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Self Employment Tax Calculator

Estimate the Social Security and Medicare tax you owe on freelance or business income. Enter your net profit, any W-2 wages and your filing status, then press Calculate to see the breakdown.

Written by TopicDrill Editorial Team·Updated June 2026

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Your inputs

Fill in the details, then press Calculate.

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Wages from a regular job reduce the Social Security portion you owe.

Self-employment tax

$11,304

14.1% of net profit

Social Security (12.4%)$9,161
Medicare (2.9%)$2,143
Additional Medicare (0.9%)$0

Deductible half of SE tax: $5,652

Where the tax goes

$11,304total SE tax
  • Social Security$9,161
  • Medicare$2,143

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How the self-employment tax calculator works

The tool follows the same path as Schedule SE. It starts by taking 92.35 percent of your net profit to find your net earnings from self-employment, then applies a 12.4 percent Social Security rate up to the annual wage base and a 2.9 percent Medicare rate with no ceiling. Higher earners also pick up the 0.9 percent Additional Medicare Tax once combined income passes the threshold for their filing status.

The donut chart splits the total into its three parts so you can see where the money goes. The orange wedge is Social Security, the lighter wedge is Medicare, and the grey sliver, if present, is the Additional Medicare Tax that only affects higher incomes.

A worked example

Imagine a freelancer with 80,000 dollars of net profit and no W-2 wages. Net earnings come to 73,880 dollars. Social Security at 12.4 percent adds about 9,161 dollars, Medicare at 2.9 percent adds roughly 2,143 dollars, and with income below the Additional Medicare threshold there is nothing extra. The total self-employment tax is near 11,300 dollars, and half of it can be deducted against income tax.

Things to keep in mind

This estimate covers self-employment tax only, not federal or state income tax, and it uses standard rates that can change year to year. Self-employed people usually pay through quarterly estimated taxes, so check the current figures and rules with the IRS self-employment tax page before filing. To see how the income side of your business could grow, try our future value calculator.

Frequently asked questions

What is self-employment tax?

Self-employment tax is how self-employed people pay into Social Security and Medicare. Employees split these contributions with an employer, but when you work for yourself you cover both halves, which is why the headline rate of 15.3 percent feels steep compared with the amount withheld from a regular paycheck.

Why is only part of my profit taxed?

Before the tax is figured, your net profit is multiplied by 92.35 percent to reach your net earnings from self-employment. This adjustment mirrors the employer-side payroll tax that a regular employee never sees, so it keeps the self-employed roughly even with employees rather than taxing them on a larger base.

How do W-2 wages from a job affect the result?

The Social Security portion only applies up to an annual wage base. If a regular job already used part of that base, the calculator subtracts those wages so you are not taxed twice on the same Social Security ceiling. The Medicare portion has no cap, so it still applies to all of your net earnings.

Can I deduct any of this tax?

Yes. You can deduct half of the base Social Security and Medicare portions of your self-employment tax when figuring your income tax. The calculator shows that deductible half so you can carry it into your wider tax estimate, though it does not reduce the self-employment tax itself.

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