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Self Employment Tax Calculator
Use this free self employment tax calculator to work out the Social Security and Medicare tax on your freelance or business earnings. Enter your net self-employment earnings and it shows the 15.3% tax split into its Social Security and Medicare parts, the half of the tax you can deduct from your income, and your effective rate.
Business income minus business expenses — your Schedule C profit.
If you also have a job, its wages already used up part of the Social Security wage base.
Your earnings vs. SE tax
Blue: net earnings. Light blue: self-employment tax. Income tax is separate and not shown here.
How it works
When you work for an employer, Social Security and Medicare taxes are split: 7.65% comes out of your paycheck and your employer pays another 7.65% on top. When you work for yourself, there is no employer — so you pay both halves yourself. That is the self-employment tax: 15.3% of your net earnings, made up of 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. It is the same money that funds the same programs, but as a self-employed person you carry the whole bill.
Net self-employment earnings are your business income minus your business expenses — the profit on your Schedule C, not your total revenue. If you earned $100,000 and spent $20,000 on the business, your net earnings are $80,000, and that is the number this calculator taxes. Only 92.35% of those earnings are taxed, because employees do not pay payroll tax on the employer's share, so self-employed people get a similar adjustment first. The optional wages from an employer field matters if you have both a job and a side business: your employer's wages already used up part of the Social Security wage base, so less of your self-employment earnings is charged the 12.4% Social Security part.
The Social Security part has a cap: for 2026 it only applies up to the $184,500 wage base, so earnings above that are not charged the 12.4%. The Medicare part has no cap, and an extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to earnings over $200,000. One piece of good news softens the bill: you can deduct one half of your self-employment tax from your income when you work out your federal income tax. It is an above-the-line deduction, so you can take it even if you use the standard deduction. But remember what this tax is not: it is not your income tax. Income tax is charged separately on your taxable income at the ordinary federal brackets. This page covers the Social Security and Medicare (SE) tax only — our Freelance Tax Calculator computes the income tax on freelance income, so use the two together to see your full bill.
Worked example
Suppose your net self-employment earnings are $80,000 for the year and you have no wages from an employer. Here is how the tax works out, step by step.
Step 1: Find the taxable earnings. $80,000 × 92.35% = $73,880.00.
Step 2: Work out the Social Security part. 12.4% of $73,880 = $9,161.12. The earnings are below the 2026 wage base of $184,500, so the full amount is taxed.
Step 3: Work out the Medicare part. 2.9% of $73,880 = $2,142.52, and there is no additional Medicare tax because earnings are under $200,000.
Step 4: Add the parts. $9,161.12 + $2,142.52 = $11,303.64 total self-employment tax.
Step 5: Find the deductible half and the effective rate. Half of $11,303.64 is $5,651.82, which you can deduct from your income for federal income tax. The effective rate is $11,303.64 ÷ $80,000 = 14.13% of your net earnings.
Enter the same numbers — $80,000 net earnings, $0 employer wages — and the calculator shows exactly the same result: $11,303.64 total self-employment tax, with $5,651.82 deductible and an effective rate of 14.13%. Note that income tax is still to come on top of this — the $11,303.64 is the Social Security and Medicare part only.
FAQ
What is self-employment tax?
Self-employment tax is the Social Security and Medicare tax that self-employed people pay on their net earnings. It is 15.3% — 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare — and it replaces the payroll taxes that an employer would normally withhold from a salary and match on top of it.
Why is only 92.35% of my earnings taxed?
The law taxes 92.35% of net self-employment earnings, not the full amount. That adjustment exists because employees do not pay payroll tax on the employer's share of Social Security and Medicare, so self-employed people get a similar break before the 15.3% rate is applied.
Can I deduct half of my self-employment tax?
Yes. You can deduct one half of your self-employment tax from your income when you work out your federal income tax. It is an above-the-line deduction, so you can take it even if you use the standard deduction instead of itemizing.
Is there a cap on self-employment tax?
Partly. The 12.4% Social Security part only applies up to the annual wage base — $184,500 for 2026 — so earnings above that are not charged Social Security tax. The 2.9% Medicare part has no cap, and an extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to earnings over $200,000.
What is the difference between self-employment tax and income tax?
Self-employment tax is only the Social Security and Medicare tax on your net earnings, at 15.3%. Income tax is separate — it is charged on your taxable income at the ordinary federal brackets. A freelancer owes both: this calculator works out the self-employment tax, and our freelance tax calculator works out the income tax on freelance income.