Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Enter your net profit from self-employment to calculate 2026 self-employment tax -- Social Security up to the wage base, Medicare, and the Additional Medicare Tax where it applies.
Sets the Additional Medicare Tax threshold.
Reduces your remaining $184,500 wage-base room.
Combines with SE earnings for the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax threshold.
Total SE tax
$11,303.64
Social Security (12.4%)
$9,161.12
Medicare (2.9%)
$2,142.52
Additional Medicare (0.9%)
$0.00
| Net earnings from self-employment (92.35% of net profit) | $73,880.00 |
| Social Security-taxable earnings | $73,880.00 |
| Deductible half of SE tax (income tax deduction) | $5,651.82 |
How it's calculated
net earnings = net profit × 92.35%
Then, on those net earnings:
- Social Security: 12.4% of net earnings, up to the $184,500 wage base (minus any W-2 Social Security wages you already have this year)
- Medicare: 2.9% of all net earnings, uncapped
- Additional Medicare: 0.9% of combined W-2 Medicare wages and net earnings above your filing status's threshold
Half of the Social Security and Medicare portions (not the Additional Medicare Tax) is deductible against income tax.
Worked example
The calculator's own defaults: $80,000 of net profit, no other W-2 wages.
| Net earnings (92.35% of profit) | $73,880.00 |
| Social Security (12.4%) | $9,161.12 |
| Medicare (2.9%) | $2,142.52 |
| Total self-employment tax | $11,303.64 |
| Deductible half | $5,651.82 |
That's 14.1% of net profit -- plug the same number into the calculator above and it reconciles to the cent, checked in the site's own test suite.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is self-employment tax?
It's the self-employed version of the Social Security and Medicare taxes an employer and employee split on a W-2 paycheck (7.65% each, 15.3% combined). When you work for yourself, you pay both halves -- 15.3% total on 92.35% of your net profit -- reported on Schedule SE, separate from and in addition to federal income tax on the same profit.
Why 92.35% of net profit, not the full amount?
The 92.35% factor exists because the employer half of these taxes was never itself subject to the tax under the old W-2 system -- Congress built an equivalent adjustment into the self-employment calculation so self-employed and W-2 workers land on comparable tax treatment. It's a fixed statutory percentage, not something this calculator estimates.
What is the 2026 Social Security wage base?
For 2026, the Social Security (OASDI) wage base is $184,500. The 12.4% Social Security portion of self-employment tax applies only up to this amount of combined self-employment and W-2 Social Security wages for the year; the 2.9% Medicare portion has no cap. Source: Social Security Administration, 2026 COLA fact sheet (https://www.ssa.gov/oact/cola/cbb.html).
What is the Additional Medicare Tax?
An extra 0.9% Medicare tax applies to combined wages and self-employment earnings above $200,000 (single/head of household) or $250,000 (married filing jointly) -- unlike the base 2.9% Medicare tax, this portion is never split with an employer and has no deduction of its own.
How much of self-employment tax is deductible?
Half of the Social Security and Medicare portions (not the Additional Medicare Tax) is deductible as an adjustment to income on your federal return -- it approximates the "employer half" a W-2 employer would have paid pre-tax. This calculator shows that deductible half separately from the total SE tax owed.
This is an estimate from the inputs you enter and the published rates above, not tax advice, and this site is not affiliated with the IRS, any state revenue department, or the Social Security Administration. Real tax bills involve credits, deductions and filing details this tool can't model -- see the Terms.