Self-employment tax calculator

Enter your net self-employment profit to see the self-employment tax on it: the Social Security and Medicare tax that people who work for themselves pay in place of the share an employer would withhold and match. If you are paid on a 1099, this is the tax this calculator covers. It does not work out income tax, which depends on your whole return.

How it calculates

1. Net earnings from self-employment are 92.35% of your net profit (Schedule SE, line 4a). If that comes to less than $400, no self-employment tax is due.
2. Social Security is 12.4% of net earnings, but only up to the year's wage base of $184,500, minus any Social Security wages you earned as an employee (lines 7 to 10).
3. Medicare is 2.9% of all net earnings, with no limit (line 11). The two together are the self-employment tax (line 12).
4. The additional Medicare tax is 0.9% of net earnings above $200,000, or $250,000 for a joint return and $125,000 for married filing separately. Wages lower that threshold first (Form 8959, Part II).
5. Half of the self-employment tax is deducted from your income for income tax (line 13). The calculator shows it but does not subtract it from the self-employment tax, because it lowers income tax only.

For example, a net profit of $100,000 gives net earnings of $92,350, Social Security of $11,451.40 and Medicare of $2,678.15: a self-employment tax of $14,129.55, of which $7,064.78 is deductible.

Assumptions and limits

• One person. Spouses who both have self-employment income each file their own Schedule SE; combine the profit of all your own businesses into one figure.
• Self-employment tax and the additional Medicare tax only. Federal and state income tax, and the additional Medicare tax on wages themselves, are not included.
• The optional methods for small or negative earnings, church employee income, farm income and exemptions such as approved Form 4361 or 4029 are left out; the Schedule SE instructions cover them.
• Wages are counted the same for Social Security and Medicare, which is true for most W-2 jobs.
• The tax is due with your return, and if you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, through quarterly estimated payments (IRS: estimated taxes).

An LLC owner's self-employment tax

An LLC taxed the default way changes nothing here: a single-member LLC's owner and the working members of a multi-member LLC pay self-employment tax on their share of the profit, like a sole proprietor or a partner (IRS Topic 554). An LLC that elects S corporation treatment pays its owner a salary instead; compare the two with the S corp tax calculator, and see LLC vs S corp for how the election works.

Sources

• IRS Topic 554, Self-employment tax: who pays, the 92.35% rule, the 12.4% and 2.9% rates.
• Schedule SE (Form 1040): the $400 floor, the wage base line and the deduction for half of the tax.
• IRS Topic 560, Additional Medicare tax: the 0.9% rate and the thresholds by filing status.
• Social Security Administration: the contribution and benefit base of $184,500 for 2026.

General information, not legal or tax advice. Figures for tax year 2026, checked 2026-10-26 against the official sources above. How we check our facts · Report an error