About this self-employment tax calculator
US self-employment tax calculator for freelancers, contractors and small business owners
The Free Calculators US Self-Employment Tax Calculator helps freelancers, independent contractors, gig workers, sole proprietors and small business owners estimate federal self-employment tax. Self-employment tax generally covers Social Security and Medicare taxes for people who work for themselves instead of receiving wages through an employer payroll system.
This calculator starts with business revenue and expenses to estimate net profit. It then applies the Schedule SE adjustment, calculates Social Security tax up to the annual wage base, applies Medicare tax on net self-employment earnings, and estimates Additional Medicare Tax when income exceeds the filing-status threshold.
How self-employment tax works
Employees usually split Social Security and Medicare taxes with their employer. Self-employed people generally pay both the employer and employee portions through self-employment tax. The combined basic rate is 15.3%, made up of 12.4% Social Security tax and 2.9% Medicare tax.
The calculator applies self-employment tax to adjusted net earnings, commonly calculated as 92.35% of net self-employment profit. This reflects the Schedule SE treatment used before calculating the tax.
Social Security wage base and Medicare tax
Social Security tax applies only up to the annual Social Security wage base. For 2026, the wage base is included in the calculator as $184,500. If the user also has W-2 wages, those wages reduce the remaining Social Security base available for self-employment income.
Medicare tax has no wage base cap. The 2.9% Medicare portion applies to all net self-employment earnings subject to self-employment tax. High earners may also owe 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above the applicable filing-status threshold.
Deductible half of self-employment tax
Self-employed taxpayers may generally deduct the employer-equivalent portion of self-employment tax as an adjustment to income. This calculator shows the estimated deductible half of self-employment tax separately so users can better understand how the tax affects taxable income planning.
This deduction does not reduce the self-employment tax itself inside the simple calculator result. It is shown as a planning figure that may reduce adjusted gross income when preparing the federal income tax return.
Quarterly estimated tax payments
Self-employed workers often need to make quarterly estimated tax payments because no employer is withholding payroll tax from their income. This calculator divides the estimated total tax by four to provide a simple quarterly payment planning number.
The tool also includes an optional federal income tax rate input. This lets users estimate a combined amount for self-employment tax plus federal income tax for basic planning. State income tax is not included unless users add it separately in their own planning.
Important limitation
This calculator is not an official IRS filing tool. It does not prepare Schedule SE, Form 1040, estimated tax vouchers, Qualified Business Income deduction, depreciation, retirement contributions, health insurance deduction, state tax, credits, AMT, Net Investment Income Tax or every special tax situation.
For official filing, complex business expenses, multi-member entities, S corps, partnership income, clergy income, farm income or high-income tax planning, users should check IRS instructions or consult a qualified tax professional.
Why Free Calculators is useful for self-employed tax planning
Free Calculators is built to provide practical online calculators for tax, finance, business and everyday planning. A self-employment tax calculator is useful because freelancers and 1099 contractors often need to estimate taxes before money is due.
This page includes SEO metadata, structured data, FAQ schema, responsive calculator design and detailed explanatory content. The same structure can be reused for 1099 tax calculators, quarterly tax calculators, federal income tax calculators, state tax calculators and small business profit calculators.