Last updated: October 2026
Every October, the numbers that determine how clean your January payroll runs start locking into place. The Social Security Administration confirmed the 2026 wage base at $184,500, up $8,400 from 2025, which raises the maximum Social Security tax each employee and employer pays to $11,439. Georgia businesses running payroll close to that threshold, especially for higher earners, are the ones most likely to feel it if the ceiling didn’t load correctly.
At the same time, the IRS confirmed the 2026 retirement plan limits, raising the 401(k) deferral limit to $24,500 and the IRA limit to $7,500. Fourth quarter is the last real window to remind employees who want to max out the new ceiling, since a contribution rate changed in December doesn’t retroactively capture room missed earlier in the year.
None of these numbers are complicated on their own. What makes fourth quarter different is that Social Security, retirement limits, state unemployment, and ACA reporting all move on overlapping timelines, and a Georgia business tracking them separately is more likely to catch a conflict in January than in October, when there’s still time to fix it without touching a form that’s already been filed.
The Social Security Wage Base Moved. Confirm Your System Caught It.
The 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500 means covered wages above that amount are exempt from the 6.2% Social Security tax, while the 1.45% Medicare tax still applies to every dollar. Payroll systems that weren’t updated after the SSA’s announcement are still withholding against the 2025 ceiling of $176,100, which creates a correction that’s far easier to catch in October than after W-2s have already gone out.
What to check: Does your payroll software reflect the $184,500 ceiling for every employee projected to cross it this year? Has anyone verified the correction for pay periods already run since January?
The Medicare portion of the calculation doesn’t have a ceiling at all. Every dollar of covered wages is still subject to the 1.45% Medicare tax, and wages above $200,000 for an individual employee trigger an additional 0.9% Medicare tax that only the employee pays. Confirming both the Social Security ceiling and the Medicare thresholds are set correctly in the same review saves a second pass through the same payroll report later.
Retirement Contribution Limits Went Up. Employees Have Weeks Left to Use Them.
The IRS raised the 401(k), 403(b), and governmental 457 deferral limit to $24,500 for 2026, along with a $7,500 IRA limit. For employees trying to hit the new ceiling before December 31, the math only works if they know the number changed and have enough pay cycles left to adjust. A short reminder now, rather than a note buried in an open enrollment packet, is the difference between an employee using the extra room and one who finds out in January that the window closed.
This matters most for employees paid biweekly or semimonthly, since they have fewer remaining pay cycles than employees on a weekly schedule to spread out a contribution increase. A blanket email announcing the new limit helps, but a specific note to employees already contributing close to the old ceiling, showing exactly how much room opened up and how many pay periods are left to use it, tends to get a far higher response.
Georgia’s Unemployment Wage Base Held Steady. Your Assigned Rate Might Not Have.
The Georgia Department of Labor’s 2026 employer tax rate notices confirm the state unemployment insurance wage base stays at $9,500 per employee, with individual employer rates assigned between 0.04% and 8.1% based on claims history. Because the wage base itself didn’t move, it’s easy to assume nothing changed. The number worth checking is your own assigned rate, which the state recalculates annually and which can climb after a claim from several years back finally lands in your experience rating.
ACA Reporting Has Its Own Clock, and February Is Closer Than It Looks
Applicable large employers must furnish Form 1095-C to full-time employees under the IRS deadline for the 2025 tax year, and file electronically with the IRS by March 31, 2026. Employers using the alternative online-notice furnishing method still have to post that notice by the IRS-set date and keep it visible through mid-October of the following year. None of this is complicated in isolation. It becomes a scramble only when the underlying coverage data, plan changes, and new hires from throughout 2025 haven’t been reconciled before the clock starts.
Questions to Ask Before Your Books Close
- Does our payroll system reflect the $184,500 Social Security wage base for every employee who will cross it this year?
- Have we told employees the new 401(k) and IRA limits with enough runway left to actually adjust their contributions?
- Do we know our current Georgia SUI rate, or are we assuming it’s unchanged from last year?
- Is our ACA coverage data reconciled now, or will it become a February scramble?
This is exactly the kind of calendar OneSource keeps for clients year-round. Instead of tracking the Social Security wage base, the IRS retirement limits, Georgia’s SUI rate, and the ACA reporting clock separately, our clients have a dedicated specialist checking all four against their actual payroll before any of it becomes a January problem. If you want a clear picture of where your business stands heading into year-end, reach out to OneSource PEO at (678) 990-8630.
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