US self-employment tax calculator: Social Security and Medicare for freelancers

If you freelance or contract in the US, you pay Social Security and Medicare yourself, as self-employment tax. Type in your net profit and the calculator follows the IRS's Schedule SE line by line: 92.35% of your profit, 12.4% up to the Social Security wage base (less any W-2 wages), 2.9% on all of it, and the half you deduct. It also flags the extra 0.9% Medicare tax at higher incomes.

Figures for the 2026 and 2025 tax years, checked against IRS pages, the 2025 Schedule SE and its instructions, the 2026 Form 1040-ES and the Social Security Administration on 2026-10-10. Not written by an accountant.

The short answer

• Rate: 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare (IRS: Self-employment tax).
• On what: 92.35% of your net profit, called your net earnings from self-employment (Schedule SE, line 4a).
• Who: you owe it if those net earnings are $400 or more (Topic 554).
• Cap: the 12.4% part stops at the Social Security wage base, $184,500 for 2026, counting any W-2 wages first. The 2.9% part has no cap: SSA says that after 1993 "there has been no limitation on HI-taxable earnings" (SSA).
• Half of it is deductible when you work out your adjusted gross income, which lowers income tax (IRS). Income tax itself is a separate calculation.

The self-employment tax calculator

Pick the tax year, type in your net profit (or loss) from self-employment, and add any W-2 wages. It starts with a made-up example: $60,000 of profit in 2026, no other job.

The example's numbers are made up to show how it works; they aren't typical. Line numbers are the 2025 Schedule SE's. Amounts are worked to the cent; the IRS lets you round to whole dollars, which can move a total by a dollar or so.

1. Who pays self-employment tax

• Self-employed means a sole proprietor (including an independent contractor), a partner, or otherwise in business for yourself; a single-member LLC that's disregarded for tax counts as a sole proprietor (Topic 554).
• The $400 line: you must pay self-employment tax and file Schedule SE if your net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more (IRS). On the form: if line 4c is less than $400, "stop; you don't owe self-employment tax" (Schedule SE (2025)).
• Any age: the IRS says the tax applies "no matter how old you are and even if you are already getting social security or Medicare benefits" (Schedule SE instructions).
• Forms 1099-NEC don't decide it: the test is your net earnings, not the forms you get. Our Form 1099-NEC guide explains who should send you one and what to do with it.

2. How it's worked out, line by line

The 2025 Schedule SE, Part I, for someone with only a Schedule C profit or loss (Schedule SE (2025), PDF):

The 2026 Form 1040-ES has the same steps in its "2026 Self-Employment Tax and Deduction Worksheet", with $184,500 as the maximum (Form 1040-ES (2026), PDF). In the example above: $60,000.00 × 92.35% = $55,410.00; 12.4% of that is $6,870.84 and 2.9% is $1,606.89, so $8,477.73 in all.

3. The Social Security wage base and W-2 wages

The 12.4% part only applies up to a yearly limit, which SSA calls the contribution and benefit base: "This limit changes each year with changes in the national average wage index" (SSA: Contribution and Benefit Base).

• Wages count first. If you also have a job, the Social Security wages on your W-2s use up the base before your self-employment earnings do (Schedule SE lines 7 to 10). If your wages reach the base, you don't pay the 12.4% part on any of your net earnings, but the 2.9% Medicare part still applies to all of them (IRS).
• For comparison: an employee pays 6.2% on wages up to the base and the employer pays the same; SSA's example is $11,439 each for wages of $184,500 or more in 2026 (SSA). Self-employed, you pay both halves.
• Next year: SSA's table ends at 2026 as of 2026-10-10. We'll add the next year when SSA and the IRS publish it, not before.

4. The deductible half

You can deduct the "employer-equivalent portion" of your self-employment tax when you work out your adjusted gross income. The IRS: "This deduction only affects your income tax. It does not affect either your net earnings from self-employment or your self-employment tax" (IRS). On the forms, it's Schedule SE line 13 (line 12 × 50%), carried to Schedule 1 (Form 1040), line 15 (Schedule SE).

5. Additional Medicare Tax

On top of the 2.9%, a 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax applies to Medicare wages and self-employment income above a threshold for your filing status (Topic 560). The thresholds "aren't indexed for inflation" (Form 8959 instructions):

• Self-employment income here means your net earnings (Schedule SE line 6, which goes on Form 8959 line 8), not your profit. A self-employment loss doesn't count (Topic 560).
• Wages lower the threshold for your self-employment income, "but not below zero" (Schedule SE instructions). The IRS example: Carl, single, has $145,000 of self-employment income and $130,000 of wages, so the threshold falls to $70,000 and the tax applies to $75,000 (Form 8959 instructions, Example 3).
• Joint returns count both spouses together: in the IRS's Part II example, Kathleen and Liam owe $180 on $20,000 of self-employment income (Form 8959 instructions).
• Employers withhold it only on wages over $200,000, whatever your filing status (Topic 560). It's figured on Form 8959, and "there is no employer match for Additional Medicare Tax" (IRS: Additional Medicare Tax Q&A).

6. Income tax is separate

• Self-employment tax is only Social Security and Medicare. Federal income tax is figured on Form 1040, on your income after deductions, including the deductible half above. This calculator doesn't estimate it.
• You usually pay both during the year as estimated tax: the IRS says you can use estimated payments to pay your self-employment tax (IRS). Our US quarterly estimated tax guide and planner covers who has to pay, the 2026 due dates and the safe-harbor rules, with self-employment tax worked out the same way.

If you'd like the records behind these numbers kept in one place, our paid Freelance Billing Kit by Small Rows (US$12, one-time) tracks invoices, payments and expenses, and has an optional US quarterly set-aside tab where you type your own percentage. It doesn't work out self-employment tax; it's a record-keeping tool, not tax advice.

7. Losses and small profits

• A loss: Schedule SE line 4a takes line 3 as it is when it isn't more than zero, so a loss gives no self-employment tax (Schedule SE).
• Just above or below the line: the $400 test is on net earnings, after the 92.35%, so a profit of about $434 is where it starts (the instructions use $434 for a related check) (Schedule SE instructions).
• Optional methods: if you had a loss or a small profit, the IRS says an optional method "may give you credit toward your Social Security coverage" or increase some credits (Topic 554). They have their own limits and conditions, and the calculator doesn't use them.

Where the sources differ

We read the pages listed under Sources on 2026-10-10. A few details don't line up neatly; here's how this page handles them:

• No 2026 Schedule SE yet. The IRS's "About Schedule SE" page lists the 2025 form and instructions as the current revision (About Schedule SE). For 2026, the calculator uses the same steps with the $184,500 wage base printed by SSA and in the 2026 Form 1040-ES worksheet, and the 2025 form's line numbers. If the 2026 form changes anything, we'll update this page.
• An out-of-date figure on the IRS's own page. The IRS self-employment tax page still says "For 2024, the first $168,600" (IRS: Self-employment tax). That's the 2024 base; the 2025 form and SSA's table give later years, so the calculator uses those.
• "Net earnings" in Topic 554. Topic 554 says the amount subject to the tax is generally "92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment", while Schedule SE applies 92.35% to your net profit to get net earnings (line 4a). The calculator follows the form; the two give the same result.
• Church employee income (not covered by the calculator): the Schedule SE instructions and the IRS page say "$108.28 or more", Topic 554 says "more than $108.28".

How the calculator works

• It follows Schedule SE Part I for one person: profit × 92.35% (a loss or zero as it is), the $400 test, the wage base for the year you pick minus your Social Security wages, 12.4% on the smaller amount, 2.9% on all net earnings, and half as the deduction.
• Each line is rounded to the nearest cent. The $400 test uses the rounded line 4a.
• The Additional Medicare Tax note follows Form 8959 Parts I and II: Medicare wages over the threshold, and net earnings over the threshold reduced by those wages. If you leave box 5 blank, it uses your Social Security wages.
• It doesn't know about farm income, church employee income, the optional methods, unreported tips (Form 4137), Form 8919 wages, railroad retirement pay or a non-calendar tax year.

When to talk to a tax professional

• you have more than one business, partnership income, or a spouse who works in the business with you;
• you're thinking about the optional methods, or you had a loss and want Social Security credit;
• you're a minister, church employee, nonresident alien, or live outside the US or in a US territory;
• you've formed an S corporation, or you're unsure whether you're an employee or self-employed.

Related free resources

• US quarterly estimated tax planner: who has to pay, the 2026 due dates, and four payments that include an income-tax share you choose.
• Form 1099-NEC for US freelancers: who should send you one, with a client-by-client checker.
• Freelance hourly rate calculator: a rate that covers your taxes and time off.
• Free invoice generator: an invoice in US dollars (or any currency), as a PDF.
• All free tools.

Sources

irs.gov pages, forms and instructions, and ssa.gov, read on 2026-10-10. The IRS publishes a new Schedule SE each year; check the live page before you rely on it.

• Schedule SE: Schedule SE (Form 1040) (2025), PDF · Instructions for Schedule SE (2025) · About Schedule SE · Correction to the 2025 instructions
• Self-employment tax: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes) · Topic 554: Self-employment tax · Form 1040-ES (2026), PDF
• Wage base: SSA: Contribution and Benefit Base
• Additional Medicare Tax: Topic 560: Additional Medicare Tax · Questions and answers for the Additional Medicare Tax · Instructions for Form 8959

Page dates when read: Schedule SE instructions 30-Apr-2026; Topic 554 24-Sep-2026; IRS self-employment tax page 27-Jun-2026; Topic 560 09-Oct-2026; SSA page updated October 24, 2025.

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