The 2015 tax rate for Tier I during 2015 will be 6.2% for Employee and Employer. The annual maximum will be on earnings of $118,500.00 making the maximum employee and employer tax of $7,347.00.  For Tier II the Employee tax rate is 4.9% and the employer tax rate is 13.1%. The annual maximum will be on earnings of $88,200.00, therefore the maximum employee tax will be $4,321.80 and the maximum employer tax will be $11,554.20. (There have been three (3) decreases in the tax rate since 2001.)

During a meeting with UP General Chairmen on March 25, 2015, the RRB advised that the trust fund contains an amount of approximately $27 billion. There are no projected cash short falls for the next seventy-five (75) years. In fact, the number of workers paying into Railroad Retirement is up this year to 249,000.

Attached for you to print, is a comparison of Railroad Retirement benefits vs. Social Security benefits and a sheet about “myths” of RRB benefits.       RRB comparison and Myths

For 2013, the employee 6.2% tax rate for Tier I will apply to $113,700.00 earned during the year. The employee 4.4% tax rate for Tier II will apply to an annual earnings of $84,300.00.

The employer tax rate on Tier I is also 6.2% and on Tier II is 12.6%. The maximum employee and Employer Tax for 2013 is $7,049.40 on Tier I. On Tier II, the maximum for an employee is $3,709.20 and the employer is $10,621.80.

The Railroad Retirement Board will soon be sending BA-6 Forms to Railroad Employees. These forms give information for credits earned as well as infomation that you, as a Railroad Employee, has on file with the RRB.

It is important to check the BA-6 form for the accurancy. The ability to correct inacurte informaiton may not be available once shown for a period of about 4 years. If there is information on the form that needs correction, please contact the Railroad Retirement Board at (877) 772-5772.

The 2012 maximum tax base for Railroad Retirement is $110,100.00 for Tier 1 and $81,900.00 for Tier II. The tax rate for Tier I for employee is 4.2% and for employer is 6.2%. The tax rate for Tier II for employee is 3.9% and the employer rate is 12.1%. (There is no maximum on the Medicare Hospital Insurance earnings which has a 1.45% employee and employer tax rate.

The current RUIA daily benefit rate is $66.00 per day, 5 days per week.

The attached list is a comparison of actual benefits for qualified people under the Railroad Retirement Board and the Social Security Administration. For the comparison click here – – RRB-SSA comparison

On November 9, 2010, the Board of Trustees of the UPREHS held a special meeting at the Headquarters Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. The primary purpose of the meeting was to discuss and review a proposal for an agreement for the Establishment of Single Employee Benefit Plan by and between UPREHS and Rio Grande Employees Hospital Association. – – Hospital-Association-Merger