Getting double-charged for Social Security tax when switching employers mid-year - any recourse?

This is a common issue when switching employers during the year. Each employer is required to withhold Social Security tax on your wages up to the annual cap (which is $168,600 for 2023), regardless of what you've already paid at a previous employer. The good news is you don't lose that money - you'll get the excess back when you file your tax return. On your Form 1040, there's a line specifically for "excess Social Security tax withheld" (Line 11 on Schedule 3). You'll need to calculate the total SS tax you paid across all employers, and if it exceeds the maximum for the year, you claim the difference as a credit. Make sure you have your W-2 forms from both employers to accurately calculate this. The Social Security tax will be in Box 4 of your W-2s. Add those amounts together, and if they exceed the maximum (which for your income level, they almost certainly will), you can claim the excess.

I went through the exact same situation last year and found a tool that literally saved me hours of frustration. I used taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) to help calculate exactly how much I overpaid in SS tax after switching jobs. I was confused about the whole process too, especially since I had three W-2s (I job-hopped twice that year - don't judge lol). The tool analyzed all my pay stubs and W-2s and showed me exactly how much I was owed back. It even highlighted which line on Schedule 3 I needed to use to claim the refund. Ended up getting back about $4K that I would have probably missed otherwise!

I have to admit I was wrong about taxr.ai in my previous comment. I actually tried it after continuing to research this issue and found it super helpful. I uploaded my paystubs from both employers and it immediately showed me I was on track to overpay about $3,200 in Social Security tax this year. The tool also showed me exactly how to claim this on my return and estimated my refund date based on my planned filing time. Honestly, it was worth it just to know exactly how much money I'll be getting back rather than guessing. Plus I realized I was also approaching the Medicare Additional Tax threshold, which I hadn't even considered.

If you need help reaching the IRS to sort this out before tax time, I recommend trying Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I was in a similar situation last year and wanted clarification directly from the IRS before filing. Tried calling the IRS myself and wasted 2 hours on hold before getting disconnected. Used Claimyr and got a callback from an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. They confirmed everything about claiming the excess SS tax on my return and answered some other questions I had about my situation. You can see how it works here: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c - basically they navigate the IRS phone system for you and get you a callback when an agent is about to become available. Saved me so much time and frustration.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. After my skeptical comment earlier, I decided to try it anyway because I was desperate to talk to someone at the IRS about my overpaid SS tax situation. Used the service yesterday afternoon and no joke, I got a call back from an actual IRS agent in about 35 minutes. The agent confirmed I'll get back all the excess SS tax I paid above the annual limit when I file my return next year. They also told me how to document everything properly to make sure there are no delays with my refund. Saved me from spending another afternoon listening to that awful hold music. Consider me converted from skeptic to believer.

Another option worth considering: if you're absolutely sure you'll exceed the Social Security wage base for the year, you could adjust your W-4 withholding to account for the expected refund. Technically you can't stop the SS withholding, but you could reduce your federal income tax withholding to roughly offset it. Just be careful with this approach - calculate it precisely or you might end up owing at tax time. And remember this only helps with cash flow during the year; you'll still need to claim the actual SS tax refund when you file.

Anyone know if this also applies to the additional Medicare tax? I'm above the threshold for that too and wondering if that gets handled the same way when switching employers.

This is exactly what happened to me two years ago when I switched from a startup to a big tech company mid-year. The frustrating part is watching your new colleagues celebrate their "SS tax holiday" while you're still getting hit with the full deduction! One thing I learned the hard way - make sure you keep detailed records of your pay stubs from both employers throughout the year. When tax season came around, I had to dig through months of pay stubs to calculate the exact overpayment amount. Having everything organized made the refund process much smoother. Also, if you're using tax software, most of the major ones (TurboTax, H&R Block, etc.) will automatically calculate your excess Social Security tax refund when you enter your W-2 information. They'll flag it and walk you through claiming it on Schedule 3. Just double-check their math - I caught a small error one year that would have cost me about $200. The silver lining is that you essentially get an interest-free loan to the government that you'll get back at tax time. Not ideal, but at least it's not lost money!