Updated · Built and checked by the PlinzoTools team, formulas tested against published sources
Calculate Social Security and Medicare tax owed on self-employment income, at the full combined rate.
$11303.64
Half deductible from income tax: $5651.82
A W-2 employee's employer pays half of their Social Security and Medicare tax automatically, with the employee's paycheck only reflecting the other half (7.65% combined). A self-employed person, however, is both the "employee" and the "employer" for tax purposes -- so they owe the full 15.3% combined rate themselves, calculated on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings (a standard adjustment reflecting that a W-2 employee's wage base doesn't include the employer-paid half either).
Enter your net self-employment income (revenue minus business expenses -- not your gross revenue).
SE Taxable Income = Net Self-Employment Income × 92.35%
Social Security Tax = min(SE Taxable Income, Wage Base) × 12.4%
Medicare Tax = SE Taxable Income × 2.9%
Total SE Tax = Social Security Tax + Medicare Tax
Self-employed taxpayers can deduct half of their SE tax as an above-the-line adjustment to income on their federal return -- a partial offset reflecting that a W-2 employee's employer-paid half isn't counted as the employee's own taxable income either. This calculator shows that deductible half separately. This estimate also doesn't include the additional 0.9% Medicare surtax that applies above certain high-income thresholds, or federal/state income tax owed on top of SE tax.
Consider a hypothetical freelancer with $60,000 in net self-employment income. Multiply by 92.35% to get $55,410 of SE taxable income. Social Security at 12.4% is $6,870.84 (this income is below the wage base, so no cap applies), and Medicare at 2.9% is $1,606.89. The total SE tax is $8,477.73, and the deductible half is about $4,238.87. That deduction lowers income subject to federal income tax, though it does not reduce the SE tax itself.
The number you enter should be profit, not revenue. Start with what clients paid you, then subtract ordinary and necessary business expenses such as software, supplies, business mileage, and a qualifying home office. Overstating expenses to save tax is risky, while missing legitimate ones means paying tax you did not owe. Keep clear records so the profit figure on your return is defensible.
Because no employer withholds for you, self-employed people generally make estimated payments during the year. A reasonable habit is to run this calculator on your expected annual profit, add your estimated income tax, and divide the total across the payment dates. Check the IRS site for the current due dates and rules that avoid underpayment penalties. Update your figures if your income changes significantly during the year.
This is an educational estimate. A tax professional can help with deductions, retirement plans, and situations involving multiple income sources.
It's a standard adjustment in the SE tax formula, roughly equivalent to how a W-2 employee's Social Security/Medicare wages don't include the employer-paid half of payroll tax either -- it keeps self-employed and W-2 taxpayers on a more comparable footing.
Yes -- self-employment tax is separate from and in addition to federal (and state, where applicable) income tax on your net self-employment earnings.
Yes -- half of your total SE tax is deductible as an adjustment to income on your federal return, shown here as the "deductible half."
Only the deductible half does, and it reduces the income on which federal income tax is calculated. The SE tax itself is a separate bill.
No. If your business had a net loss, there is generally no SE tax owed for it, and it does not produce a refund of SE tax.
Not exactly. An employee bears about half of the combined rate and the employer pays the other half. A self-employed person carries both halves, which is why the rate looks roughly double.
Reference: Internal Revenue Service