Self-Employment Tax Calculator
Estimate 2026 self-employment Social Security and Medicare tax for a single filer. Coordinate W-2 wages and see the deductible half; income tax is excluded.
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SE Taxes Including Additional Medicare (single filer)
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Detailed Breakdown
Disclaimer: This calculator provides estimates for informational purposes only. Results should not be considered financial, tax, or legal advice. Consult a qualified professional for your specific situation.
How This Calculator Works
Calculation methodology and assumptions
Tax year 2026, regular method for a single filer only. Net earnings = net business profit × 92.35%. When net earnings are below $400, this regular-method estimate is zero. Social Security = 12.4% × the lesser of net earnings and the remaining $184,500 annual wage base after the sum of boxes 3 and 7 (Social Security wages and reported tips) across all of your own W-2s. Medicare = 2.9% of net earnings without a wage cap. Additional Medicare attributable to self-employment = 0.9% of net earnings above the remaining $200,000 single-filer threshold after your W-2 box 5 wages; any Additional Medicare on wages is excluded here. The income-tax adjustment is half of regular Schedule SE tax, excluding Additional Medicare. Federal and state income tax, retirement contributions, health-insurance deductions, credits and take-home pay are not calculated. Amounts from Form 4137 (unreported tips) or Form 8919 (misclassified-worker wages) are not modeled: use those forms with Schedule SE and Form 8959 instead of this estimate. Use the IRS forms for other filing statuses, optional methods, church income, railroad compensation, foreign coverage or other special rules.
Estimate the SE portion of a single filer’s taxes
- 1
Start with annual business profit
Use receipts minus ordinary business expenses, not gross sales. Combine your ordinary self-employment activities. For a loss, use zero here and consult Schedule SE for the full return.
- 2
Add your own employment wages
Add Social Security wages and reported tips from boxes 3 + 7 across all of your own W-2s for the first wage field. Separately total box 5 Medicare wages across those forms for the Medicare field. The totals can differ. Wages use Social Security capacity before business earnings.
- 3
Read the separate tax components
The regular Schedule SE amount includes both shares of Social Security and Medicare. Additional Medicare is shown separately for a single filer, only on the SE portion.
- 4
Finish the complete return separately
This tool does not compute income tax or take-home pay. Unreported tips on Form 4137 and misclassified-worker wages on Form 8919 are not modeled; use those forms with Schedule SE and Form 8959 instead of this estimate. Other filing statuses, optional farm/nonfarm methods, church income, railroad compensation and foreign-coverage rules also need the IRS forms or a tax professional.
Example: the prefilled business profit
A single filer has $80,000.00 net business profit, $0.00 Social Security wages plus reported tips and $0.00 Medicare wages.
Profit × 92.35% gives $73,880.00 net earnings. Applying the regular Schedule SE rules gives $9,161.12 Social Security and $2,142.52 Medicare. Additional Medicare attributable to SE is $0.00.
Result: Annual SE taxes: $11,303.64. The deductible half of regular Schedule SE tax is $5,651.82; this is an income adjustment, not a dollar-for-dollar credit. Federal and state income taxes are additional and are not estimated here.
Why your result changes
Net profit versus net earnings
The regular 92.35% adjustment changes the base subject to SE tax. It does not mean you may deduct another 7.65% business expense.
Wages and the shared Social Security base
Your own Social Security wages plus reported tips (W-2 boxes 3 + 7 across your forms) reduce the remaining base subject to the 12.4% SE share. Medicare wages instead reduce the remaining single-filer Additional Medicare threshold.
Deduction versus tax liability
Only half of the regular Schedule SE amount is shown as the deductible adjustment. Additional Medicare does not increase that deduction; income-tax savings depend on the rest of your return.
Before using this estimate
- Keep a profit-and-loss statement alongside your W-2s. Enter business expenses once; personal retirement and health-insurance deductions are outside this Schedule SE estimate.
- The 2026 Social Security wage base is $184,500 (SSA contribution and benefit base table). Medicare has no equivalent annual cap.
- The $200,000 Additional Medicare threshold used here is for a single filer. The IRS uses $250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately; use Form 8959 for those returns.
- For ordinary net earnings below $400 the regular-method estimate is zero, but optional methods and church-income exceptions can change the filing requirement. Check Schedule SE before deciding not to file.
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StateCalc Team
Editorial Team
The StateCalc team builds free financial calculators using data from official government sources including the IRS, U.S. Census Bureau, BLS, and state revenue departments. All formulas are validated by an automated test suite and cross-referenced against published data.
Our editorial standardsFrequently Asked Questions
Is self-employment tax always 15.3% of my profit?
No. Under the regular method, multiply business profit by 92.35% first. The 12.4% Social Security part has a wage base shared with your own W-2 Social Security wages and reported tips (sum boxes 3 + 7 across your forms); the 2.9% Medicare part has no cap. Additional Medicare may apply. This calculator estimates a single filer only and does not estimate income tax.
Do health insurance and retirement contributions reduce Schedule SE tax?
The personal self-employed health-insurance deduction and retirement-plan deduction generally adjust income tax, not net business profit for Schedule SE. Enter profit after ordinary business expenses; do not subtract these personal deductions again. Income-tax savings are outside this tool.
Does this result cover my estimated tax payments?
No. Estimated payments may also need to cover federal and state income tax, and depend on withholding, credits and safe-harbor rules. Use Form 1040-ES with your complete tax situation. The result here is an annual SE-tax component, not a payment schedule or take-home figure.
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