Self-employment tax calculator
Enter your business income and expenses. You get your 15.3% self-employment tax, federal income tax after the QBI deduction, and the quarterly payment that keeps April boring.
Your numbers
What you'll owe
Estimated total tax
$11,740
≈ 19.6% of profit · set aside 20% of every deposit
Each quarterly payment
$2,935
Due ~Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15, Jan 15
- Net business profit
- $60,000
- Self-employment tax (15.3%)
- $8,478
- QBI deduction
- − $11,152
- Taxable income
- $29,209
- Federal income tax
- $3,262
Hate Ledger reserves this percentage from every deposit as it lands, so the quarterly bill is already funded.
Self-employment tax by state
Federal SE tax is the same everywhere; your state income tax is not. Pick your state for a pre-filled estimate and local tax notes.
What self-employment tax actually is
When you work for someone else, Social Security and Medicare cost 15.3% of your wages — but your employer pays half. Work for yourself and you pay both halves. That is self-employment tax, and it is separate from, and on top of, income tax.
The good news is that it applies to profit, not revenue, and only to 92.35% of that profit. Every real business expense you record shrinks the base for both self-employment tax and income tax, which is why sloppy expense tracking is the most expensive habit in self-employment.
Half of the self-employment tax then comes back as an above-the-line deduction, and up to 20% of qualified business income comes off taxable income too. The calculator applies both so the number you see is closer to what you will actually write a check for.
Frequently asked questions
How is self-employment tax calculated?
Self-employment tax is 15.3% — 12.4% Social Security plus 2.9% Medicare — applied to 92.35% of your net business profit. Social Security stops at the annual wage base; Medicare has no cap and adds 0.9% above $200,000. You then deduct half of the SE tax when figuring income tax.
How much self-employment tax will I owe on $50,000?
On $50,000 of net profit, the SE base is $46,175 and self-employment tax is roughly $7,065. Federal income tax comes on top of that, reduced by half the SE tax, the standard deduction and the QBI deduction.
Do I pay self-employment tax if I also have a W-2 job?
Yes, but your W-2 wages use up part of the Social Security wage base first, so only the remainder of your profit is hit with the 12.4% portion. The 2.9% Medicare portion still applies to all of it. Enter your W-2 wages above and the calculator handles it.
Can I lower self-employment tax?
Deduct every legitimate business expense — each deductible dollar removes both 15.3% SE tax and income tax. Above roughly $80,000–$100,000 of profit, an S-corp election can move part of the profit out of payroll tax, though it adds payroll filing and accounting cost.
Does self-employment tax vary by state?
The 15.3% self-employment tax is federal and identical in every state. What changes is the state income tax layered on top, which is why the reserve percentage differs between, say, Texas and California. Pick your state below for a pre-filled estimate.
Estimates only, using projected 2026 federal figures. Not tax advice.