Quick answer
Fed MWT EE is a payroll code that, on most paystubs, means the employee (EE) share of federal Medicare withholding tax. It is 1.45% of your Medicare-taxable wages and has no annual wage limit. To confirm, multiply your Medicare wages for the period by 0.0145. If the result matches the Fed MWT EE line, it is Medicare.
Fed MWT EE is usually the employee share of Medicare tax. You can check it on your own paystub in a few seconds: take your gross pay for the period, multiply it by 1.45% and compare the result with the Fed MWT EE amount. This guide explains the code, walks through that check and shows how the line differs from federal income tax and the other FICA lines.
What Does Fed MWT EE Mean on a Paystub?
FED, MWT, EE: Breaking Down the Code
| Part | Stands for | What it tells you |
|---|---|---|
| FED | Federal | The tax goes to the federal government, not your state. |
| MWT | Medicare withholding tax (most common reading) | The type of tax being withheld. |
| EE | Employee | This is your share, taken from your pay. |
Put together, the federal MWT EE line is the federal Medicare tax withheld from you as an employee. MWT is not an official IRS label, though. It is a short code some payroll systems print. The same tax may appear elsewhere as FED MED/EE, MED EE or FICA MED. That is why it is worth checking rather than guessing. Most other codes on a statement, such as SIT withheld for state income tax, follow the same short-label logic, so the rest of the abbreviations on a pay stub are easy to decode once you know the pattern.
Is Fed MWT EE Medicare or Federal Income Tax?
On almost every paystub, Fed MWT EE is Medicare. Federal income tax normally has its own line, labeled FIT, FITW, FWT or Fed Income Tax. Its amount changes with your W-4. If your statement has a separate federal income tax line and the Fed MWT EE amount is a small, steady percentage of your pay, it is Medicare. The 1.45% check below settles it.
The 1.45% Check: Confirm What Fed MWT EE Is
Multiply your Medicare wages for the pay period by 0.0145. For most people Medicare wages equal gross pay, unless you have pre-tax health or other Section 125 deductions.
| Medicare wages for the period | Calculation | Expected Fed MWT EE |
|---|---|---|
| $1,500.00 | 1,500 × 0.0145 | $21.75 |
| $2,800.00 | 2,800 × 0.0145 | $40.60 |
| $4,200.00 | 4,200 × 0.0145 | $60.90 |
If your Fed MWT EE matches within a cent or two, the line is Medicare tax. If it is much larger and changes from check to check in a way that is not tied to your pay, ask payroll, because the system may be using MWT for income tax withholding instead.
Fed MWT EE vs. FIT, FICA EE, MED EE and OASDI EE
| Code | Tax | Employee rate | Wage limit (2026) | Changed by W-4? | W-2 box |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fed MWT EE / MED EE | Medicare | 1.45% | None | No | Box 6 |
| OASDI EE | Social Security | 6.2% | $184,500 | No | Box 4 |
| FICA EE | Social Security plus Medicare | 7.65% | Social Security part only | No | Boxes 4 and 6 |
| FIT / FITW / FWT | Federal income tax | No fixed rate | None | Yes | Box 2 |
FICA is the umbrella name for Social Security and Medicare together. Some paystubs show one FICA EE line; others split it into OASDI EE and Fed MWT EE. The rates are listed in IRS Topic 751.
Fed MWT EE vs. Fed MWT ER
EE is your share and ER is the employer's share. Your employer pays a matching 1.45% Medicare tax on your wages. Some pay statements show it as Fed MWT ER or MED ER for information. It does not come out of your pay and does not change your net pay; it is simply a record of what your employer paid on your behalf.
Why Fed MWT EE Isn't Exactly 1.45% of Your Gross Pay
Pre-Tax Deductions That Lower Medicare Wages
Health, dental and vision premiums paid through a Section 125 cafeteria plan, along with health savings account contributions made through payroll, are taken out before Medicare tax. If your gross pay is $2,800 and you pay $120 of pre-tax health premiums, your Medicare wages are $2,680 and Fed MWT EE is $38.86, not $40.60.
401(k) contributions work differently. They lower the wages used for federal income tax but not for Medicare, so they do not reduce Fed MWT EE. Small differences of a cent can also come from rounding on each paycheck.
Additional Medicare Tax Above $200,000
Once your wages from one employer pass $200,000 in a calendar year, your employer must withhold an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on everything above that amount, whatever your filing status. Some systems add it to the Fed MWT EE line, so it jumps to 2.35% for the rest of the year; others show it on a separate line. How the extra 0.9% builds up over a year is shown step by step for MED EE on a paystub. The rules are in IRS Topic 560.
Where Fed MWT EE Appears on Your W-2 (Boxes 5 and 6)
At the end of the year your Medicare wages are reported in Box 5 and the Medicare tax withheld, including any Additional Medicare Tax, in Box 6. Box 6 should equal the Fed MWT EE year-to-date amount on your last paystub of December. Box 5 can be higher than Box 1 because 401(k) contributions are removed from Box 1 but not from Box 5.
What to Do if Fed MWT EE Looks Wrong
- Run the 1.45% check on your Medicare wages for the period, after any pre-tax health deductions.
- Check the year-to-date column. It should be close to 1.45% of your year-to-date Medicare wages, plus 0.9% of anything above $200,000.
- Ask payroll if the numbers do not line up. Your employer can correct over-withheld Medicare tax; if that is no longer possible, you can request a refund from the IRS with Form 843. Employer duties are described in IRS Publication 15.
If you prepare pay statements yourself and want a clean layout for each line, you can create a paystub and compare the Medicare line against the 1.45% check before you hand it over, the same way every other line on a paystub should tie back to real payroll figures.
This article is general information about payroll taxes, not tax advice.
Creating a paystub? Check that the Medicare line equals 1.45% of Medicare wages.
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