Do I need to pay quarterly?

If you owe $1,000+ in tax for the year, yes — otherwise the IRS hits you with an underpayment penalty. The four due dates: April 15, June 15, Sept 15, Jan 15.

Does this account for QBI deduction?

No — the Qualified Business Income deduction (up to 20% of pass-through income) can lower your effective rate further. Consult a CPA for your specific situation.

Do I need to pay quarterly?

If you owe $1,000+ in tax for the year, yes — otherwise the IRS hits you with an underpayment penalty. The four due dates: April 15, June 15, Sept 15, Jan 15.

Does this account for QBI deduction?

No — the Qualified Business Income deduction (up to 20% of pass-through income) can lower your effective rate further. Consult a CPA for your specific situation.

Self-Employment Tax Calculator

15.3% SE tax + estimated income tax for freelancers and contractors.

Result

Total federal tax owed

$19,501.24

SE tax (15.3% on 92.35% of net)12.4% SS + 2.9% Medicare$11,303.64
↳ deductible half (against income)$5,651.82
Federal income tax$8,197.60
Suggested quarterly estimateForm 1040-ES, due 4×/year$4,875.31
After-tax income$60,498.76
Effective total federal rate24.4%

Total federal tax owed

24.4% of $80,000.00 net SE income.

$19,501.24

SE tax portion (15.3%)

Covers both halves of FICA — W-2 workers split this with employer.

$11,303.64

Federal income tax portion

$8,197.60

Quarterly 1040-ES payment

Due Apr 15 / Jun 15 / Sep 15 / Jan 15. Owe $1k+ at year-end without these → underpayment penalty.

$4,875.31

Source: IRS Schedule SE & Publication 505 (estimated tax); Revenue Procedure 2023-34 (2024 brackets); SS wage base 2024: $168,600.

Not financial advice — Excludes the QBI deduction (up to 20% of pass-through income), state tax, AMT, and credits — all of which can move the effective rate substantially. SECA still applies even if SE income is reported on Schedule C, F, or partnership K-1. Consult a CPA / EA for filing.

How to use this calculator

Enter your net self-employment income — gross revenue minus all legitimate business expenses.
Pick the tax year and your filing status.
The "quarterly estimate" line tells you what to send the IRS each quarter.

About this tool

Self-employed income gets hit by two federal taxes: the income tax (same brackets as W-2 workers) and the self-employment tax (15.3%, which covers both your half AND the employer's half of Social Security and Medicare). Real-world quirk: the IRS lets you compute SE tax on only 92.35% of your net earnings, and lets you deduct half the SE tax from your income tax base. This calculator handles both. The "quarterly estimate" line is what you should be sending to the IRS via Form 1040-ES four times a year (April 15, June 15, Sept 15, Jan 15) to avoid underpayment penalties.

Frequently asked

IRS lets you reduce SE earnings by 7.65% before calculating SE tax. It's their attempt to mirror the employer-side FICA deduction that W-2 workers don't see.