Highlights of fiscal cliff tax consequences. Absent from the legislation was the extension of the 2% reduction to the payroll tax that reduced the employee portion of the payroll tax from 6.2% to 4.2% for the last 2 years. As a result, as of January 1, 2013 the tax is back to 6.2%, a 2% tax hike for all workers earning under $113,700. The social security portion of the self-employment tax increases from 10.4% to 12.4% making the total SE tax 15.3%