Self-Employment Tax: What It Is, How to Calculate It

Many, or all, of the products featured on this page are from our advertising partners who compensate us when you take certain actions on our website or click to take an action on their website. However, this does not influence our evaluations. Our opinions are our own. Here is a list of our partners and here's how we make money.
- Self-employed individuals pay both the employee and employer share of Medicare and Social Security taxes, totaling 15.3%, on 92.35% of their net earnings.
- Schedule C helps calculate net earnings, while Schedule SE is used to determine the tax owed.
- When filing, self-employed individuals can deduct up to 50% of their self-employment tax.
What is self-employment tax?
Who has to pay self-employment tax?
Self-employment tax rate
How to calculate self-employment tax
- For tax purposes, net earnings are usually your gross income from self-employment minus your business expenses.
- Generally, 92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment is subject to self-employment tax.
- Once you’ve determined how much of your net earnings from self-employment are subject to tax, apply the 15.3% tax rate.
- Remember, though — for 2025, only the first $176,100 of earnings is subject to the Social Security portion of self-employment tax.
Self-employment tax calculator
How to pay self-employment tax
- Generally, you use IRS Schedule C to calculate your net earnings from self-employment, and you use IRS Schedule SE to calculate how much self-employment tax you owe.
- You’ll need to provide your Social Security number or individual taxpayer identification number (ITIN) when you pay the tax.
- Taxes are a pay-as-you-go deal in the United States, so waiting until the annual tax filing deadline to pay your self-employment tax may mean incurring late-payment penalties. Instead, you may need to make quarterly estimated tax payments throughout the year if you expect:
- You’ll owe at least $1,000 in federal income taxes this year, even after accounting for your withholding and refundable credits (such as the earned income tax credit), and
- Your withholding and refundable credits will cover less than 90% of your tax liability for this year or 100% of your liability last year, whichever is smaller. (The threshold is 110% of tax owed last year if your adjusted gross income was more than $150,000 for married couples filing jointly or $75,000 for singles.)