Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Estimate the Social Security and Medicare tax you owe on your 1099 net profit — and see how much of it you can deduct.
How to use this calculator
Enter your net self-employment profit — that's your 1099 and freelance income after you subtract your business expenses, not your gross revenue. The calculator instantly shows your estimated self-employment (SE) tax, broken into its Social Security and Medicare parts, plus the portion you can deduct on your income tax return. Adjust the slider to see how earning more changes what you owe.
How this is calculated
Self-employment tax is the self-employed version of the Social Security and Medicare taxes (FICA) that employees and employers split. Because you are both, you pay both halves — a combined 15.3%. First we multiply your net profit by 92.35% to get your taxable base. We apply 12.4% for Social Security (only on base up to the annual wage cap of $176,100) and 2.9% for Medicare (no cap). The two add up to your SE tax, and exactly half of that amount is deductible against your income tax.
This is an educational estimate, not tax advice — confirm your numbers with a qualified tax professional and see our disclaimer.
A worked example
Say you net $50,000 in profit from freelance work. We first take 92.35% of that, giving a taxable base of $46,175. Social Security tax is 12.4% of the base (it's under the cap), which is about $5,726. Medicare is 2.9% of the base, roughly $1,339. Add them and your SE tax is about $7,065. Half of that — around $3,532 — comes off your income before income tax is figured, softening the blow.
Why 92.35%, and why the cap matters
The 92.35% adjustment exists because employees never pay FICA on the employer's half of the tax. Reducing your base by 7.65% (the employer share) keeps self-employed people on roughly equal footing. The Social Security portion also stops once your base passes the annual wage cap, so very high earners pay 12.4% only up to that limit — but the 2.9% Medicare tax keeps applying to every dollar of profit, with no ceiling.
Plan ahead for quarterly taxes
SE tax is on top of regular income tax, and no employer withholds it for you. Most self-employed people send the IRS estimated payments four times a year to avoid a surprise bill and penalties. A good habit is to set aside a fixed share of every payment you receive into a separate account. To estimate your full tax picture including federal income tax, try our freelancer tax calculator, then come back here to isolate the SE portion.