Self-Employment Tax Calculator
How It Works
Self-employment tax is the Social Security and Medicare tax that self-employed individuals pay on their net earnings. Unlike W-2 employees who split FICA taxes with their employer, self-employed workers pay both the employer and employee portions, resulting in a combined rate of 15.3% on net earnings. This tax applies to freelancers, independent contractors, sole proprietors, and partners in a partnership.
The IRS does not apply self-employment tax to your full net income. Instead, you first multiply your net self-employment earnings by 92.35% (0.9235) to arrive at taxable self-employment income. This adjustment approximates the employer-equivalent portion of FICA taxes and mirrors the treatment that W-2 employees receive, where the employer's share of FICA is not included in the employee's taxable wages.
The Social Security portion of self-employment tax is 12.4%, applied only to taxable self-employment income up to the 2026 wage base of $168,600. Once your combined wages and self-employment income exceed that cap, no additional Social Security tax is owed. The Medicare portion is 2.9% with no income cap, and an additional 0.9% Medicare tax applies to self-employment income exceeding $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married filing jointly.
A significant benefit for self-employed individuals is the ability to deduct 50% of self-employment tax from adjusted gross income. This deduction is taken on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, reducing your taxable income for federal income tax purposes. It does not reduce your self-employment tax itself, but it lowers the income tax you owe. This deduction exists because employers can deduct their share of FICA taxes as a business expense.
Because self-employed individuals do not have taxes withheld from their income, the IRS requires quarterly estimated tax payments. These payments cover both self-employment tax and federal income tax. Failure to make adequate quarterly payments can result in underpayment penalties. This calculator divides your total annual self-employment tax by four to estimate each quarterly payment amount.
Formula Breakdown
Self-employment tax is calculated in the following steps: 1. Taxable SE Income = Net Self-Employment Income x 0.9235 2. Social Security Tax = Taxable SE Income (up to $168,600) x 12.4% 3. Medicare Tax = Taxable SE Income x 2.9% 4. Additional Medicare Tax = 0.9% on taxable SE income over $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (MFJ) 5. Total SE Tax = Social Security Tax + Medicare Tax + Additional Medicare Tax 6. Income Tax Deduction = Total SE Tax x 50% 7. Quarterly Payment = Total SE Tax / 4 Example: Single filer, $120,000 net SE income: - Taxable SE income = $120,000 x 0.9235 = $110,820 - Social Security = $110,820 x 12.4% = $13,741.68 - Medicare = $110,820 x 2.9% = $3,213.78 - Additional Medicare = $0 (under $200,000 threshold) - Total SE tax = $16,955.46 - Income tax deduction = $8,477.73 - Quarterly payment = $4,238.87
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