Self-Employment Tax Calculator (US)

Estimate your Social Security and Medicare tax as a freelancer, gig worker or 1099 contractor.

Net self-employment profit (annual)$

—estimated self-employment tax

—Social Security portion (12.4%)

—Medicare portion (2.9%)

—Additional Medicare Tax (0.9%)

—deductible half (Form 1040)

Estimates only — not tax advice. Based on 2026 IRS rules (Social Security wage base $184,500). Additional Medicare Tax threshold shown assumes single-filer status. Source: IRS.gov.

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About the Self-Employment Tax Calculator

If you work for yourself — freelancing, gig work, a 1099 contract, or running your own small business — you don't have an employer withholding Social Security and Medicare tax from your paycheck. Instead, the IRS collects both the employee and employer share from you directly through self-employment (SE) tax. This calculator estimates your SE tax from your net self-employment profit, using the same method the IRS uses on Schedule SE.

How it works

Your net profit (Schedule C income minus expenses) is multiplied by 92.35% to get your net earnings from self-employment — this small discount roughly accounts for the employer-equivalent portion you'd otherwise not pay tax on.
Social Security tax (12.4%) applies to net earnings up to the annual wage base ($184,500 for 2026) — earnings above that aren't taxed for Social Security.
Medicare tax (2.9%) applies to all net earnings, with no cap.
An Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to net earnings above $200,000 (single-filer threshold used here — married-filing-jointly and head-of-household thresholds differ).
Half of the Social Security + Medicare portion (not the Additional Medicare Tax) is deductible on your Form 1040 — this calculator shows that deduction too.

Assumptions and behaviour

Uses the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500 and the standard 15.3% combined SE tax rate (12.4% + 2.9%).
Assumes a single-filer Additional Medicare Tax threshold of $200,000; if you're married filing jointly ($250,000) or head of household ($200,000), your actual additional tax may differ slightly.
This is your SE tax only — it doesn't include federal or state income tax on your profit, which you'll owe separately.

Limitations

Doesn't account for church employee income, farm optional method, or other Schedule SE special cases.
Doesn't calculate estimated quarterly tax payments — just the annual SE tax liability.
Estimates only — not tax advice. Confirm your figures with a tax professional or the IRS before filing.

Privacy

The calculation runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or stored.

Frequently asked questions

Is this self-employment tax calculator free?

Yes — free, no sign-up, no limits, runs in your browser.

What's the self-employment tax rate for 2026?

15.3% total: 12.4% for Social Security (on net earnings up to $184,500) plus 2.9% for Medicare (uncapped). An extra 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies above $200,000 for single filers.

Why is my net profit multiplied by 92.35%?

The IRS lets you treat 7.65% of your net profit as if it were the 'employer half' of payroll tax that a traditional employee's company would pay tax-free, so only 92.35% of profit is subject to SE tax.

Can I deduct self-employment tax?

Yes — you can deduct half of your Social Security and Medicare portion (not the Additional Medicare Tax) as an adjustment to income on Form 1040, even if you don't itemize.

Does this include income tax?

No. This is SE tax only. You'll also owe regular federal (and possibly state) income tax on your net profit.

Is my data uploaded?

No. Everything runs locally in your browser; nothing is sent or stored.

Written by Lakshay Kumar(TechLakshay)

A QA Automation Engineer by trade, Lakshay's real passion is untangling complex problems into simple, working solutions — which is exactly why FreeMyTask exists. On Instagram, he channels that same instinct into helping 26,000+ content creators with SEO education, motivation, and hands-on query solving.

Last updated: August 22, 2026