Help Me Calculate My Self Employment Taxes

As a self-employed business owner, you are required to pay self-employment tax on the net earnings from your business. Many new small-business owners are unaware of the SE tax and forget to include the impact in their tax planning.

The SE tax is similar to the FICA and Medicare tax that is paid by and on behalf of an employee. An employee currently pays 7.65% of their earnings for FICA and Medicare taxes (up to certain limits). In addition, the employer matches the withholding by the employee with another 7.65% of the employee wages, making a total FICA and Medicare tax of 15.3% of wages.

The SE tax is also 15.3% of the net earnings from self-employment, which is not a coincidence. The self-employed business owner has the unique privilege of being both the employee and the employer and therefore is responsible for both halves of the tax, or the entire 15.3%.

The SE tax is reported to the IRS via Schedule SE, which is attached to your personal tax return, form 1040. The tax itself, however, must be included with your quarterly estimated tax payments and therefore paid to the IRS throughout the year. The Tax Resource Center Self Employment Tax Calculator will help you determine how much SE tax should be included in your estimated tax calculation.

The SE tax is dependent on the net earnings from your business. It is not affected by your filing status, exemptions, withholding or any other non-business item. Therefore, the key number you need to know to estimate your SE tax is the net earnings from your business.

At Tax Resource Center, there are three ways to calculate your Self Employment Tax:

Self Employment Tax Calculator

If you have a good idea of the what the actual number might be, simply enter your net earnings from self-employment.

Interactive Schedule C Tax Planning Tool

If you would like to input specific income and expense items related to your business to figure your net earnings, choose our Schedule C Planning Tool and use the value it generates.

Detailed Estimated Tax Calculator

Use our Detailed Estimated Tax Calculator to figure your net earnings and use that value.