Self-Employment Tax Calculator 2026

Enter your net profit to see your 2026 Social Security and Medicare tax, the half you can deduct and what to set aside each quarter.

Enter your numbers

2026 figures: 12.4% Social Security on earnings up to $184,500, 2.9% Medicare with no limit, both applied to 92.35% of net profit.

Net self-employment profit for 2026 ($)

Schedule C line 31: revenue minus business expenses, before any SE tax deduction.

W-2 wages from a job ($, optional)

Your own Social Security and Medicare wages. They use up part of the $184,500 limit.

Filing status

Only used for the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax. A qualifying widow(er) uses the single amount.

Social Security (12.4%)

$6,870.84

Medicare (2.9%)

$1,606.89

Total SE tax

$8,477.73

Net earnings subject to SE tax (92.35% of profit): $55,410.00
Deductible half of SE tax: $4,238.87
SE tax as a share of your profit: 14.13%
Additional Medicare Tax (0.9%): $0.00
Set aside each quarter for these taxes (total ÷ 4): $2,119.43

How to use the self-employment tax calculator

Enter your Net self-employment profit for 2026 ($). This is Schedule C line 31: revenue minus business expenses.
If you also have a job, enter your W-2 wages from a job ($, optional). Those wages use up part of the Social Security limit.
Choose your Filing status. It only changes the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax.
Read Total SE tax, the Deductible half of SE tax and the amount to set aside each quarter.

How self-employment tax is calculated

Self-employment (SE) tax is Social Security and Medicare tax for people who work for themselves, so you pay the employee and employer halves. The IRS figures it on Schedule SE in these steps:

Net earnings = net profit × 92.35% (line 4a). If that is under $400, no SE tax is due (line 4c).
Social Security = 12.4% of net earnings, up to the 2026 limit of $184,500 less your W-2 Social Security wages (lines 7 to 10).
Medicare = 2.9% of all net earnings, with no limit (line 11).
SE tax is the two added together (line 12), and half of it is deductible (line 13).
The Additional Medicare Tax is 0.9% of earnings above $200,000 (single), $250,000 (married filing jointly) or $125,000 (married filing separately), with the threshold lowered by your wages (Form 8959).

Worked example with the default numbers

A net profit of $60,000 gives net earnings of $60,000 × 0.9235 = $55,410.00. Social Security is 12.4% of that, $6,870.84, and Medicare is 2.9%, $1,606.89. Total SE tax is $8,477.73, or 14.13% of your profit. You deduct half, $4,238.87, on Schedule 1, and a quarter of the tax is $2,119.43. The Additional Medicare Tax is $0.00 because earnings are far below $200,000.

Limits and edge cases

The Social Security part stops growing once net earnings reach $184,500, which is a profit of about $199,783 ($184,500 ÷ 0.9235). At a $200,000 profit the total is $28,234.30.
A loss, or a profit under about $433, means no SE tax.
The quarterly figure covers these taxes only. Estimated payments must also cover income tax, which you can estimate with the tax bracket calculator. To see what you keep after both, use the freelance income calculator.
Not included: the IRS optional methods for low farm or nonfarm profit, church employee income, state taxes, a spouse's income toward the joint Additional Medicare threshold, and the 0.9% an employer withholds on wages. For a W-2 job, see the paycheck calculator.

Self-employment tax questions people ask

What is the self-employment tax rate for 2026?

It is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security on up to $184,500 of net earnings and 2.9% for Medicare with no cap. Both apply to 92.35% of your net profit, so the effective rate is about 14.13% of profit until you reach the Social Security limit.

Do I owe self-employment tax on small side income?

Only if your net earnings from self-employment, which are 92.35% of your net profit, are $400 or more for the year. Below that, Schedule SE line 4c says you do not owe it. At or above it, the tax applies to every dollar, starting from the first.

Can I deduct self-employment tax?

You can deduct half of it, on line 13 of Schedule SE and then Schedule 1 of Form 1040. That lowers your income tax but not your SE tax. On the default $60,000 profit the deduction is $4,238.87.

Does this include the Additional Medicare Tax?

Yes, for your self-employment earnings. It adds 0.9% on earnings above $200,000 (single), $250,000 (married filing jointly) or $125,000 (married filing separately), less any W-2 wages. It has its own row and is not part of the deductible half.

Sources: IRS, Schedule SE instructions and Self-employment tax; Social Security Administration, 2026 COLA fact sheet (the $184,500 limit). These are estimates for information, not tax advice.