🧾 Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Calculates 2026 self-employment tax under IRS Schedule SE: 92.35% net earnings, 12.4% Social Security up to $184,500, 2.9% Medicare, plus the 0.9% surtax.
Schedule SE Breakdown
This covers self-employment tax only — the flat 15.3% (plus 0.9% for high earners) that funds Social Security and Medicare. It does not estimate federal or state income tax on this profit, which is a separate, bracket-dependent calculation.
What Self-Employment Tax Calculator Does
Self-employment tax is not a separate, extra tax invented for freelancers — it is the self-employed version of the Social Security and Medicare taxes a W-2 job withholds automatically. Schedule SE combines both halves an employer would normally split with an employee (7.65% each) into one 15.3% rate, because a sole proprietor is standing in for both sides of that arrangement at once.
The subtlety a naive calculator gets wrong is the 92.35% step. The IRS does not tax your full net profit at 15.3% — it first multiplies net profit by 92.35%, then applies the rate to that smaller figure. This exists because a W-2 employee's taxable wages never include the employer's matching FICA contribution; the 92.35% factor gives the self-employed an equivalent break before the rate is applied, rather than taxing the same dollar twice.
A second subtlety, missed just as often, shows up for anyone who freelances alongside a W-2 job. The 12.4% Social Security portion stops at one shared wage base per year ($184,500 for 2026) — but that cap applies across ALL earnings, not per job. Wages an employer already ran through Social Security use up part of that room, so self-employment earnings only pay the 12.4% portion on whatever cap space is left. A calculator that ignores W-2 wages entirely overstates the Social Security tax for anyone in that situation.
This page calculates self-employment tax only. It intentionally stops there: federal and state income tax on the same profit is a separate, progressive, bracket-dependent calculation that belongs to a payroll/income-tax tool, not a Schedule SE calculator. Blending the two into one number is how the common "self-employment tax is 30-40%" misconception gets started.
How to Use Self-Employment Tax Calculator
- Enter your net profit from self-employment (Schedule C, line 31).
- Choose your filing status — this sets the Additional Medicare Tax threshold.
- If you also had a W-2 job this year, enter those wages so the Social Security cap is applied correctly.
- Read the total self-employment tax, the Social Security/Medicare/Additional Medicare breakdown, and the deductible half for Form 1040.
Formula Used by Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Self-employment tax (single filer, under the Social Security cap)
SE tax = (Net profit × 0.9235) × 15.3%
- Net profit
- Schedule C net profit, before any self-employment tax
- 0.9235
- Statutory net-earnings multiplier (92.35%), fixed by IRC §1402(a)
- 15.3%
- 12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare, combined
Worked example
$80,000 net profit, single filer, no W-2 wages this year.
- Net earnings from self-employment: $80,000 × 0.9235 = $73,880
- Social Security (12.4%, under the $184,500 cap): $73,880 × 0.124 = $9,161.12
- Medicare (2.9%, uncapped): $73,880 × 0.029 = $2,142.52
Result: Total self-employment tax = $9,161.12 + $2,142.52 = $11,303.64 — 14.13% of net profit, not 30% or 40%.
Above the Social Security wage base, with the Additional Medicare Tax
Additional Medicare Tax = 0.9% × (Net earnings − filing-status threshold)
- $184,500
- 2026 Social Security wage base — the 12.4% portion stops applying above this
- $200,000 / $250,000 / $125,000
- Additional Medicare Tax threshold: single / married filing jointly / married filing separately
Worked example
$250,000 net profit, single filer, no W-2 wages.
- Net earnings from self-employment: $250,000 × 0.9235 = $230,875
- Social Security: capped at $184,500 × 0.124 = $22,878 (not $230,875 × 0.124)
- Medicare (uncapped): $230,875 × 0.029 = $6,695.375
- Additional Medicare Tax: ($230,875 − $200,000) × 0.009 = $277.875
Result: Total self-employment tax = $22,878 + $6,695.375 + $277.875 = $29,851.25 — an effective 11.94% of net profit, lower than the smaller example above because most of the profit sits above the Social Security cap.
Deductible half, with a W-2 job in the same year
Deduction = (Social Security tax + Medicare tax) ÷ 2
- Excludes Additional Medicare Tax
- The 0.9% surtax is computed on Form 8959, outside Schedule SE, and has no employer-equivalent half to deduct
Worked example
$60,000 net profit plus $150,000 in W-2 wages already taxed for Social Security, single filer.
- Net earnings from self-employment: $60,000 × 0.9235 = $55,410
- Social Security room left under the cap: $184,500 − $150,000 = $34,500, so tax = $34,500 × 0.124 = $4,278 (not $55,410 × 0.124)
- Medicare (uncapped): $55,410 × 0.029 = $1,606.89
- Additional Medicare room: $200,000 − $150,000 = $50,000; excess = $55,410 − $50,000 = $5,410 × 0.009 = $48.69
Result: Total SE tax = $4,278 + $1,606.89 + $48.69 = $5,933.58. Deductible half = ($4,278 + $1,606.89) ÷ 2 = $2,942.445, excluding the $48.69 surtax.
How to Read Your Result
Your total is under 15.3% of net profit
Normal — the 92.35% multiplier alone brings the effective rate below the headline 15.3% even before any cap or deduction is considered (92.35% × 15.3% = 14.13%).
Your effective rate is LOWER at a high net profit
Expected once profit passes the Social Security wage base: the 12.4% portion stops growing, so each additional dollar above the cap is taxed only at 2.9% Medicare (plus 0.9% if you are also above the Additional Medicare threshold) — the total tax still rises, but slower than profit does.
You entered W-2 wages and the Social Security tax looks small
Check that your wages are close to or above $184,500 — Social Security room is shared across every job in the same year, so a W-2 salary near the cap leaves little or none for self-employment earnings to fill.
Limitations & Accuracy Notes
- This is self-employment tax only — it does not estimate federal or state income tax on the same profit, which uses progressive brackets and is a materially different calculation (see a salary/income tax calculator for that half of the picture).
- It assumes all net profit is subject to self-employment tax. Certain income (some rental real estate, some limited-partner distributions, and a handful of other statutory exceptions) is excluded from SE tax on the real Schedule SE; this tool does not attempt to classify income types.
- The Additional Medicare Tax calculation here mirrors Form 8959's ordering (wages credited against the threshold first) but does not account for Additional Medicare Tax already withheld by an employer — that reconciliation happens on the actual Form 8959, not here.
- Figures are for tax year 2026. The Social Security wage base and Additional Medicare Tax thresholds are set separately each year (the wage base is inflation-indexed; the Additional Medicare Tax thresholds are not), so recheck both before relying on this for a different tax year.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do self-employed pay 30% tax?
Is self-employment tax 40%?
Why is only 92.35% of my net profit taxed?
Do I owe self-employment tax if my net profit is small?
Can I deduct self-employment tax?
What if I have a W-2 job and freelance income in the same year?
References & Further Reading
- IRS — Self-Employment Tax (Social Security and Medicare Taxes) — Confirms the 15.3% combined rate (12.4% + 2.9%) and the mechanics of the deduction for one-half of SE tax.
- IRS Topic No. 554, Self-Employment Tax — Confirms the 92.35% net-earnings multiplier.
- IRS Topic No. 560, Additional Medicare Tax — Confirms the 0.9% rate, the three filing-status thresholds, and that it is reported on Form 8959, separate from Schedule SE.
- IRS Instructions for Schedule SE — Confirms the $400 minimum net-earnings threshold for owing SE tax.
- The Tax Adviser (AICPA) — Social Security wage base and COLA announced for 2026 — Confirms the 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500 (up from $176,100 in 2025) and the resulting $22,878 maximum self-employment Social Security tax, which matches 184,500 × 0.124 exactly.