Self-Employment Tax & Quarterly Payments
Turn 1099 or Schedule C profit into the self-employment tax you owe, the deductible half, and four quarterly payment amounts with their due dates.
Set aside each quarter
$3,701Federal only, and it assumes the standard deduction with no other income. Add state income tax on top if your state has one.
Payment schedule
Pay directly at IRS Direct Pay or through EFTPS. A payment that lands on a weekend or holiday due date is timely on the next business day.
How this is calculated
Self-employment tax is calculated on 92.35 percent of net profit, which is the adjustment for the employer half an employee never sees. Of that base, 12.4 percent funds Social Security up to the annual wage base, and 2.9 percent funds Medicare with no ceiling. W-2 wages you already earned use up part of the Social Security wage base first, so the calculator subtracts them.
Half of the self-employment tax is deductible above the line. The qualified business income deduction is then estimated at 20 percent of profit net of that half, capped at 20 percent of taxable income. High earners in specified service trades face further limits this tool does not model.
Rules and current wage base: IRS self-employment tax and IRS estimated taxes. Federal only: most states want quarterly payments too.