Self-Employment Tax Calculator (2026)
Work out the self-employment tax on your freelance or 1099 profit for 2026, including how existing W-2 wages change the result and how much of the tax you can deduct.
Reviewed by Teja K, CPA ·
Gross receipts less business expenses
Salary from an employer this year
With net earnings under $400, no self-employment tax is due and Schedule SE is not required. The income is still reportable for income tax.
Tax year 2026. Self-employment tax only — federal income tax is separate.
What self-employment tax actually is
Self-employment tax is Social Security and Medicare — the same FICA taxes an employee pays, except you pay both halves. An employee has 7.65% withheld and their employer quietly pays the matching 7.65%. When you work for yourself there is no employer, so the whole 15.3% is yours.
It is separate from, and on top of, federal income tax. This catches out almost every first-year freelancer: they set aside money for income tax, then discover a second bill of roughly 15% of their profit that they had not budgeted for.
- 12.4% for Social Security, charged only on earnings up to the 2026 wage base of $184,500.
- 2.9% for Medicare, with no upper limit at all.
- An extra 0.9% Medicare surtax once your combined wages and self-employment earnings pass $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). These thresholds are set by statute and are never adjusted for inflation.
Why the tax applies to 92.35% of your profit
Self-employment tax is not charged on your full net profit. You first multiply it by 92.35%, and the 15.3% applies to that. The 7.65% you are removing represents the employer half, which an employer would have deducted as a business expense before profit was calculated — so the rule puts you back on the same footing.
There is a second, separate relief: half of the self-employment tax you pay is an above-the-line deduction against your income tax. It does not reduce the SE tax itself, only the income tax that sits alongside it. Note that the 0.9% surtax is not deductible.
Below $400 of net earnings, no self-employment tax is due at all and Schedule SE is not required.
If you also have a salaried job
This is where most calculators get it wrong, and it matters a lot for anyone consulting on the side of a full-time role. The Social Security wage base is a single annual ceiling across all of your earnings, not one per source.
Your W-2 wages fill that ceiling first. If you already earn more than $184,500 from employment, the Social Security portion on your side income is zero, and you owe only the 2.9% Medicare piece plus any surtax. A calculator that ignores your salary can overstate the bill by five figures.
The Medicare portion never caps, so it applies to every dollar of self-employment earnings regardless of your salary.
How and when you pay it
Nothing is withheld from a client payment, so self-employment tax is paid through quarterly estimated payments alongside your income tax. The four deadlines fall in April, June and September, then the following January.
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more when you file, the IRS expects those payments during the year and can charge an underpayment penalty if you skip them — even if you pay the full amount by the filing deadline.
Once profit is high enough, electing S-Corp treatment can reduce this bill by splitting your income between salary and distributions, with self-employment tax applying only to the salary. That only pays off above a certain scale, because it adds payroll filings and a separate business return.
Sources
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is self-employment tax?
15.3% of 92.35% of your net profit, which works out to about 14.13% of profit. That splits into 12.4% for Social Security, charged on earnings up to $184,500 for 2026, and 2.9% for Medicare with no cap. High earners add a further 0.9% Medicare surtax.
Do I pay self-employment tax on top of income tax?
Yes. They are two separate taxes on the same profit. Self-employment tax funds Social Security and Medicare, while income tax is calculated through the ordinary brackets after your deductions. Budgeting for only one of them is the most common cash-flow mistake new freelancers make.
What if I have a job and freelance on the side?
Your W-2 wages count against the Social Security wage base first. If your salary already exceeds $184,500, you owe no Social Security on the freelance profit and only the 2.9% Medicare portion applies. If your salary is below the base, only the remaining headroom is charged at 12.4%.
Can I reduce my self-employment tax?
Legitimate business expenses reduce net profit, which reduces the tax directly — so accurate bookkeeping is the first lever. Beyond that, an S-Corp election can cut the bill once profit is high enough to justify paying yourself a reasonable salary and taking the rest as distributions. Retirement contributions reduce income tax but generally not self-employment tax.
Do I owe self-employment tax on a small side income?
Only if net earnings reach $400. Below that, no self-employment tax is due and you do not file Schedule SE — though the income is still reportable for income tax purposes.
Do non-residents on F-1 or J-1 visas pay self-employment tax?
Generally no. Non-resident aliens are usually exempt from Social Security and Medicare on self-employment income, and F-1 and J-1 students are typically non-resident for their first several years under the substantial presence test. Residency status here is genuinely technical and getting it wrong is expensive in both directions, so it is worth having checked.
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