Self-employment tax is 15.3% of your 2026 net earnings: 12.4% Social Security up to the $184,500 wage base plus 2.9% Medicare with no cap, per IRS Schedule SE.
On $80,000 of net profit, your estimated SE tax is:
Four numbers. That is what it takes to know where you stand on 1099 income.
SE tax (Social Security + Medicare at 15.3%) and the deductible half you get back at filing.
Size it up →The full bill: SE tax plus federal income tax on 1099 income, in one number.
Size it up →What to send the IRS each quarter, and when, so penalties stay off the table.
Size it up →What an S-corp election could save on SE tax once income is high enough to make it worth the cost.
Size it up →Work for yourself and you cover both halves of the 15.3% FICA bill your employer used to split with you. The IRS collects it quarterly. These tools give you the numbers before April does.
Four calculators sound like a lot until you notice each one answers a different question, and most freelancers only need one or two of them at a time.
New to 1099 work and just want to know what Uncle Sam takes from a single project? Start with the Self-Employment Tax Calculator. It isolates the 15.3% SE tax from everything else, which is the number that surprises people the first time they see it.
Trying to figure out what to actually set aside from each client payment, income tax included? That is the 1099 Tax Calculator. It layers federal income tax on top of SE tax and gives you one combined figure, plus the QBI deduction most side calculators skip.
Already know your annual number and just need to split it into four payments without doing the arithmetic yourself? The Quarterly Tax Calculator does that division and lists the due dates so you are not guessing at IRS deadlines.
Profit consistently clearing $80,000 or more and wondering if an S-corp election is worth the paperwork? Run it through the S-Corp Savings Calculator before you call a CPA, so the conversation starts with real numbers instead of a hunch.
Every tool here runs the same base formula: net profit times 92.35%, then 12.4% Social Security up to the wage base and 2.9% Medicare with no ceiling. That 92.35% factor is not arbitrary. It mirrors the employer-side FICA an employee never sees, so the self-employed version of the tax is not calculated on the full dollar.
What the calculators do not know is your full return. They do not see itemized deductions beyond the standard deduction, do not know if you qualify for niche credits, and cannot account for state tax, which varies from nothing in a handful of states to real money in others. Treat the output as a solid planning estimate, not a substitute for the return your software or accountant actually files.
The filing-status field changes the federal income-tax brackets used in the 1099 and quarterly tools, but SE tax itself does not care whether you file single or jointly. Only the Additional Medicare Tax threshold shifts with filing status, from $200,000 to $250,000 for a married couple filing together.
The most common mistake is budgeting for income tax and forgetting SE tax exists as a separate line item. They are two different obligations calculated two different ways, and skipping one produces a bill in April that feels like it came out of nowhere.
Second is running the math on gross revenue instead of net profit. SE tax and income tax both apply after business expenses come out, so an unclaimed deduction does not just cost you the deduction. It inflates the tax base those percentages get applied to.
Third is treating the quarterly due dates as optional when cash is tight. The IRS calculates the underpayment penalty per quarter, so paying the full balance in April does not undo a missed June payment. A partial payment on time beats a full payment late.
Last, a fair number of freelancers assume S-corp status is a universal upgrade once income looks respectable. It adds payroll runs, a separate tax filing, and often a state fee, and the IRS wants a defensibly reasonable salary if you elect it. Below roughly $80,000 in profit, the compliance cost usually eats the savings.
U.S. government sources for further reading and to verify the figures on this page:
SE tax runs 15.3 percent on net earnings up to the Social Security wage base ($184,500 for 2026, per the SSA's 2026 COLA fact sheet), then 2.9 percent Medicare on anything above that. Federal income tax comes on top of that, at your bracket rate. You can deduct half your SE tax when calculating income tax, which softens the hit. State income tax may apply as well. The IRS self-employment tax center at IRS.gov has the full rules.
Income tax is calculated on net self-employment income after deducting business expenses and half of your SE tax. Federal rates run from 10 to 37 percent depending on taxable income and filing status. State income tax may apply on top of that. No employer withholds for you, so the IRS generally requires quarterly estimated payments to avoid underpayment penalties. IRS Publication 505 covers the details.
You cannot eliminate SE tax on legitimate self-employment income, but you can reduce it legally. Electing S corporation status lets you pay yourself a reasonable salary and take remaining profit as distributions, which fall outside SE tax. Maximizing deductible business expenses shrinks the net earnings the tax applies to. A SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) reduces taxable income further. A licensed CPA can help you figure out which structure makes sense for your numbers.
Thirty percent is a rule of thumb for how much to set aside, not an actual rate. Your real total depends on net profit, filing status, and state taxes. SE tax alone is 15.3 percent on net earnings. Add your federal income bracket (10 to 37 percent) and state income tax, and moderate earners often land between 25 and 35 percent combined. The 1099 Tax Calculator on this site or IRS.gov can work out your specific figure.