Self-Employment Tax Calculator

Work out the 15.3% you owe on 1099 and business income for — — and how much a W-2 job already covers.

Step 1

Business Income

$

Gross revenue minus business expenses — the bottom line of your Schedule C, not what you invoiced.

All net profit is subject to self-employment tax.

$

Only this portion pays FICA. The rest comes out as distributions.

%

Used for partnerships to apportion profit. Leave at 100% otherwise.

Step 2

Other Wages & Filing Status

$

Your own W-2 job, if you have one. This matters more than most people expect — see below.

Why W-2 wages matter here. Social Security tax stops at the annual wage base (— for —), and your W-2 job uses that up first. If your salary already exceeds it, the 12.4% Social Security portion of your self-employment tax drops to zero — only the 2.9% Medicare portion remains, and that has no cap. Calculators that just multiply profit by 15.3% get this wrong.
🧾 Self-Employment Tax Breakdown
Net Earnings from Self-Employment
—
Profit × 92.35%
Effective Rate on Profit
—
SE tax ÷ net profit
Total Self-Employment Tax
—
—
Where It Goes
ComponentTaxable BaseAmount
Social Security (12.4%)——
Medicare (2.9%, no cap)——
Additional Medicare (0.9%)——
Total SE Tax—
Less: deductible half (above-the-line)—

The deductible half covers the 12.4% and 2.9% portions only — the 0.9% Additional Medicare surtax is not deductible.

How Other Structures Compare
StructurePayroll / SE TaxTreatment

Payroll taxes only. Excludes payroll service fees, the separate business return, state franchise fees, and income tax — see the note below.

Profit vs. Self-Employment Tax

Self-employment tax is separate from income tax — you owe both on the same profit. Rates, the Social Security wage base, and surtax thresholds are pulled live from the IRS and SSA. This is an estimate, not tax advice; an S-Corp election in particular has legal and payroll consequences well beyond the payroll-tax difference shown here. See our disclaimer.