Self-Employment Tax Calculator

How this calculator works

Self-employment tax is the freelancer's version of FICA: because no employer is withholding payroll taxes or matching them, you pay both halves yourself - 12.4% for Social Security on the first $184,500 of net earnings plus 2.9% Medicare on everything, for a combined 15.3% applied to 92.35% of your net profit. That sits on top of ordinary federal income tax, which is why the total bite surprises first-time freelancers. This self-employment tax calculator breaks all three layers apart: enter your net self-employment income (profit after business expenses) and filing status, and it shows the Social Security portion, the Medicare portion, the deductible half that lowers your income tax, your estimated federal income tax, and the combined bill.

Two details most people miss. First, only 92.35% of net earnings is subject to SE tax - the 7.65% haircut is Congress's rough offset for the employer half you never got to deduct. Second, you deduct half of the SE tax from your income (not from the SE tax itself) before computing income tax, which the calculator handles automatically. The Social Security wage base ($184,500 for 2026) caps only the 12.4% portion; Medicare's 2.9% has no cap, and earnings above $200,000 single / $250,000 joint attract an extra 0.9%. As a rule of thumb, set aside 25–30% of every freelance dollar for taxes until you run your exact numbers here.