It depends on what you set in deductions and marital status when you started your employment in the W4's that you filled out, and what tax bracket you fall into.  A single professional male will usually have 25-27% of their income taken out in taxes, and about 10% of that is used by the state and local agencies.  I usually claim Single-0 because I DO NOT want a tax liability at the end of the year, like most people.    I had this happen once, thank you very much Bush Jr, after I got married and changed to Married-2 according to my circumstances, thinking I would be even- no money owed or given back.  Boy, was I wrong, and had a $2000 liability at the end of the year.  Not a good time, being newly wed and a large bill comes out of nowhere. So yeah, an end to the payroll tax would be a large wage increase for most of us.  Considering most non-governmental employees would have a 1 to 2% raise per year, as overall inflation was at the minimum of 3%, we've been losing out for decades.  Some blamed the Republicans, some blamed the Democrats, and a very few blamed the Uni-party.  Trump is bringing this up front for people to see; how their wealth has been taken away from them for decades and generations.