Self-employment tax calculator
See the Social Security, Medicare and income tax on your 2026 profit, line by line.
Your 2026 profit
Social Security and Medicare
Federal income tax on the profit
Set aside from profitbefore state tax20.4%
Each quarterly paymentif you pay it evenly over 4 dates$3,470
On $68,000 of profit, expect about $13,881 of federal tax: $9,608 for Social Security and Medicare and $4,273 of income tax. Add your state income tax on top.
Your numbers stay in this browser. An estimate, not tax advice.
How self-employment tax is worked out
Take $68,000 of profit. Schedule SE counts 92.35% of it, which is $62,798. Social Security is 12.4% of that, or $7,787, and Medicare is 2.9%, or $1,821. Together that is $9,608 of self-employment tax.
Half of it, $4,804, comes off your income before income tax. With the $16,100 standard deduction for a single filer and a QBI deduction of $9,419, taxable income is $37,677, and the income tax on it is $4,273. The total federal bill is $13,881, about 20% of the profit.
The guide to self-employment tax goes through each line of Schedule SE.
Who has to pay it
You owe self-employment tax when your net earnings from self-employment are $400 or more for the year. That applies to freelancers, sole proprietors and members of a single-member LLC, whether or not a client sent a 1099.
The 12.4% Social Security part stops once wages and net earnings together reach $184,500 in 2026. The 2.9% Medicare part has no cap. Above $200,000 for a single filer, or $250,000 for a married couple filing jointly, another 0.9% applies.
When to pay it
The IRS expects the tax as you earn, in four estimated payments. For 2026 income the dates are April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027. Each payment box above splits the year evenly.
You avoid the underpayment penalty if your payments cover 100% of last year's tax, or 110% when last year's adjusted gross income was over $150,000. The quarterly estimated tax guide shows how to work out each payment.