What you actually owe. And whether an S-corp is worth the paperwork.
Most calculators stop at the 15.3%. That is the easy half. The hard half is whether electing S-corp status saves you money once payroll, accounting and state fees are taken out - which is a question most sites either dodge or answer with a sales pitch.
Self-employment tax calculator
From net profit to a full picture: the 15.3% SECA tax, the half-SE deduction, QBI, federal brackets and your state - ending in one number you can set aside for.
Start here ->S-corp vs LLC decision tool
Pick a reasonable salary and see the real net saving, the break-even profit, and the costs that quietly eat the benefit. Ends in a report you can hand to an accountant.
The one that matters ->Quarterly estimated tax
Four payments, four due dates, and the safe-harbour rule that keeps you out of penalties - including the prior-year election most people miss.
Open ->Why this site exists
The self-employment tax is not a rounding error. It is 15.3% on 92.35% of your net profit - on top of income tax - and it is the single largest line item most freelancers discover too late.
Then there is the question nobody answers honestly: should I elect S-corp status? The savings are real, but they are not free. You have to pay yourself a reasonable salary, run payroll, file an extra return, and pay whatever your state charges corporations. Whether that nets out positive depends on your profit - and on your state.
Both calculators here show the arithmetic, including the costs that work against you. If the answer is "no, not yet", we say so.
What we do not do
- We do not give tax advice. These are estimates built from published rates, and the assumptions are printed on every result.
- We do not hide the state-level costs. They are in the model, and flagged when unverified.
- We do not require an email to see a number.
Quarterly deadline reminders
The reason people get hit with penalties is not the rate - it is forgetting a date. Four emails a year, on the four due dates, with your numbers already filled in.
One email per deadline. Unsubscribe in one click. We never sell your address.
The three numbers that decide everything
| Number | What it is | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| 15.3% | SECA / self-employment tax rate | Applied to 92.35% of net profit, on top of income tax |
| 92.35% | Net earnings factor | Makes the effective rate about 14.13% of profit, not 15.3% |
| reasonable salary | What you must pay yourself in an S-corp | Sets the ceiling on how much of your profit escapes the 15.3% |
This is the whole game. An S-corp does not reduce tax by magic - it moves part of your profit out of the 15.3% base. Everything else is overhead you have to beat.
Questions
Is this tax advice?
No. These are estimates built from published federal rates plus a simplified state model, and every assumption is printed with the result. Use them to ask your accountant a sharper question, not to replace one.
Why is the state model simplified?
State income tax is genuinely complicated - brackets, credits, local taxes, apportionment. We model a single approximate rate per state plus the S-corp-level annual fees, and we flag the states we have not verified yet. It is good enough to rank decisions, not to file a return.
How current are the parameters?
Every number lives in one file and is stamped with the tax year it belongs to, shown on each result. Anything unverified is marked.
Do I need to give you my email?
No. Every calculator works without it. The email list only sends the four quarterly deadlines.