Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Calculate self-employment (SE) tax, the deductible half, and net income for freelancers, 1099 contractors, and small business owners.
Did this tool work for you?
How to use this calculator
- 1
Enter your net self-employment profit, which is revenue minus business expenses.
- 2
If you also have W-2 wages, enter them. They use up part of the Social Security wage base and reduce the amount of self-employment income that can be earned before the additional Medicare tax starts.
- 3
Choose Single, Married Filing Jointly or Married Filing Separately and add any other deductions you want subtracted before income tax.
- 4
The tool shows self-employment tax and the extra federal income tax caused by the profit. It does not produce a quarterly payment schedule.
Frequently asked questions
What method does this tool use for self-employment tax?
This tool multiplies net profit by 92.35% to get the earnings base. Social Security tax is 12.4% on that base up to the wage base left after your W-2 wages. Medicare is 2.9% on the whole base. An additional 0.9% applies to the part of the base above a threshold that your W-2 wages have already used up. The headline figure adds all three parts.
Which figures are built into the tool?
A Social Security wage base of $184,500 (labelled 2026), additional Medicare thresholds of $200,000 for single, $250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately, standard deductions of $16,100 (single and married filing separately) and $32,200 (married filing jointly), and 2026 federal bracket tables for single, married filing jointly and married filing separately. US figures change every year and these fixed values are not updated automatically; the IRS and SSA govern.
How is the deductible half calculated?
The tool halves the Social Security and regular Medicare portions only. The additional 0.9% tax is left out of the deduction. That half is subtracted from income before the federal bracket calculation, and it does not change the self-employment tax itself.
What does the federal income tax line represent?
It is the tax added by your profit: the tool taxes your wages plus profit after the standard deduction, the deductible half of self-employment tax and your other deductions, then subtracts the tax on wages alone. With no W-2 wages it is simply the income tax on the profit. FICA withheld from the wages and any tax already withheld are not part of the figure.
What is not included?
State and local income tax, the qualified business income deduction, tax credits, retirement-plan and health-insurance deductions unless you type them into other deductions, the net investment income tax, and the minimum-earnings threshold below which self-employment tax is not due are not modelled. Estimated-payment penalties and due dates are also outside the tool.
What happens with zero or negative profit?
Zero or negative profit returns $0 for self-employment tax and the tool stops there. Deductions cannot push taxable income below zero. Head of household is not offered; the filing choices are Single, Married Filing Jointly and Married Filing Separately.
Are the limits and brackets current?
They are labelled 2026 and the wage base, thresholds and brackets are revised every year. The tool’s tables are not updated automatically, so use the output for comparing scenarios and rely on the IRS, the SSA or a qualified adviser for the current year.
Self-employment tax: 15.3% on 92.35% of profit, step by step
The steps the tool follows
First, net profit is multiplied by 0.9235 to give the earnings base. Second, Social Security tax of 12.4% is charged on that base, but only up to the wage base built into the tool ($184,500, labelled 2026) minus any W-2 wages you entered. Third, Medicare tax of 2.9% is charged on the whole base. Fourth, an additional 0.9% is charged on the part of the base above $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for joint filers or $125,000 for separate filers, with those thresholds reduced by W-2 wages. Half of the Social Security and regular Medicare tax is then deducted before federal income tax is calculated through the 2026 brackets built into the tool.
Worked examples
On $80,000 of profit for a single filer with no wages, the tool shows self-employment tax of $11,304: $9,161 of Social Security and $2,143 of Medicare. The deductible half is $5,652, the federal income tax added by the profit is $7,527, the total tax burden is $18,830, net income after tax is $61,170 and the effective rate is 23.5%. Halve the profit to $40,000 and self-employment tax is $5,652, federal tax is $2,281, the total is $7,933 and the effective rate is 19.8%. Notice the self-employment part scales almost linearly while income tax rises faster at higher profit.
Six runs compared
The table includes cases that exercise the less obvious parts of the model: W-2 wages that use up the wage base, a joint return with other deductions, profit high enough to trigger the additional Medicare tax, and a separate filer whose additional Medicare threshold is $125,000. Total tax is self-employment tax plus the federal income tax added by the profit.
| Inputs | SE tax | Federal tax added | Total tax | Effective rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| $80,000 profit, single | $11,304 | $7,527 | $18,830 | 23.5% |
| $40,000 profit, single | $5,652 | $2,281 | $7,933 | 19.8% |
| $150,000 profit, $60,000 wages, joint, $10,000 other deductions | $19,455 | $22,420 | $41,875 | 27.9% |
| $250,000 profit, single | $29,851 | $46,572 | $76,424 | 30.6% |
| $120,000 profit, $100,000 wages, single | $13,789 | $26,721 | $40,510 | 33.8% |
| $150,000 profit, married filing separately | $21,316 | $22,191 | $43,507 | 29.0% |
Wages and the Social Security ceiling
With $100,000 of W-2 wages, only the room left under the wage base is subject to the 12.4% charge on the profit. On $120,000 of profit that produces $10,478 of Social Security and $3,214 of Medicare, and a total of $13,789 once a small additional Medicare amount is included. At $250,000 of profit with no wages, the Social Security charge is capped at $22,878 while Medicare is $6,695 on the full base, and the headline self-employment tax of $29,851 also contains a small additional Medicare amount not shown on its own row.
What lies outside the estimate
The tool is federal only and uses one tax year of tables (2026 figures). It does not deduct qualified business income, health premiums, retirement plan contributions or other items unless you type them into other deductions. It does not apply credits, the investment income surtax or the minimum-earnings test, and it gives no payment schedule or safe-harbor figure. US figures change every year and the tool does not update itself, so read the output as a comparison tool; the IRS and SSA govern, so confirm the current year with them or a qualified adviser.
Learn more from an authoritative source:
InvestopediaUS Mortgage Calculator
Calculate your monthly mortgage payment with PITI — principal, interest, property taxes, insurance, and optional PMI — for any US home loan.
Student Loan Payoff Calculator
Calculate your monthly student loan payment, total interest, and payoff date — with comparison of standard, extended, and income-driven repayment plans.
US Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio Calculator
Calculate your front-end and back-end DTI ratio — the key metric lenders use to determine mortgage and loan eligibility.
W-4 Withholding Calculator
Estimate your federal tax withholding and check if you are over- or under-withholding — so you get neither a surprise bill nor a large refund at tax time.
Medicare Premium Calculator
Estimate your Medicare Part B and Part D premiums for 2026 — including IRMAA surcharges for higher-income beneficiaries.
Emergency Fund Calculator
Calculate how much you need in your emergency fund and how long it will take to build it — based on your monthly expenses and job stability.
Results are estimates for informational purposes only and do not constitute professional financial, medical, legal, or technical advice. Read full disclaimer →