Self-employment tax calculator for Texas
Freelancing or consulting in Texas? Enter your net profit and see the 15.3% SECA tax, federal income tax, plus zero state income tax, your take-home pay, and the exact amount to set aside each month.
Estimate only, not tax advice. State tax is approximated at a single rate; QBI high-income limits are not modelled; credits, retirement plans and health insurance benefits are excluded. Tax year .
Where the number comes from
| Item | Amount | Notes |
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How the self-employment tax works
Self-employment tax exists because nobody withholds it for you. When you are an employee, your employer pays half of Social Security and Medicare and withholds the other half from your pay. When you work for yourself, you are both sides.
The calculation, in order
- Net profit - revenue minus expenses on Schedule C.
- Multiply by 92.35% - this factor stands in for the employer half being deductible, which is why the effective rate is 14.13% and not 15.3%.
- Apply 12.4% for Social Security, up to the annual wage base. Above that, this portion stops.
- Apply 2.9% for Medicare, with no cap. Add 0.9% above the additional Medicare threshold.
- Deduct half of the result before computing income tax.
- Apply the QBI deduction (20% of qualified business income) and then the ordinary brackets.
The trap: your marginal rate is not what you keep
Every extra dollar of profit is hit twice - once by the 15.3% SECA base and once by the income tax brackets - and the QBI deduction shrinks the second hit, not the first. At $100,000 of profit, the combined effective rate on the whole sum is usually in the low twenties. The marginal rate on the next dollar is much higher.
What moves the number most
- Retirement contributions - a SEP-IRA or Solo 401(k) reduces income tax, not the SECA tax. Big effect.
- Health insurance premiums - the self-employed health insurance deduction comes off AGI.
- Structure - the only lever that touches the 15.3% itself is an S-corp election. That is what the decision tool is for.
Questions
Is the 15.3% applied to all of my profit?
To 92.35% of it, yes - but the Social Security portion only applies up to the annual wage base. If you also have a W-2 job, your wages count toward that cap first, which can cut this tax substantially.
Why does my state number look rough?
Because it is. State income tax has brackets, credits and local add-ons; we model one approximate rate per state. It ranks decisions well and files returns badly. Treat it as a placeholder until your accountant gives you the real number.
Should I set aside the monthly figure?
Yes - that is the point of showing it. Transfer it to a separate account the same day you get paid, and the quarterly deadlines become administrative rather than painful.
Quarterly deadline reminders
Four emails a year, on the four due dates.