Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Estimate US self-employment tax on your net business profit.
Your figures
Result
How to use this tool
- Enter your own figures over the defaults — Net self-employment profit.
- The answer updates as you type. There is no button, and nothing is sent anywhere.
- Change Net self-employment profit on its own to see how much it moves the result — the worked example below shows exactly that.
Self-employment tax covers Social Security and Medicare — the portions an employer would otherwise pay alongside you. It is charged in addition to income tax, which catches many first-year freelancers by surprise.
How it works
This takes 1 input — net self-employment profit — and returns self-employment tax, social security portion, medicare portion, deductible half and note. The whole calculation happens in this page as you type: there is no submit button, no request, and nothing stored.
Because it recalculates on every keystroke you can use it as a sensitivity test rather than a one-shot answer. Moving net self-employment profit alone from 80,000 to 88,000 changes self-employment tax from 11,303.64 to 12,434.00 — the worked example below sets that out in full.
A worked example
Worked through with the figures the page already has in it: net self-employment profit of 80,000, giving self-employment tax of 11,303.64. These numbers come from running the calculator’s own code, not from being typed in here, so they cannot drift away from what you see on screen.
Starting from:
- Net self-employment profit: 80,000
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Self-employment tax | 11,303.64 |
| Social Security portion | 9,161.12 |
| Medicare portion | 2,142.52 |
| Deductible half | 5,651.82 |
| Note | Uses the 15.3% SE rate on 92.35% of profit. Income tax is separate. |
What happens when one input moves
Holding everything else steady and changing Net self-employment profit from 80,000 to 88,000 — 10% — moves the answer like this:
| Figure | 80,000 | 88,000 |
|---|---|---|
| Self-employment tax | 11,303.64 | 12,434.00 |
| Social Security portion | 9,161.12 | 10,077.23 |
| Medicare portion | 2,142.52 | 2,356.77 |
| Deductible half | 5,651.82 | 6,217.00 |
| Note | Uses the 15.3% SE rate on 92.35% of profit. Income tax is separate. | Uses the 15.3% SE rate on 92.35% of profit. Income tax is separate. |
That is usually the number worth arguing over: it is easier to move than the headline amount, and the difference compounds across the whole term.
Self-Employment Tax Calculator — frequently asked questions
What is the self-employment tax rate?
15.3% — 12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare — applied to 92.35% of net profit. Social Security applies only up to an annual wage base that changes yearly.
Is this instead of income tax?
No, it is in addition. Budget for both, which is why quarterly estimated payments matter.
Can I deduct any of it?
You can deduct the employer-equivalent half when calculating adjusted gross income. This calculator shows that figure.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, with no account, no limits and no data collection. It runs entirely in your browser.
Should I rely on this for a financial or medical decision?
No. It is a planning estimate built on standard formulas and stated assumptions. For decisions that matter, speak to a qualified professional who can account for your full circumstances.
How accurate is the Self-Employment Tax figure?
The arithmetic is exact. With the defaults on this page — net self-employment profit 80000 — it returns self-employment tax of 11,303.64. What limits accuracy is the assumptions, not the maths: change net self-employment profit to 88000 and the same formula gives 12,434.00. Treat it as a well-founded estimate, not a quotation.
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Nothing is sent anywhere. The figures you type stay in this page and are never transmitted or stored — how that works.
Disclaimer. The formula is exact; the answer is only as good as the figures and assumptions above. Not financial, tax, medical or legal advice. Full disclaimer.