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Self-Employment Tax Calculator

Tax

Calculate Social Security and Medicare self-employment tax for freelancers, 1099 contractors, and sole proprietors. Includes deductible SE tax and Additional Medicare Tax for 2024.

$400$1,000,000
$0

Total SE Tax

$10,597
Social Security Tax (12.4%)
$8,589
Medicare Tax (2.9%)
$2,009
Deductible SE Tax (Half)
$5,299
Net SE Income After Deduction
$69,701

This calculator computes your Total SE Tax, Social Security Tax (12.4%), Medicare Tax (2.9%), Deductible SE Tax (Half), Net SE Income After Deduction from the values you enter.

Inputs
Net Self-Employment IncomeFiling StatusOther W-2 Wages (if any)
Outputs
Total SE TaxSocial Security Tax (12.4%)Medicare Tax (2.9%)Deductible SE Tax (Half)Net SE Income After Deduction

What is a SE Tax?

A self-employment tax calculator computes the Social Security and Medicare tax owed by freelancers, independent contractors, sole proprietors, and single-member LLC owners on their net self-employment income. It applies the 2024 IRS Schedule SE formula — multiplying net income by 92.35% and then by the combined 15.3% FICA rate — and also calculates the deductible half of SE tax that reduces your federal income tax liability.

Self-employment tax exists because the Social Security and Medicare system requires everyone who earns income from work to contribute, regardless of employment structure. W-2 employees have the burden split with their employer: each pays 7.65% (the combined 6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare rate). Self-employed individuals have no employer to share the cost, so they pay the full 15.3% — but they are allowed to deduct the equivalent of the employer's share (50% of SE tax) from their gross income when calculating federal income tax.

The 92.35% factor in the formula accounts for this structure. Since a hypothetical employer would pay 7.65% on top of the employee's wages, the self-employed person's net income is treated as if 7.65% was already the "employer's share" — so SE tax is applied to 92.35% (100% − 7.65%) of net income rather than the full 100%.

For 2024, the Social Security component (12.4%) applies only up to $168,600 of combined wages and self-employment income. Income above this threshold is not subject to Social Security tax. The Medicare component (2.9%) has no cap. For high earners — single filers with total income above $200,000 or married joint filers above $250,000 — the Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to the excess.

After estimating your SE tax here, use the Federal Income Tax Calculator with the deductible SE tax amount (shown in the "Deductible SE Tax" output) entered as a pre-tax deduction to estimate your combined federal tax burden.

How to use this SE Tax calculator

  1. Enter your Net Self-Employment Income — this is your Schedule C net profit (gross revenue minus business expenses), not your gross billings. If you have multiple Schedule C activities, enter the combined net. If you have a partnership, enter your distributive share of self-employment income.

  2. Select your Filing Status — this determines the Additional Medicare Tax threshold ($200,000 for single/MFS, $250,000 for MFJ). If you have no other income and your SE net income is below $200,000, this input does not affect the calculation.

  3. Enter Other W-2 Wages — if you have a W-2 job alongside your self-employment, enter your annual W-2 wages here. This correctly reduces the Social Security component of your SE tax by the amount of the wage base already used by your employer wages. Leave at $0 if you have no W-2 income.

  4. Read Deductible SE Tax — take this figure to the Federal Income Tax Calculator and enter it as a "Pre-tax Deduction" to compute your combined federal tax picture.

Formula & Methodology

Schedule SE formula (2024):

Net Earnings Subject to SE Tax = Net SE Income × 92.35%

Social Security Tax = min(Net Earnings, max(0, $168,600 − W-2 Wages)) × 12.4%

Medicare Tax = Net Earnings × 2.9%

Additional Medicare Tax = max(0, (Net SE Income + W-2 Wages − Threshold)) × 0.9%

Thresholds: $200,000 (Single/MFS) | $250,000 (MFJ)

Deductible SE Tax = (Social Security Tax + Medicare Tax) ÷ 2

Net SE Income After Deduction = Net SE Income − Deductible SE Tax

Worked example:

- Net SE income: $80,000 | No W-2 wages | Single filer

Net earnings subject to SE tax: $80,000 × 92.35% = $73,880

Social Security tax: $73,880 × 12.4% = $9,161

Medicare tax: $73,880 × 2.9% = $2,143

Total SE tax: $9,161 + $2,143 = $11,304

Deductible SE tax: $11,304 ÷ 2 = $5,652 (reduces AGI by $5,652)

Net SE income after deduction: $80,000 − $5,652 = $74,348

At a 22% federal marginal rate, the deduction saves $5,652 × 22% = $1,243 in federal income tax — partially offsetting the SE tax burden.

Assumptions: Net self-employment income is assumed to be the net Schedule C profit. Partnership distributive shares of SE income follow the same formula. S-corporation wages are not SE income (they are W-2 wages subject to regular FICA withholding by the corporation). The Additional Medicare Tax is included in Total SE Tax but is not deductible as part of the half-of-SE-tax deduction. State-level self-employment or business taxes are not modelled.

Frequently Asked Questions

Self-employment (SE) tax is the Social Security and Medicare tax that self-employed individuals pay on their net earnings from self-employment. W-2 employees pay 7.65% (their half of FICA), and their employer pays a matching 7.65%. Self-employed individuals are both employer and employee, so they pay the full 15.3% — 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare — on 92.35% of their net self-employment income. The 92.35% factor accounts for the deduction equivalent to the employer's share.
You must pay self-employment tax if your net self-employment income is $400 or more in the tax year. This applies to sole proprietors, freelancers, independent contractors receiving 1099-NEC income, single-member LLC owners, and general partners in a partnership. It does not apply to S-corporation shareholders who receive wages (those wages are subject to regular FICA), statutory employees, or workers correctly classified as W-2 employees. If you have multiple income streams, only the net self-employment portion is subject to SE tax.
The calculation uses the Schedule SE formula: multiply your net self-employment income by 92.35% to get the net earnings subject to SE tax. Then apply 12.4% for Social Security (up to the 2024 wage base of $168,600) and 2.9% for Medicare (no cap). The total is your SE tax. You can then deduct half of the SE tax — the employer-equivalent portion — from your gross income when computing your federal income tax on Form 1040. This deduction reduces your Adjusted Gross Income, partially offsetting the SE tax burden.
The Social Security wage base for 2024 is $168,600. Social Security tax (12.4%) applies only to earnings up to this threshold. Income above $168,600 — whether from wages or self-employment — is not subject to the 12.4% Social Security rate. Medicare tax (2.9%) has no wage base cap and applies to all net SE income. For high earners, the Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to total income above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly). The SS wage base increases most years with wage inflation.
You can deduct 50% of your SE tax (the Social Security and Medicare portion, not the Additional Medicare Tax) from your gross income as an above-the-line deduction on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. This deduction does not reduce your SE tax itself — it reduces your AGI and therefore your federal income tax. For example, if your SE tax is $10,000, you deduct $5,000 from income. At a 22% marginal rate, this saves $1,100 in federal income tax, partially offsetting the $10,000 SE tax burden. Our calculator shows this deductible amount explicitly.
The Additional Medicare Tax of 0.9% applies to combined wages and self-employment income exceeding $200,000 for single filers or $250,000 for married filing jointly. Unlike the base 2.9% Medicare rate, this additional 0.9% is not shared with an employer — self-employed individuals pay the full 0.9% themselves. It is calculated on Form 8959. The Additional Medicare Tax is not deductible and is separate from the half-of-SE-tax deduction. Our calculator includes it in the Total SE Tax output when your combined income exceeds the threshold.
If you have both W-2 employment income and self-employment income, your W-2 wages count toward the Social Security wage base ($168,600 in 2024). Only the portion of the wage base not already used by W-2 wages is available for SE income's Social Security component. For example, if your W-2 wages are $100,000, the remaining $68,600 of the wage base is available for SE income — Social Security tax applies on SE net income up to $68,600, not the full amount. Medicare tax still applies on all SE net income. Enter your W-2 wages in the Other W-2 Wages input to get the correct calculation.
Self-employed individuals must make quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid an underpayment penalty. The four deadlines are April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15 of the following year. Your estimated payment should cover both SE tax and federal income tax on your self-employment income. The IRS safe harbor rule allows you to avoid penalties by paying at least 100% of the prior year's total tax liability (110% if last year's AGI exceeded $150,000), or 90% of the current year's liability. Use IRS Form 1040-ES to calculate and submit quarterly payments.
Yes — SE tax is calculated on net self-employment income (gross revenue minus allowable business expenses). Every legitimate business deduction directly reduces the SE tax base. Common self-employment deductions include home office expenses, business equipment and software, vehicle mileage for business use, professional development, health insurance premiums, and business insurance. Maximising deductible business expenses before calculating SE tax is the primary lever available to reduce it. Note that self-employed individuals deduct retirement contributions (SEP-IRA, Solo 401k) from income tax but not from the SE tax calculation — SE tax is computed first.
A W-2 employee pays 7.65% in FICA taxes (half of the 15.3% combined rate), with the employer paying the matching 7.65%. A self-employed person pays 15.3% on their net earnings, but can deduct half (the employer-equivalent 7.65%) from their taxable income. The effective difference is modest when the deduction is factored in — but the cash flow impact is significant because self-employed individuals pay both sides upfront rather than having the employee share automatically withheld from each paycheck. Some freelancers structure their work through an S-corporation to pay themselves a salary and reduce SE tax on profit distributions, but this involves additional compliance costs.
Half of your SE tax (specifically the Social Security and Medicare component from Schedule SE) is deductible as an above-the-line adjustment to income on Form 1040, Schedule 1. This deduction reduces your Adjusted Gross Income and therefore your federal income tax, regardless of whether you itemize. The Additional Medicare Tax (0.9% on income above the threshold) is not deductible. The SE tax itself is not deductible against self-employment income — it doesn't reduce the SE tax base. You can use our [Federal Income Tax Calculator](/federal-income-tax-calculator-us/) with the deductible SE tax amount entered as a pre-tax deduction to estimate the combined federal tax picture.
Contributions to a Solo 401(k) or SEP-IRA reduce your federal income tax by lowering your AGI, but they do not reduce your net self-employment income for SE tax purposes. SE tax is calculated on net earnings from self-employment (Schedule C profit or partnership distributive share) before retirement contributions. This is an important distinction: a $10,000 SEP-IRA contribution saves federal income tax at your marginal rate but does not reduce the 15.3% SE tax calculation. Only legitimate business deductions that reduce Schedule C net income will reduce SE tax.
Also known as
1099 tax calculatorfreelancer tax calculatorFICA self-employmentSchedule SE calculatorsole proprietor tax