Self-Employment Tax Calculator

About this calculator

Self-employment tax is how freelancers, sole proprietors, and independent contractors pay their share of Social Security and Medicare — taxes that an employer would otherwise split with an employee through payroll withholding. Because there's no employer, the self-employed person pays both halves themselves, applied to net earnings from self-employment (business income after allowable expenses, with a standard adjustment applied before the tax is calculated).

The Social Security portion applies only up to an annual wage-base limit that's adjusted each year, while the Medicare portion applies to all net self-employment earnings with no cap (and can carry an additional surtax at higher income levels). This calculator applies that combined structure to your net earnings to estimate what you'll owe, which is typically paid through quarterly estimated tax payments rather than a single year-end bill.