The annual FICA (Federal Insurance Contributions Act) tax is composed of two parts: Social Security and Medicare Taxes. On the employee's side, he/she has to shoulder 6.2% of the annual salary for the Social Security Tax, and 1.45% of the annual salary for the Medicare Tax. So in total, FICA takes 7.65% of your annual salary as tax. To calculate the FICA tax to be paid, this is shown below:
$38,480 x 7.65% = $2943.72
Therefore, for an annual salary of $38,480, $2943.72 goes into FICA tax payment.