This self-employment tax calculator estimates the U.S. Social Security and Medicare tax you owe on freelance profit, line by line as Schedule SE figures it. Self-employment tax is 15.3% of 92.35% of your net profit: 12.4% for Social Security up to the yearly wage base ($184,500 for 2026, $192,300 for 2027) and 2.9% for Medicare on everything. On $50,000 of profit that comes to $7,064.78, about 14.1% of profit, before any income tax.
Enter your expected net profit for the year, pick the tax year and filing status, and add any W-2 wages if you also have a job. The result shows each step, the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax if it applies, the half you can deduct, your effective rate on profit, and an even quarterly share to plan estimated payments.
Disclaimer
This is a planning estimate for U.S. federal self-employment tax, not tax advice. It does not calculate federal or state income tax, and it does not cover church employee income, farm income, or the optional methods on Schedule SE. Check your figures against the current IRS forms or with a tax professional before you file.
How self-employment tax works
An employer withholds Social Security and Medicare from an employee's pay and pays a matching share itself. When you work for yourself, you pay both halves through self-employment tax. Schedule SE (Form 1040) works it out in a few steps, and the calculator follows the same lines for nonfarm profit:
- Net earnings (line 4a): multiply your net profit (for most freelancers, Schedule C line 31) by 92.35%. That figure is 100% minus 7.65%, the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare, so you are taxed on an amount comparable to an employee's wages.
- The $400 test (line 4c): if net earnings are under $400, you stop here and owe no self-employment tax.
- Social Security room (lines 7 to 9): start from the year's maximum ($184,500 for 2026) and subtract any W-2 Social Security wages. If wages already reach the maximum, there is no room left.
- Social Security tax (line 10): 12.4% of net earnings or the room left, whichever is smaller.
- Medicare tax (line 11): 2.9% of all net earnings, with no cap.
- Self-employment tax (line 12): lines 10 and 11 added together. This goes on Schedule 2 (Form 1040), line 4.
- Deduction (line 13): half of line 12, which you take on Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 15, when you figure income tax.
SE tax = (profit × 92.35%, Social Security part capped at the wage base left) × 12.4% + (profit × 92.35%) × 2.9%
The wage base changes every year. The 2026 Schedule SE prints $184,500 on line 7, and the Social Security Administration announced on October 14, 2026 that the 2027 base is $192,300. Choose 2027 in the calculator when you plan next year's estimated payments or a 2027 rate. The Additional Medicare Tax thresholds are not indexed, so they are the same in both years.
What to enter
- Net self-employment profit: your income minus business expenses for the whole year, not gross revenue. Mid-year, use your best full-year estimate: profit so far plus expected profit for the rest of the year. If you have more than one business, add the profits and losses together.
- Tax year: 2026 for the return you file in 2027, or 2027 to plan ahead with the new wage base.
- Filing status: only used for the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax threshold. Self-employment tax itself is figured per person, so married couples who both freelance each run their own numbers.
- W-2 Social Security wages: boxes 3 and 7 of your Forms W-2. Leave blank if you have no job alongside freelancing.
- W-2 Medicare wages: box 5 of your Forms W-2. Box 5 has no cap, so it can be higher than box 3 if you earn above the wage base. Leave it blank to reuse the Social Security wages.
The calculator accepts amounts with or without dollar signs and commas. If a field can't be read as a number, the results show a prompt instead of a figure. A loss or zero profit shows no self-employment tax.
Worked examples
These are hypothetical freelancers, not real cases. Enter the same numbers above to see every line.
| Scenario | Net earnings | Social Security 12.4% | Medicare 2.9% | Additional Medicare 0.9% | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $50,000 profit, no W-2 job, single, 2026 | $46,175.00 | $5,725.70 | $1,339.08 | $0.00 | $7,064.78 |
| $100,000 profit plus $150,000 W-2 wages, single, 2026 | $92,350.00 | $4,278.00 | $2,678.15 | $381.15 | $7,337.30 |
| $250,000 profit, no W-2 job, single, 2026 | $230,875.00 | $22,878.00 | $6,695.38 | $277.88 | $29,851.26 |
| $250,000 profit, no W-2 job, single, 2027 | $230,875.00 | $23,845.20 | $6,695.38 | $277.88 | $30,818.46 |
Example 1: $50,000 of profit
Net earnings are $50,000 × 92.35% = $46,175.00, well under the wage base. Social Security is $46,175 × 12.4% = $5,725.70 and Medicare is $46,175 × 2.9% = $1,339.08, for $7,064.78 of self-employment tax. That is 14.13% of profit. Half of it, $3,532.39, is deductible for income tax, and an even quarterly share is $1,766.20.
Example 2: a side business next to a $150,000 job
With $150,000 of W-2 Social Security wages, only $184,500 − $150,000 = $34,500 of Social Security room is left for 2026. Net earnings are $92,350, so Social Security applies to $34,500 ($4,278.00) and Medicare to all $92,350 ($2,678.15): $6,956.15 of self-employment tax. The Additional Medicare threshold for a single filer drops from $200,000 to $50,000 after the wages, so $42,350 of net earnings is over it and adds $381.15. The total, $7,337.30, is 7.34% of the side profit, much lower than Example 1 because the job already used most of the wage base.
Example 3: $250,000 of profit
Net earnings are $230,875. Social Security stops at the $184,500 wage base ($22,878.00), Medicare applies to all of it ($6,695.38), and self-employment tax is $29,573.38. Because net earnings are $30,875 over the $200,000 single threshold, the Additional Medicare Tax adds $277.88, for $29,851.26 in total. Switch the year to 2027 and the higher $192,300 wage base raises Social Security to $23,845.20, so the same profit costs $30,818.46, or $967.20 more.
The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax
On top of the 2.9% Medicare part, a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies once your combined wages and self-employment earnings pass a threshold set by filing status: $200,000 for single, head of household, and qualifying surviving spouse; $250,000 for married filing jointly; and $125,000 for married filing separately. For self-employment income, you reduce the threshold by your W-2 Medicare wages (not below zero) and pay 0.9% on the net earnings above what is left.
It is not part of Schedule SE. You figure it on Form 8959, which is why the calculator shows it in its own block. Married couples filing jointly use the joint threshold against both spouses' combined wages and self-employment income, so if your spouse also has earnings, add their figures before relying on this line. Additional Medicare Tax on wages over the threshold is figured on the same form and is not shown here, and a self-employment loss does not reduce it.
The deductible half and what it changes
Schedule SE line 13 lets you deduct half of your self-employment tax when you figure adjusted gross income. In Example 1, that is $3,532.39 off the income on which federal income tax is calculated. It does not reduce the self-employment tax itself, and it does not include the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
The deduction only lowers income tax, so its value depends on your bracket. It is one of several adjustments that sit between Schedule SE and Form 1040; the U.S. federal tax return guide for freelancers shows where Schedule C, Schedule SE, Schedule 1, and Schedule 2 fit together on the 2026 return.
How to use the result for the Q4 2026 payment
The quarterly estimate splits the year's self-employment taxes evenly into four. That works for planning a full year of payments, but with only the last payment left for 2026, it is more useful to work with the full-year total:
- Enter your expected 2026 profit, including invoices you will send before December 31, and note the total self-employment taxes.
- Add your estimated federal income tax for 2026. Self-employment tax is only part of what estimated payments must cover.
- Subtract any federal income tax withheld from a job and the estimated payments you made in April, June, and September.
- Compare the gap with the safe-harbor targets and pay by Friday, January 15, 2027. The Q4 2026 estimated tax payment checkpoint explains the 90% and 100% or 110% safe harbors and how to pay.
If your income is uneven, an even quarterly split can overstate early payments and understate later ones; IRS Publication 505 explains the annualized income installment method for that case. For the dates after January, including the first 2027 payment, see the freelance tax calendar for winter 2026 to 2027.
To turn the result into a habit, divide your total expected tax (self-employment plus income tax) by profit and use that percentage in the tax set-aside calculator each time a client pays. Example 1's 14.13% is a floor for that percentage, not the whole answer, because income tax still comes on top.
Common mistakes
- Using revenue instead of profit. Self-employment tax is figured on profit after business expenses, so entering gross receipts overstates it.
- Applying 15.3% to the full profit. The 92.35% step comes first. On $50,000, skipping it gives $7,650 instead of $7,064.78.
- Forgetting the job. W-2 wages use up the Social Security wage base before your freelance earnings do, and they lower the Additional Medicare threshold.
- Treating self-employment tax as the whole bill. Federal income tax, and state income tax where it applies, come on top. Budget for both.
- Waiting for 1099s to know your income. Your own invoices are the real total. The guide to 1099-NEC and 1099-K forms for 2026 explains which forms to expect and how to reconcile them.
For the rest of the money side of freelancing, from invoicing and records to filing, start at the money and tax guides. If the total looks too heavy for your current rates, the freelance rate calculator shows what you would need to charge to keep your target income after costs.
Common questions
What is the self-employment tax rate for 2026?
The rate is 15.3% of net earnings from self-employment: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. For 2026 the Social Security part applies only to the first $184,500 of combined wages and net earnings, while the Medicare part has no cap. A further 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to earnings above $200,000 for single filers, $250,000 for married couples filing jointly, or $125,000 for married filing separately.
Do I owe self-employment tax if I made less than $400?
Not if your net earnings from self-employment are under $400. Net earnings are your profit multiplied by 92.35%, so the test is applied after that step, not to your raw profit. You may still need to file a federal return for other reasons, such as your total income or other taxes you owe.
Is self-employment tax the same as income tax?
No. Self-employment tax is Social Security and Medicare tax on your business profit, figured on Schedule SE. Federal income tax is a separate calculation with its own brackets, and you can deduct half of your self-employment tax when you figure it. You pay both through the same estimated tax payments.
Does my W-2 job reduce my self-employment tax?
Only the Social Security part, and only when your W-2 Social Security wages plus your net self-employment earnings pass the yearly wage base ($184,500 for 2026). The 2.9% Medicare part applies to all net earnings regardless of wages. W-2 Medicare wages also lower the threshold at which the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax starts on your self-employment earnings.
Is the Additional Medicare Tax part of the deductible half?
No. The deduction is half of the self-employment tax on Schedule SE, which contains only the 12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare parts. The 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax is figured separately on Form 8959 and is not included in that deduction.
Sources
- IRS: About Schedule SE (Form 1040), Self-Employment Tax
- IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes)
- IRS Topic 554, Self-employment tax
- IRS: Questions and answers for the Additional Medicare Tax
- SSA: Contribution and benefit base
Does this calculator save my numbers?
No. Your inputs stay in page memory and are cleared when you reload. The calculator records one interaction event that identifies the tool without including any amount you enter. For site-wide analytics and data handling, read the Privacy policy.
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