Self-Employment Tax Calculator (2026)
Working for yourself changes the tax math in one big way: no employer withholds anything, and no employer pays half of your Social Security and Medicare. A 1099 contractor, freelancer, or sole proprietor owes self-employment tax on net profit, then income tax on top. This tool estimates both. Enter your net profit, any W-2 wages from a regular job, your filing status, and your state, and it breaks the result into the Social Security and Medicare portions, the half you can deduct, your federal and state income tax, and what is left as take-home. The numbers run through the same 2026 federal engine as the rest of the site, so brackets, the wage base, and the standard deduction all match current law. Because self-employment income has no paycheck withholding, the calculator also shows a quarterly figure to help you plan estimated payments across the year. Self-employment tax and income tax are separate bills that arrive together, and keeping them straight is the difference between a clean filing and a surprise in April.
Wages from a regular job already taxed for Social Security. They use up the wage base first, so less of your 1099 profit owes the 12.4% portion.
State income tax is applied to your net profit. City and local wage taxes are not, since self-employment profit is not wages. State disability and paid-leave payroll programs are also excluded.
Self-employment tax
Half of your SE tax is deductible above the line, which lowers the income your federal and state tax is figured on.
Income tax and take-home
Quarterly estimate
A reference figure, total annual tax split four ways. The IRS sets specific quarterly due dates; this tool estimates the amount, not the schedule.
This estimate is for planning purposes only and does not constitute tax or financial advice. Actual paycheck withholding depends on your employer's payroll system, custom W-4 elections, additional income, and personal tax situation. For specific tax-planning decisions, consult a licensed CPA or tax professional. Self-employment estimates exclude quarterly-payment scheduling and local net-profits taxes.
Self-employment tax on $100,000 of profit
How Schedule SE tax is built for a single filer with $100,000 of net profit and no W-2 wages, using the 2026 figures. Income tax is figured separately on the remaining profit.
| Step | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net profit | $100,000 |
| Net earnings (x 0.9235) | $92,350 |
| Social Security (12.4%) | $11,451 |
| Medicare (2.9%) | $2,678 |
| Total SE tax | $14,130 |
| Deductible half | $7,065 |
Why self-employed people pay both halves
A regular paycheck splits Social Security and Medicare between worker and employer, 7.65 percent each. When you are the business, both halves are yours, which is where the 15.3 percent rate comes from. The tax is figured on net earnings, 92.35 percent of your net profit, not the full amount. That small reduction exists because employees do not pay income or payroll tax on the employer share, and the factor keeps a 1099 worker roughly even with that treatment.
The wage base and the W-2 interaction
Social Security tax only applies up to a yearly ceiling, $184,500 in 2026. The Medicare portion has no such limit. If you also hold a W-2 job, those wages count against the ceiling first, so only the gap between your wages and $184,500 is left for the 12.4 percent portion of your self-employment tax. Past that point you still owe the 2.9 percent Medicare piece on every dollar of net earnings. Entering W-2 wages keeps the Social Security side from being counted twice.
Income tax sits on top of SE tax
Self-employment tax is not the whole bill. Your net profit, reduced by the deductible half of SE tax and the standard or itemized deduction, is also subject to regular federal income tax at the same brackets a salaried worker faces. State income tax applies to the same profit where your state has one. The calculator stacks all of it, so the take-home figure reflects SE tax, federal income tax, and state income tax together rather than any single piece in isolation. Knowing the split also helps at filing time, when SE tax lands on Schedule SE and the income-tax piece flows through Form 1040.
Frequently asked questions
What is self-employment tax and why is it 15.3%?
What are the two halves of self-employment tax?
How does the one-half SE-tax deduction work?
Do I have to make quarterly estimated payments?
How is 1099 income taxed differently from W-2 wages?
How do W-2 wages change my self-employment tax?
How to read these numbers
Treat the result as a planning estimate, not a filed return. It applies 2026 self-employment tax, federal income tax, and state income tax to the net profit you enter. Business deductions, the qualified business income deduction, retirement contributions, and credits all move your real number. City and local net-profits taxes are not included. Use the figure to size your quarterly payments, then confirm the exact amount with a tax professional or your filing software.
See also
Reviewed
How This Page Is Reviewed
The self-employment tax calculator applies Schedule SE math (12.4 percent Social Security on net earnings up to the 2026 wage base, 2.9 percent Medicare with no cap, and the one-half deduction) and then layers federal and state income tax on net profit reduced by that deduction. It uses the same 2026 federal engine as the main paycheck calculator. Local net-profits taxes and state payroll programs are excluded, since self-employment profit is not wages.
Reviewed by
PaycheckCalc Research Desk
Last reviewed
2026-06-25
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