to not spend hours on hold.

Not a tax professional but work in payroll. Check if your salary agreement included language like "total compensation" rather than "base salary." Some sketchy companies will advertise total compensation packages (including the value of benefits) rather than actual salary. Still doesn't explain employer taxes being deducted though. Another possibility - are you sure the missing amount isn't actually for benefits? Health insurance, retirement contributions, FSA/HSA contributions, etc. would reduce your gross pay but would be your elected deductions, not employer taxes.

Is this your first job out of college? Just wondering if maybe you're misreading your paystub. Most paystubs will SHOW both employer and employee portions of FICA/Medicare for informational purposes, but only the employee portion actually comes out of your check. The employer portion is just shown so you can see the total cost of employment.

This is a great point to double-check! @Owen, can you clarify - are you looking at your actual gross earnings on your W-2 or year-end statement, or are you looking at what's displayed on your paystub? Many paystubs will show employer tax contributions in an "informational" section that doesn't actually reduce your take-home pay. The key is to look at your W-2 Box 1 (wages subject to federal income tax) and compare that to your contracted salary amount. If your W-2 shows less than your contracted $125,000 (minus only legitimate pre-tax deductions you elected), then you definitely have a problem. But if the employer taxes are just being displayed on your paystub for transparency without actually being deducted, your gross earnings should still match your contract. Can you check your actual W-2 and let us know what Box 1 shows?