Self-Employment Tax Calculator 2026

How self-employment tax works

When you're an employee, 7.65% of your pay goes to Social Security and Medicare and your employer pays another 7.65%. When you work for yourself, you pay both halves — 15.3%. That's self-employment tax, and it's separate from (and on top of) income tax.

1. Start with net profit: business income minus deductible business expenses.
2. Multiply by 92.35% to get net earnings from self-employment.
3. Apply 12.4% Social Security up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500 (reduced by any W-2 wages).
4. Apply 2.9% Medicare to all of it, plus 0.9% Additional Medicare above $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly).
5. Deduct half of the Social Security + Medicare amount on your Form 1040.

Worked example

A freelancer with $80,000 of net profit has $73,880 of net earnings ($80,000 × 92.35%). Social Security is 12.4% × $73,880 = $9,161 and Medicare is 2.9% × $73,880 = $2,143, for $11,304 of self-employment tax — about $2,826 a quarter. Half of it, $5,652, is deductible when working out income tax.

At $300,000 of profit, net earnings are $277,050. Social Security stops at the $184,500 cap ($22,878), Medicare is $8,034, and 0.9% Additional Medicare applies to the $77,050 above $200,000 ($693) — about $31,600 in total.

What this includes & its limits

• Schedule SE self-employment tax and Form 8959 Additional Medicare tax on self-employment earnings, using 2026 limits.
• Does not calculate income tax, the qualified business income (QBI) deduction, church-employee income, farm optional methods, or state taxes.

Sources: IRS Schedule SE and Form 8959 instructions; SSA contribution and benefit base.

Frequently asked questions

An estimate for general guidance, not tax advice.