Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Work out the 15.3% self-employment tax on your 1099 or freelance income, including the 92.35% adjustment and the deductible half most calculators forget.
Provisional figures. The wage base and thresholds have not yet been verified for this tax year.
Business revenue minus business expenses — not your gross receipts.
If you also have an employer, those wages use up the Social Security cap first.
Only 92.35% of your net profit is subject to this tax, and half of what you pay is deductible against your income tax. Both adjustments are applied here — plenty of calculators skip them and overstate the bill.
The bill nobody warns freelancers about
The first year of self-employment tends to include one very unpleasant discovery: on top of income tax, you owe 15.3% of your profit in Social Security and Medicare.
As an employee, you saw 7.65% come out of your paycheck and never thought about it. Your employer quietly paid the matching 7.65%. Working for yourself, you are both sides of that arrangement — so you owe the whole thing.
Two adjustments that reduce the number
Most quick calculations get this wrong by ignoring both of these.
Only 92.35% of your profit is taxable. Because employers deduct their half as a business expense, the law gives the self-employed an equivalent break by excluding the employer-half equivalent before applying the rate. On $60,000 of profit, you are taxed on $55,410 rather than $60,000.
Half of what you pay is deductible. The employer-equivalent half of your self-employment tax comes off your income before income tax is calculated — and you get it whether or not you itemize.
Neither adjustment is optional or obscure. Together they meaningfully change the number, which is why this calculator applies both.
Net profit, not revenue
The figure to enter is net profit: what your business brought in, minus legitimate business expenses. Not your gross receipts.
This matters enormously. A freelancer who invoiced $90,000 but spent $25,000 on software, equipment, a home office and mileage owes self-employment tax on $65,000, not $90,000. Every deductible expense you track reduces this bill at the full 15.3% rate — which makes bookkeeping one of the highest-return hours you can spend.
If you also have a W-2 job
Enter those wages too. Social Security has an annual cap, and your W-2 wages use up that cap first. If your salary already exceeded it, your self-employment income owes only the Medicare portion — a substantial difference the calculator accounts for automatically. (For the tax picture on the W-2 side itself, that is what the take-home pay calculator covers.)
Budget for more than this
The most common planning mistake is setting aside 15.3% and assuming you are covered. You are not. Federal income tax, and state income tax if your state has one, come on top of this.
A more realistic reserve for a mid-income freelancer is 25–35% of profit, depending on your bracket and state. Use this calculator for the self-employment portion, then add your income tax estimate to it before deciding what to move into a separate account each month.
How this is calculated
SE taxable earnings = net profit × 92.35% Social Security = 12.4% of SE earnings, up to the annual wage base Medicare = 2.9% of SE earnings (no cap) Additional Medicare = 0.9% on combined wages above the filing threshold Deductible half = (Social Security + Medicare) ÷ 2 Quarterly estimate = total SE tax ÷ 4
Frequently asked questions
- Why is self-employment tax 15.3% when employees pay 7.65%?
- An employee splits Social Security and Medicare with their employer — you each pay 7.65%. When you are self-employed you are both parties, so you owe both halves. The rate is not a penalty; it is the same total contribution an employer and employee make together.
- What is the 92.35% adjustment?
- Employers deduct their half of payroll tax as a business expense, so the law gives the self-employed an equivalent break by taxing only 92.35% of net earnings. It reduces the bill by roughly 7.65% before the rate is even applied, and skipping it overstates what you owe.
- Do I really get to deduct half of it?
- Yes. Half of your self-employment tax is deductible against your income tax as an above-the-line deduction, whether or not you itemize. It does not reduce the self-employment tax itself — it reduces the income tax you pay on top.
- When do I have to make quarterly payments?
- Generally if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year. Estimated payments are due in April, June, September and January. Missing them can mean an underpayment penalty even if you pay in full at filing.
- Does this include income tax?
- No. This is Social Security and Medicare only. Federal income tax and any state income tax come on top, which is why setting aside only 15.3% leaves most freelancers short.