Updated for US tax year 2026 · IRS Schedule SE · Form 1040-ES
Self-Employment Tax Calculator
See your real 2026 self-employment tax in seconds — the 15.3% SE tax, the income tax on top, the deductions that lower it, and exactly what to set aside each quarter as a 1099 contractor or freelancer.
Profit after business expenses (Schedule C line 31)
Sets brackets, deduction & Medicare threshold
What you owe on this income
You owe about $11,304 in self-employment tax and $5,344 in federal income tax — set aside roughly $4,162 every quarter.
Self-employment tax (15.3%)
$11,304
Federal income tax on it
$5,344
Total to set aside
$16,647
Effective rate on profit
20.8%
Already included: your half-SE-tax deduction
The IRS lets you deduct half your self-employment tax — $5,652— from your taxable income (it's the “employer half”). We've already applied it, which is why your income tax above is lower than a naïve estimate. You also get a $11,650 Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction at 20%.
At your profit, an S-corp election may cut SE tax
You're paying $11,304 in self-employment tax. Above roughly $80k of profit, many freelancers elect S-corp taxation: you pay yourself a reasonable salary (which still owes FICA) and take the rest as distributions that aren'tsubject to the 15.3%. The savings often run into the thousands, but it adds payroll, accounting and compliance costs (~$1,500–3,000/yr) and the IRS requires the salary to be genuinely reasonable — so it's worth modelling with a CPA before electing.
Your estimated quarterly payments (Form 1040-ES)
Q1 · due Apr 15
$4,162
Q2 · due Jun 15
$4,162
Q3 · due Sep 15
$4,162
Q4 · due Jan 15
$4,162
Even split shown. Underpaying triggers IRS penalties, so freelancers usually pay these four estimates rather than one April bill.
Estimates for US tax year 2026. Self-employment tax = 15.3% (12.4% Social Security up to the $184,500wage base + 2.9% Medicare) on 92.35% of net profit, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200k single / $250k joint; one-half of SE tax is deducted before income tax. Federal income tax uses 2026 brackets and the standard deduction; the income-tax figure is the tax this self-employment income adds on top of any W-2 income you enter. State income tax, credits and other income aren't modelled. General information, not tax advice — confirm on Schedule SE or with a CPA.
Self-employment tax is the part of going freelance that catches everyone out
When you have a regular job, your employer quietly pays half of your Social Security and Medicare taxes and withholds the rest. The day you go self-employed — freelancer, consultant, 1099 contractor, gig worker — you become both the employer and the employee, so you owe the whole 15.3%yourself. That's self-employment tax, and it sits on top of regular income tax. The calculator above shows both, plus the one piece of good news most people miss: you get to deduct half of the SE tax before income tax is calculated.
How the 15.3% actually works (and where it stops)
The 15.3% is 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare, but it isn't charged on your full profit. First, your net profit is multiplied by 92.35%— this strips out the employer-equivalent share so you're not taxed on tax. The 12.4% Social Security slice then applies only up to the annual wage base ($184,500 in 2026); earn more and that slice stops, which is why high earners see their effective SE-tax rate fall. Medicare's 2.9% never caps, and a further 0.9% Additional Medicare tax kicks in above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). If you also hold a W-2 job, the wages you already paid Social Security on count toward that cap — a detail almost no free calculator handles, but this one does in the advanced inputs.
Don't forget income tax — and pay quarterly
SE tax is only half the story; your profit is also subject to ordinary federal income tax. After the half-SE deduction, the standard deduction and a possible 20% Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction, what's left is taxed at the normal brackets. Because nobody is withholding tax for you, the IRS expects four estimated payments a year (Form 1040-ES, due mid-April, June, September and January). Skip them and you face an underpayment penalty. The tool turns your total into a clean per-quarter number so you always know what to move into a tax savings account.
When an S-corp can cut your self-employment tax
Once your profit climbs past roughly $80,000, the single biggest lever on self-employment tax is how your business is taxed. A sole proprietor (or default LLC) pays the full 15.3% on all profit. Elect S-corporationtaxation and you split your income into a reasonable salary — which still owes payroll tax — and distributions, which don't owe self-employment tax at all. The higher your profit above a sensible salary, the more you save, often several thousand dollars a year. The catch: you take on payroll filings, a separate return and accounting costs of around $1,500–3,000, and the IRS can challenge a salary it considers unreasonably low. It's the most powerful SE-tax move available, but it's a decision to make with a CPA, not on a whim.
Two worked examples
Maya, a freelance designer, nets $80,000 (single). Her net earnings are 92.35% × $80,000 = $73,880. SE tax is 15.3% of that = $11,304 (all under the $184,500 cap, so the full 12.4% applies). She deducts half — $5,652 — then the $16,100 standard deduction and a 20% QBI deduction, leaving taxable income near $46,600, for federal income tax of about $5,344. Total federal ≈ $16,650, or about $4,160 per quarter — an effective 21% of her profit.
Sam earns $50,000 on the side (1099) on top of a $170,000 W-2 job. This is where most calculators go wrong. His SE net earnings are $46,175, but because his W-2 wages already used up nearly all of the $184,500 Social Security cap, only $14,500 of his freelance earnings still owes the 12.4% — the rest is Medicare-only. His SE tax is just $3,283, not the $7,065 a naïve 15.3% calculation would show. Enter your W-2 wages in the advanced inputs and the tool handles this cap interaction for you.
Frequently asked questions
What is the calculation for self-employment tax?
Self-employment (SE) tax is 15.3% of 92.35% of your net self-employment profit. The 15.3% splits into 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. The 92.35% step removes the employer-equivalent share before the tax is applied. The 12.4% Social Security portion only applies up to the annual Social Security wage base ($184,500 for 2026); the 2.9% Medicare portion has no cap, and an extra 0.9% Additional Medicare tax applies to earnings above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). You then deduct one-half of your SE tax when figuring income tax. The calculator above runs every step automatically.
How much tax will I pay if I am self-employed?
You pay two separate federal taxes: self-employment tax (15.3%, covering Social Security and Medicare) and regular federal income tax on your profit. On $80,000 of net profit, SE tax is about $11,304, and income tax depends on your filing status, the half-SE-tax deduction and the 20% QBI deduction. Most full-time freelancers should budget roughly 25–30% of profit for combined federal taxes — more in a high-tax state — paid as quarterly estimates. Enter your own numbers above to see your exact SE tax, income tax and per-quarter set-aside.
What is the difference between self-employment tax and FICA?
They fund the same programs — Social Security and Medicare — but who pays differs. As a W-2 employee, FICA is 7.65% from you and a matching 7.65% from your employer (15.3% total). When you're self-employed, there is no employer, so you pay both halves yourself — that combined 15.3% is what's called self-employment tax. The trade-off is that you get to deduct half of it (the employer-equivalent portion) before income tax, which a W-2 employee cannot do.
Do I have to pay self-employment tax if I made less than $400?
No. If your net earnings from self-employment are below $400 for the year, you do not owe self-employment tax and generally don't file Schedule SE for that income. You may still need to report the income for income-tax purposes, but the 15.3% SE tax doesn't apply. The moment your net earnings reach $400, SE tax applies to the full amount, not just the part above $400.
Can forming an S-corp or LLC reduce my self-employment tax?
An LLC by itself doesn't change your tax — a single-member LLC is taxed as a sole proprietor and still pays the full 15.3% SE tax. The savings come from electing S-corporation taxation: you pay yourself a reasonable salary (which still owes payroll/FICA tax) and take the remaining profit as distributions that are not subject to self-employment tax. Above roughly $80,000 of profit this can save thousands a year, but it adds payroll filing, accounting and compliance costs (~$1,500–3,000) and the IRS scrutinizes whether the salary is reasonable. Model it with a CPA before electing.
How much should I set aside for taxes as a freelancer?
A safe rule is to move 25–30% of every payment into a separate tax account for federal taxes (SE tax plus income tax), and more if your state has income tax. Then pay it quarterly via Form 1040-ES — due mid-April, June, September and January — so you avoid IRS underpayment penalties. The calculator's per-quarter figure gives you an exact number to transfer instead of guessing.
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