Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Free 2026 self-employment tax calculator for 1099, freelance, and small-business income. Computes your SECA tax with the 92.35% adjustment and shared Social Security wage base, the deductible employer-half, federal and state income tax, and the QBI deduction (with its high-income phase-out) — then tells you exactly what to set aside and pay each quarter.
Last reviewed: · Reviewed by the Money Scale editorial team · How we source our data
Power mode. Every input exposed, every assumption sourced, charts and shareables.
$120,000
$20,000
$0
$0
Self-employment tax
$14,130
SS + Medicare, both halves
Total tax owed
$24,255
24.3% of profit
Set aside per quarter
$5,591
federal estimated payment
On $100,000 of net profit, set aside about 24.3% of every dollar you invoice — roughly $5,591 to the IRS each quarter — and you'll keep about $75,745 after all taxes.
Full breakdown
| Net profit (revenue − expenses) | $100,000 |
| Net SE earnings (× 92.35%) | $92,350 |
| Social Security (12.4%) | $11,451 |
| Medicare (2.9%) | $2,678 |
| Self-employment tax | $14,130 |
| Less: ½ SE-tax deduction | − $7,065 |
| Less: QBI deduction (20% §199A) | − $15,367 |
| Taxable income | $61,468 |
| Federal income tax | $8,235 |
| State income tax (California) | $1,891 |
| Total tax | $24,255 |
| Take-home (after all tax) | $75,745 |
Educational estimate, not tax advice. Assumes a sole proprietor / single-member LLC on Schedule C with the standard deduction. It does not model an S-corp salary split, itemized deductions, the self-employed health-insurance deduction, credits, AMT, NIIT, or state self-employment-equivalent taxes. Your actual return can differ — use this to plan quarterly set-asides and confirm with a CPA.
🧾 $14,130 SE tax
On $100,000 of freelance profit I owe about $24,255 in total tax (24.3%).
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The Self-Employment Tax Calculator gives 1099 contractors, freelancers, and small-business owners the number a W-2 job hides: what you actually owe once you're paying both halves of Social Security and Medicare yourself. It's built on the real 2026 rules — including the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) changes that widened the QBI phase-out range and the $184,500 Social Security wage base — not a flat 15.3% shortcut. It applies the 92.35% adjustment (you only pay SE tax on 92.35% of net profit), respects the $184,500 Social Security wage base and shares it with any W-2 wages you have, takes the deductible employer-half against your income tax, runs your income through the 2026 federal brackets and your state's tax, and — crucially — models the Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction including the high-income phase-out that most calculators ignore, which can quietly take a sole proprietor's deduction to zero. The result is your total tax, your effective rate on profit, the exact percentage to set aside from every invoice, and your quarterly estimated payment.
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How this calculator works
- Enter your business revenue and your deductible business expenses — the difference is your Schedule C net profit, the base for everything else.
- Choose your filing status and state so the calculator applies the right brackets, standard deduction, and state income tax.
- Add any other W-2 wages (yours or a spouse's if filing jointly). This matters because it shares the Social Security wage base and stacks your income tax brackets.
- Optionally add a SEP-IRA or solo-401(k) contribution, which lowers both your taxable income and your QBI base, and flag whether yours is a specified service business.
- Read your results: self-employment tax broken into Social Security and Medicare, your QBI deduction, federal and state income tax, total tax, the set-aside percentage, and your quarterly estimated payment.
net_SE = profit × 0.9235
SE_tax = 12.4% × min(net_SE, base − W2_SS) + 2.9% × net_SE (+0.9% over threshold)
taxable = profit − ½·SE_tax − retirement − std_deduction − QBI
total = SE_tax + fed(taxable) + state(taxable)Self-employment tax is figured on 92.35% of net profit: 12.4% for Social Security up to the wage base (shared with any W-2 Social Security wages) and 2.9% for Medicare with no cap, plus 0.9% on high combined earnings. Half of the SE tax is then deducted, along with retirement contributions, the standard deduction, and the QBI deduction, to reach taxable income — which is run through the federal and state brackets. SE tax and income tax are linked through that half-deduction, which is why estimating them separately gets the wrong answer.
- profit
- Schedule C net profit (revenue − deductible expenses)
- net_SE
- Net self-employment earnings = profit × 0.9235
- base
- 2026 Social Security wage base ($184,500)
- W2_SS
- W-2 Social Security wages already paid (shares the base)
- QBI
- Section 199A deduction (up to 20%, phased out at high income)
Frequently asked questions
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