Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Estimate the 15.3% self-employment tax on your 1099 or business profit, and the half you can deduct.
Profit after business expenses, from Schedule C.
Optional. A job's wages count toward the $184,500 Social Security cap first.
Most people can skip these. Fill them in if you have farm income, work for a church that doesn't withhold payroll tax, or your W-2 shows different Social Security and Medicare wages.
$11,304
about $2,826 per quarter
$5,652
comes off your income on Form 1040
14.1%
of your net profit
$73,880
92.35% of your profit
Where your self-employment tax goes
Bar = share of your total tax
- Social Security (12.4%)$9,16111.5%
- Medicare (2.9%)$2,1432.7%
How it's figured (Schedule SE)
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Net profit (Schedule C) | $80,000 |
| Net earnings subject to SE tax92.35% of profit | $73,880 |
| Social Security (12.4%)on $73,880 | $9,161 |
| Medicare (2.9%)on $73,880, no cap | $2,143 |
| Self-employment tax | $11,304 |
You can deduct half of the $11,304 self-employment tax, $5,652, from your income on Form 1040. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax isn't part of that half. If this is your only income and you take the standard deduction, that deduction saves you about $1,243 in income tax.
If you earned this as an employee instead
On the same $73,880, a W-2 employee would pay $5,652 in payroll tax and their employer would cover the other $5,652. Self-employed, you pay both halves, but the employer half is the part you get to deduct.
How self-employment tax works
- You pay both halves. An employee and their employer each pay 7.65% toward Social Security and Medicare. With no employer, you cover the full 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. This is owed on top of regular income tax.
- Only 92.35% of your profit is taxed. The IRS trims your $80,000 profit first, mirroring how an employer's share of payroll tax never counts as wages. That leaves $73,880 of net earnings subject to SE tax.
- Social Security stops at $184,500 of combined earnings for the year. Your net earnings are under it, so the 12.4% applies to all $73,880, for $9,161.
- Medicare has no cap. 2.9% of $73,880 is $2,143.
- Additional Medicare Tax (0.9%) would kick in above $200,000, but you're under it.
- Half of it is deductible. You can take $5,652, half of your $11,304 self-employment tax, off your income on Form 1040 before income tax is figured. It lowers your income tax, not the SE tax itself, and you get it whether or not you itemize.
Frequently asked questions
Quick answers about self-employment tax.
- The rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare.
- An employee pays half of that and the employer pays the other half. Self-employed people pay both.
- It's owed on top of regular income tax.
- Start with net profit, meaning business income after expenses, and multiply it by 92.35%.
- Social Security (12.4%) applies to that amount up to $184,500. Medicare (2.9%) applies to all of it.
- Example: $60,000 of profit gives $55,410 of net earnings and $8,477.73 of self-employment tax.
- It mirrors how an employer's share of payroll tax never counts as the employee's wages.
- Trimming profit by 7.65%, the employer's share, puts self-employed people on similar footing.
- You owe it if your net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more for the year.
- Church employee income owes it from $108.28 up, when the church doesn't withhold Social Security or Medicare.
- Below those amounts you owe no self-employment tax, but income tax may still apply.
- Yes. Half of your self-employment tax is deducted from your income on Form 1040.
- It lowers your income tax, not the self-employment tax itself.
- You get it whether or not you itemize. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax isn't part of that half.
- W-2 wages use up the $184,500 Social Security cap first, leaving less room for self-employment earnings.
- They also use up the Additional Medicare Tax threshold, $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 if married filing jointly.
- This calculator takes W-2 wages into account when you enter them.
- Nobody withholds it for you, so most self-employed people make quarterly estimated tax payments.
- The IRS generally expects them if you'll owe $1,000 or more when you file.
- Paying too little during the year can lead to an underpayment penalty.
This is an estimate for the 2026 tax year, not tax, legal, or financial advice. Figures are simplified and don't include every credit or deduction. Talk to a tax professional before making decisions.