Self-employment tax calculator
Working for yourself, you pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare: 15.3% of 92.35% of what the business clears, on top of income tax. For 2026 the Social Security part stops at $184,500.
Your year
Profit is what the business takes in less what it spends. It uses the 2026 federal brackets, standard deduction and wage base.
I file , and this year the business should clear , with from anything else.
to the IRS for 2026, or about $5,210 a quarter.
| Self-employment tax | $13,423 |
| Federal income tax | $7,417 |
| Taxable income after deductions | $57,751 |
Every $100 the business spends puts $30 back of this, before your state. Add your state.
How it’s worked out
Take 92.35% of profit, which stands in for the employer half an employee never sees. Self-employment tax is 12.4% of that for Social Security, up to $184,500, and 2.9% for Medicare on all of it. Under $400 there is none.
Income tax comes after three deductions: half the self-employment tax, the standard deduction ($16,100 for a single filer in 2026) and the 20% qualified business income deduction.
At $95,000 of profit a single filer owes $13,423 of self-employment tax and $7,417 of income tax, $20,840 in all.
Making it smaller
Every business expense comes off profit before both taxes, which is why a dollar spent on the business is worth more to the self-employed than to anyone else. See what counts.
Health insurance premiums and retirement contributions lower income tax too, though not self-employment tax, because they come off after profit.
No one withholds this for you, so it is paid four times a year. Here is when.
What it leaves out
A job as well
Wages from a job already count toward the $184,500 Social Security limit, so with a large salary your self-employment tax can be lower than this shows.
High incomes
Above $200,000 ($250,000 filing jointly) an extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies, and the business income deduction can shrink for some professions. Neither is counted here.
Your state
This is federal only. Every state’s share is on its own page.
Credits
Child tax credits and other credits come off income tax after all of this, so the income tax figure is the most you would owe.
Checked on September 25, 2026 against Rev. Proc. 2025-32, SSA 2026 fact sheet and Instructions for Schedule SE. An estimate for your records, not tax advice.
See it on every receipt.
Reimburse prices every receipt in what it takes off this bill, and tells you what each quarter should be.