Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Calculate your 15.3% self-employment tax, the Social Security + Medicare split, and the deductible half.
Your self-employment revenue after deductible business expenses
Affects the high-earner Medicare surcharge threshold.
Your self-employment tax
Total SE tax
$8,478
14.1% of your net SE income —$4,239 is deductible
How the SE tax breaks down
Social Security
$6,871
12.4% × 92.35% of net SE income
Medicare
$1,607
2.9% (+0.9% high-earner surcharge)
Deductible half
$4,239
Reduces your regular income tax
SE tax is on top of federal income tax. This calculator covers only the 15.3% self-employment tax. You also owe regular federal income tax on (net SE income − ½ SE tax). To see the combined picture, use the Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator.
Some states and cities tax self-employment income separately. Pennsylvania's Local Earned Income Tax, New York City's Unincorporated Business Tax, and a few other jurisdictions impose their own taxes on net SE income. This calculator is federal-only — check your state and city revenue sites for additional obligations.
Why 92.35%? The IRS lets you reduce your net SE income by 7.65% before applying the SE tax — mirroring the employer-half FICA that W-2 workers effectively get to deduct. The net result is the same total payroll tax burden on the same money.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your net SE income — your annual self-employment revenue minus deductible business expenses. This is the number on Line 31 of your Schedule C.
- Pick your filing status — only affects the high-earner Medicare surcharge threshold ($200,000 single / $250,000 married).
- Choose the tax year — 2025 wage base is $176,100; 2024 was $168,600.
The headline number is your total self-employment tax. The result also surfaces the deductible half (which reduces your taxable income on your 1040) and flags whether your income exceeds the Social Security wage base.
How it works
The IRS treats the self-employed as both the employee and the employer for FICA purposes, so they owe both halves: 12.4% Social Security + 2.9% Medicare = 15.3% total.
But before applying that rate, the IRS lets you reduce your net SE income by 7.65% — the rough equivalent of the employer-half deduction a W-2 worker gets implicitly. The taxable SE income is therefore 92.35% of your net SE income.
So for $60,000 of net SE income:
- Taxable SE income: $60,000 × 0.9235 = $55,410
- Social Security: $55,410 × 0.124 = $6,871
- Medicare: $55,410 × 0.029 = $1,607
- Total SE tax: $8,478
You can then deduct half of that — $4,239 — from your gross income on your 1040, reducing the federal income tax you owe on top.
The Social Security portion is capped — only income up to the wage base ($176,100 in 2025) is subject to it. Income above that pays only the 2.9% Medicare rate (plus the 0.9% high-earner surcharge if applicable).
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the self-employment tax rate? ▾
The self-employment tax rate is 15.3% — 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. It's applied to 92.35% of your net SE income (the IRS lets you reduce your earnings by 7.65% first, mirroring the employer-half FICA that W-2 workers effectively deduct). For most people the effective rate on the full SE income lands closer to 14.13%.
Why is self-employment tax so much higher than W-2 payroll tax? ▾
Because the self-employed pay both halves. A W-2 employee pays 6.2% Social Security + 1.45% Medicare = 7.65%, and their employer pays the matching 7.65%. The self-employed are both the employee and the employer, so they pay the full 15.3%. The deductible-half rule and the 92.35% adjustment partially offset this, but SE workers still end up paying somewhat more total payroll tax than equivalent W-2 workers.
How does the deductible half of SE tax work? ▾
On your Form 1040, the IRS lets you deduct half of your self-employment tax from your gross income before calculating federal income tax. So if you owe $9,000 in SE tax, $4,500 reduces your taxable income. This doesn't reduce the SE tax itself — that 15.3% still gets paid — but it lowers your federal income tax bill on top, partially offsetting the higher payroll burden.
Is there a limit on how much self-employment tax I pay? ▾
The 12.4% Social Security portion stops at the annual wage base ($176,100 in 2025). Beyond that, only the 2.9% Medicare portion (plus a 0.9% surcharge for high earners) applies, so the effective rate on income above the cap drops to roughly 3.8%. There's no cap on the Medicare portion.
When do I have to pay self-employment tax? ▾
SE tax is paid through quarterly estimated tax payments (Form 1040-ES) due in April, June, September, and January. If you wait until you file in April and owe more than $1,000 in total tax, the IRS charges an underpayment penalty. Most self-employed workers spread their estimated payments evenly across the year — see the Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator for the exact amounts.
Do I pay SE tax on a side hustle? ▾
Yes — if your net self-employment income from any source is $400 or more in a tax year, you owe SE tax on it. That includes freelance work, gig-economy earnings (Uber, DoorDash, etc.), online sales, side consulting, and one-time contracts. It's separate from your W-2 job's payroll taxes — you pay both.