Payroll deposits that cut FICA, and the 401(k) line that does not
An HSA contribution taken out of a Nebraska paycheck is still your money. It leaves the deposit and goes to the account. Because the cafeteria plan takes it before tax, federal income tax, Nebraska income tax, and FICA are all figured on a smaller wage. The net deposit falls by the contribution minus those three reductions.
A health FSA election taken the same way does the same thing to the wage. The dollars are not the same kind of dollars. An HSA balance stays yours, rolls forward, and can leave with you. A health FSA is a plan-year election. Unused amounts follow the plan's carryover or grace-period rule, and the account is not an HSA. The paycheck math, for the year the money is withheld, is the part this page stays on.
The order of a normal check is in Nebraska take-home pay. The reason a traditional 401(k) does not touch the 7.65% line is in how a 401(k) changes Nebraska take-home pay. This page is the benefits pile, not the retirement pile.
Revenue Procedure 2026-24 set the 2027 HSA contribution limit at $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage. Employee payroll deductions and employer deposits share that limit. If the employer already puts $1,000 into the account, the employee does not get another full $4,500 on top. The examples below assume the whole amount is the employee's payroll deduction, with no employer deposit and no age-55 catch-up.
A catch-up for people 55 and older sits on top of those base limits. This page does not run the examples with a catch-up. Add it only if the plan will actually take it.
The latest published health FSA salary-reduction limit is $3,400, for plan years beginning in 2026. A 2027 health FSA cap was not published when this page was written, so the FSA row uses $3,400 and is not labeled as a 2027 maximum. A plan can set a lower election. It cannot use a higher one than the federal cap for that plan year. The optional carryover maximum published for 2026 plan years is $680, and only if the written plan allows a carryover. A 2027 carryover figure is not printed here.
Every figure in this table is this site's calculator for a 2027 pay date. The person is single, claims one W-4N allowance, is paid biweekly, and has no retirement deferral. Federal dollars use the 2026 Publication 15-T percentage method, which is what the tool uses until a 2027 federal edition is the one loaded. Nebraska dollars use the 2027 Circular EN table. The $4,500 is entered in the pre-tax benefits field, which is a yearly amount.
| Biweekly line | No benefits | $4,500 HSA | $3,400 health FSA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $2,307.69 | $2,307.69 | $2,307.69 |
| Benefit this check | $0.00 | $173.08 | $130.77 |
| Federal income tax | $193.08 | $172.31 | $177.38 |
| FICA | $176.54 | $163.30 | $166.53 |
| Nebraska income tax | $73.80 | $67.00 | $68.66 |
| Net pay | $1,864.28 | $1,732.01 | $1,764.34 |
On the HSA row, federal withholding falls from $193.08 to $172.31. FICA falls from $176.54 to $163.30. Nebraska falls from $73.80 to $67.00. Net falls from $1,864.28 to $1,732.01. The $173.08 that left for the account is not a tax. Across 26 checks the calculator's annual net goes from $48,471.18 to $45,032.28. You moved $4,500 into the HSA and kept a smaller prepayment on all three taxes.
The health FSA row is the same engine with a $3,400 yearly election. Federal falls to $177.38, FICA to $166.53, Nebraska to $68.66, and net to $1,764.34. The FICA line moves because the election is in the benefits field. That is the signature of a cafeteria-plan health FSA on this tool. It is also the signature of a payroll HSA. The label on the stub tells you which account received the money.
Put $4,500 in the retirement field instead of the benefits field and income-tax withholding matches the HSA row. FICA does not. The retirement field is a traditional deferral. It lowers federal and Nebraska wages and leaves FICA wages at the full $60,000.
| Same $4,500 a year | Payroll HSA | Traditional 401(k) |
|---|---|---|
| Taken this check | $173.08 | $173.08 |
| Federal income tax | $172.31 | $172.31 |
| FICA | $163.30 | $176.54 |
| Nebraska income tax | $67.00 | $67.00 |
| Net pay | $1,732.01 | $1,718.77 |
The HSA check nets $13.24 more than the 401(k) check. That gap is the FICA the HSA reduced and the 401(k) did not. Social Security on this check falls from $143.08 to $132.35, and Medicare falls from $33.46 to $30.95. Those two drops are the $13.24. Nothing else in the comparison moved. The 401(k) guide owns the retirement account. This comparison is only the FICA difference.
Filing status does not change that FICA gap. The same $4,500 HSA on a married check with two W-4N allowances drops FICA from $176.54 to $163.30, the same $13.24. Federal withholding on that married check falls from $109.23 to $89.62, and Nebraska falls from $59.88 to $53.35. Net falls from $1,962.04 to $1,828.35. The income-tax lines start lower because the married check was already withholding less. The Social Security line does not care that the W-4N says married.
The 2027 family HSA limit is $9,000. On a $90,000 salary, single, one allowance, biweekly, 2027 pay date, that is $346.15 on each check. The no-benefit column is the same check the retirement guide uses before a deferral: $421.92 federal, $264.81 FICA, $119.52 Nebraska, and net of $2,655.28.
| Biweekly line on $90,000 | No benefits | $9,000 payroll HSA | $9,000 traditional 401(k) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gross pay | $3,461.54 | $3,461.54 | $3,461.54 |
| Taken this check | $0.00 | $346.15 | $346.15 |
| Federal income tax | $421.92 | $345.77 | $345.77 |
| FICA | $264.81 | $238.33 | $264.81 |
| Nebraska income tax | $119.52 | $105.57 | $105.57 |
| Net pay | $2,655.28 | $2,425.71 | $2,399.23 |
Federal withholding drops by $76.15 either way. Nebraska drops by $13.95 either way. FICA drops by $26.48 only on the HSA row, from $264.81 to $238.33. The 401(k) column is the 10% traditional deferral already printed on the retirement guide. The new column is the payroll HSA. Net on the HSA row is $2,425.71. Net on the 401(k) row is $2,399.23. The $26.48 between them is FICA again.
These rows show which lines move when the same yearly dollars are typed into two different fields. A year can include both a payroll HSA and a traditional deferral. Run them as two fields so you can see which line fell.
A pre-tax medical premium belongs in the benefits field because it reduces federal wages, Nebraska wages, and FICA wages. On the $60,000 biweekly example, $3,000 of premiums for the year is $115.38 a check. Federal falls to $179.23, FICA to $167.71, Nebraska to $69.27, and net to $1,776.10. The FICA drop is the clue that the premium ran through the cafeteria plan.
The stub should label the premium and the HSA as different lines. Both can be pre-tax. Combining a $3,000 premium and a $4,500 HSA into one mental "benefits" number is fine inside the calculator's single benefits field, and it is a bad way to read the stub. If the 7.65% test fails, how to read a Nebraska pay stub is where the labels are sorted. The rate itself is FICA Social Security and Medicare.
An employer contribution to the HSA does not reduce your gross, your tax, or your net. It counts toward the annual HSA limit. If the stub shows it, it is usually a memo of what the employer added to the account. Subtracting it again from the deposit double-counts money that never left this check.
A general-purpose health FSA usually blocks HSA contributions for that person. A limited-purpose FSA, dental and vision only, is the version that can sit beside an HSA. A spouse's general-purpose health FSA can block the HSA as well. The plan document decides which account you have. The calculator will still subtract whatever yearly amount you type. It will not warn you that the combination is not allowed.
A dependent care FSA is a different cafeteria election. It is not a health FSA and it is not an HSA. It can reduce taxable wages on the check, and it changes how much child-care expense is left for a credit on the return. That credit is Nebraska child care tax credit. Do not type a dependent-care election into a sentence about the health FSA cap.
A deposit you send straight to the HSA custodian, outside payroll, can still be an adjustment on the federal return. It does not reduce FICA, because FICA already ran on the full wage. It does not show up as a pre-tax line on the stub, so this Friday's deposit does not rise to reflect it. If that adjustment lowers federal adjusted gross income, Form 1040N starts from that income. The year-end gap between the stub and the return is Nebraska Form 1040N vs paycheck withholding. The stub still shows the wage the employer actually paid.
The pre-tax benefits field is yearly. A $4,500 payroll HSA goes there. A health FSA election for the plan year goes there too, using the amount the plan will take. The field lowers federal wages, Nebraska wages, and FICA wages, then divides by the number of checks. Putting the HSA in the retirement field leaves Social Security and Medicare too high. Putting a 401(k) in the benefits field makes FICA fall when a real stub will not.
The post-tax field is per paycheck, not per year. A cafeteria HSA or health FSA does not go there. Type $4,500 into post-tax on a biweekly calendar and you will have pulled $4,500 out of every check.
Run the salary through the Nebraska paycheck calculator and edit the benefits field. Hourly pay with a premium or an HSA belongs on the hourly paycheck calculator. If you only want the Nebraska line after the benefit comes off, use Nebraska tax withholding. Circular EN sees the wage after the Section 125 reduction and after the allowance. The allowance step is Nebraska Circular EN. This page stops at the benefit.
Yes, when the contribution is taken through the cafeteria plan. Federal withholding, Nebraska withholding, and FICA are all figured on the wage after the HSA. A traditional 401(k) lowers the two income-tax lines and leaves FICA alone.
A health FSA election taken through a cafeteria plan reduces FICA wages, federal wages, and Nebraska wages. The balance does not work like an HSA. Unused amounts follow the plan's carryover or grace-period rule.
Revenue Procedure 2026-24 set $4,500 for self-only coverage and $9,000 for family coverage. Employer deposits count toward the same limit. This page does not print a 2027 health FSA cap, because that figure was not published when the page was written.
Use the yearly pre-tax benefits field. Leave the retirement field for a traditional 401(k) or 403(b). The post-tax field is a per-check amount and will overstate the deduction if you type the annual HSA there.