Estimate US Self-Employment Tax for 2026

The first year of freelancing has one nasty surprise: nobody has been taking tax out of your invoices. When an employer pays you, half of your Social Security and Medicare contribution is paid by the employer. When you work for yourself, you pay both halves, and the bill arrives as a lump sum unless you set money aside as you go. The Self-Employment Tax calculator turns your expected net profit into that number, split into its parts, with a quarterly figure to save towards.

This post explains each number it shows, runs the calculation on real examples, and says plainly what the calculator does not cover. It is an estimate for planning, not tax advice.

What you enter

There are three inputs. Net self-employment profit is the yearly amount left after your business expenses. W-2 wages this year is for people who also have a job, because wages already use up part of the Social Security wage base. Filing status is single, married filing jointly, married filing separately or head of household, and it only affects the 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax threshold.

The calculator opens with 60,000 as the profit and zero wages, so it already shows a result; type your own figures over them. It treats a profit of zero or less as no tax.

The rules it applies for 2026

The page lists its rules under the result, and they are worth knowing:

• Tax is worked on 92.35 percent of net profit, not on all of it. That is the "net earnings from self-employment" figure.
• Social Security is 12.4 percent, applied to net earnings up to the wage base, which the calculator sets at $184,500 for 2026, less any W-2 wages you entered.
• Medicare is 2.9 percent of all net earnings, with no cap.
• An Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9 percent applies above a threshold that depends on filing status: $200,000 for single and head of household, $250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately. W-2 wages count towards the threshold.
• If net earnings are under $400, no self-employment tax is due.

The wage base and thresholds change as the agencies publish new figures, and the page says so. Treat the tool's year as the one on the page, and check the official figures for anything that matters.

Worked example 1: 60,000 of profit

Start with 60,000 profit, single, no wages. Net earnings are 60,000 times 0.9235, which is 55,410. Social Security is 12.4 percent of that, $6,870.84. Medicare is 2.9 percent, $1,606.89. The total is $8,477.73, which the page also states as about $2,119.43 per quarter. The deductible half, which lowers your income tax, is $4,238.87, half of the Social Security and Medicare amounts.

The tax is therefore not 15.3 percent of 60,000, which would be 9,180, but 8,477.73, because of the 92.35 percent factor. If you estimated with 15.3 percent of your profit, you would over-save by about 700 here.

Worked example 2: a day job plus side income

Wages change the answer because Social Security stops at the wage base, and wages use that base up first. Two cases show both directions, both for a single filer.

First, 190,000 of W-2 wages and 40,000 of profit on the side. Net earnings are 36,940. The wages are already above the $184,500 base, so Social Security on the side income is zero and only Medicare applies, $1,071.26. The Additional Medicare Tax applies too: the threshold for a single filer is 200,000, wages use up 190,000 of it, so the 0.9 percent is charged on the 26,940 of net earnings above the remaining 10,000, which is $242.46. The total is $1,313.72.

Second, 120,000 of wages and 100,000 of profit. Net earnings are 92,350. Only 64,500 of the base is left (184,500 minus 120,000), so Social Security is $7,998.00. Medicare is $2,678.15 and the Additional Medicare Tax is $111.15, so the total is $10,787.30.

Worked example 3: how filing status changes the top end

Take 250,000 of profit. Net earnings are 230,875. Social Security stops at the wage base, so it is $22,878.00. Medicare is $6,695.38. For a single filer, the Additional Medicare Tax is $277.88 on the 30,875 above the 200,000 threshold, a total of $29,851.25. For married filing jointly, the threshold is 250,000, which is above the net earnings, so the 0.9 percent tax is zero and the total is $29,573.38. Same profit, a difference of $277.88, entirely from the filing status.

The $400 floor

Net earnings must reach $400 before the tax applies. That is a profit of about $434, because 434 times 0.9235 is 400.80. At a profit of $433 the calculator shows no tax and a note explaining why; at $434 it shows $61.32. This is an arithmetic floor, not an advice to stay under it. Income tax is separate and may still apply.

Self-employment tax is not income tax

The calculator covers only the Social Security and Medicare part. Income tax is extra, and the Income Tax Calculator has a self-employed mode that uses the same figures. For the 60,000 case, single, standard deduction of $16,100, no state tax and no other deductions: adjusted income is 60,000 minus the deductible half of $4,238.87, which is $55,761.14, and taxable income after the standard deduction is $39,661.14. Federal income tax on that is $4,511.34 (the 12 percent bracket is the top one reached). Add the self-employment tax and the total is $12,989.07, about 21.6 percent of profit, or $3,247.27 a quarter. Those are the numbers to set aside, not the self-employment tax alone. The Income Tax Calculator does not model every deduction a real return can have, such as the qualified business income deduction, so a real return can come out lower.

Quarterly dates

For payments, the calculator lists the dates for the tax year: April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 of the next year, moved to the next business day if one falls on a weekend or holiday, citing IRS Form 1040-ES. The quarterly figure on the page is simply the total divided by four, so if your income is lumpy, update it whenever your expected profit changes.

Where the calculator stops

It does not know your state, your deductions beyond the standard one in the linked calculator, a spouse's income, or credits. It assumes one source of self-employment income. It does not file anything. It is built for a first estimate before you talk to an accountant, and for checking whether a quote or contract leaves you enough after tax. If you pay people yourself, the Paycheck Calculator shows the employee side, where the employer pays half, so you can see the difference. And when you need to bill, Invoice Generator makes the invoice.

Steps

1. Estimate your net profit for the year: income minus business expenses.
2. Enter it, add any W-2 wages, and choose your filing status.
3. Read the total, the Social Security and Medicare lines and the deductible half.
4. Open the Income Tax Calculator in self-employed mode with the same profit to see the whole picture.
5. Divide by four, or use the quarterly figure, and move that amount into a separate savings account each quarter.
6. Revisit the numbers when your profit changes.

Self-Employment Tax is a Professional Tool with 10 trial uses a day. You can read the result for free; copying, printing or saving it uses one trial use per visit.

Common mistakes

Applying 15.3 percent to the whole profit instead of 92.35 percent of it. Forgetting that W-2 wages use up the Social Security base. Treating self-employment tax as the whole bill. Using last year's rules without checking the year on the page. Forgetting that the deductible half only lowers income tax, not the self-employment tax itself.

Summary

Enter your net profit, add wages and filing status, and the calculator shows Social Security, Medicare, any Additional Medicare Tax, a deductible half and a quarterly figure. Pair it with the Income Tax Calculator for the whole picture. Open the Self-Employment Tax calculator with your own profit. For a wider tour of the tools a freelancer needs, see self-employed tax and retirement calculators.

Open the Self-Employment Tax calculator→

Which US tax situation should we add a worked example for next? Tell us on the contact page.