Work & Pay

Self-Employment Tax Calculator

The Social Security and Medicare tax you owe on freelance or business profit — worked out line by line the way Schedule SE does it.

Enter your net profit from self-employment.

Estimate. A real-world figure based on the assumptions listed below, which you can change. Figures are for tax year 2026.

How this calculator works

An employee splits Social Security and Medicare with their employer, 7.65% each. When you work for yourself you pay both halves — 15.3% — which is self-employment tax.

It is not charged on all of your profit. You first multiply net profit by 92.35%, which gives your net earnings from self-employment. That mirrors the deduction an employer gets for its half. If net earnings come to less than $400, no self-employment tax is owed at all.

Of the 15.3%, 12.4% is Social Security and stops at the annual wage base — $184,500 for 2026. That cap is shared with any wages from a job, so if you also have a W-2 job, only the room left under the cap is taxed at 12.4%. The other 2.9% is Medicare, which has no cap.

Above $200,000 ($250,000 for a joint return), a further 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies. Wages count toward that threshold first.

Half of the self-employment tax is deductible when working out your adjusted gross income, which lowers your income tax a little. The Additional Medicare Tax is not part of that half.

The formula

Exactly what happens to your numbers, step by step.

Net earnings
```
net earnings = net profit × 92.35%
```
Below $400, nothing is owed.

Social Security

SS = 12.4% × smaller of (net earnings, wage base − W-2 wages)

Medicare
```
Medicare = 2.9% × net earnings
```
Deduction
```
deduction = ½ × (SS + Medicare)
```

A worked example

A freelancer with $50,000 of net profit and no other job.

What you enter

Net profit: $50,000
W-2 wages: None

Step by step

Net earnings (× 92.35%): $46,175.00
Social Security (× 12.4%): $5,725.70
Medicare (× 2.9%): $1,339.08
Self-employment tax: $7,064.78
Deductible half: $3,532.39

Self-employment tax of $7,064.78

That is 14.1% of the $50,000 profit — a little under 15.3%, because the tax is charged on 92.35% of the profit rather than all of it. Income tax on the same profit comes on top.

Assumptions

Every result here rests on these. Change your inputs and the result changes with them.

15.3% self-employment tax: 12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare, on 92.35% of net profit, as on Schedule SE.
The 2026 Social Security wage base of $184,500, shared with any W-2 wages you enter.
Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% above $200,000 ($250,000 joint, $125,000 separate), with the threshold reduced by wages, as on Form 8959.

What this cannot tell you

This is self-employment tax only. Federal and state income tax on the same profit are owed on top.
Church employee income, the farm and non-farm optional methods, and Conservation Reserve Program payments are not modeled.
Your one W-2 wage figure is used for both caps. That matches the forms for nearly everyone; it can differ slightly if your Social Security and Medicare wages differ for reasons other than the wage base.

Questions people ask

Why is self-employment tax charged on 92.35% of my profit?

Because an employer deducts its half of payroll tax as a business expense, and the self-employed get the equivalent. Taking 92.35% of profit — 100% less half of the 15.3% — puts you on the same footing as an employee.

Do I pay self-employment tax if I also have a job?

Yes, but the Social Security part may be smaller. Wages and self-employment earnings share one Social Security wage base — $184,500 for 2026 — so someone earning $180,000 in wages has only $4,500 of room left, and their side income owes almost no Social Security tax. Medicare applies to all of it.

Can I deduct self-employment tax?

Half of it. You deduct half of your self-employment tax when working out adjusted gross income, which lowers your income tax. The deduction does not reduce the self-employment tax itself.

Is there a minimum before I owe it?

Yes. If your net earnings from self-employment — net profit times 92.35% — are under $400, you owe no self-employment tax. That works out to net profit under about $433.

How do I pay it?

No employer withholds it, so it is usually paid through quarterly estimated tax payments, along with the income tax on the same profit. It is reported on Schedule SE with your annual return.

Sources and review

Sources

Methodology version 1.0.0 · Last reviewed September 30, 2026 · Tax year 2026

Cite this calculator

For coursework, a resource list or your own site. How every calculator is built and checked is set out on the methodology page.

Citation

Chalk Calculator. (2026, September 30). Self-Employment Tax Calculator (Methodology version 1.0.0). https://chalkcalculator.com/self-employment-tax-calculator/

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