1099-NEC Tax Calculator

Independent contractors and freelancers face a tax picture with two moving parts, and estimating both is the point of running your non-employee compensation through this tool. For 2026, that means income tax plus self-employment tax of 15.3% on earnings reported on Form 1099-NEC, with the Social Security portion applying only to the first $184,500 of combined earnings.

Income tax is figured on your net profit (1099 income minus the business expenses you enter), less half of the self-employment tax, the standard deduction, which is $16,100 for single filers in 2026, and the 20% qualified business income deduction: 20% of net profit after half the self-employment tax, capped at 20% of taxable income and, for a contractor with no employees, phased out between $201,750 and $276,750 of taxable income. On top of that sits self-employment tax, figured as 15.3% on 92.35% of your net self-employment earnings; that 92.35% factor reflects the employer-equivalent share of Social Security and Medicare that, as your own boss, you cover yourself.

Business expenses you enter come off before either tax is figured, so they cut both the income tax and the self-employment tax. The other thing that trips up contractors is skipping quarterly estimated payments and getting hit with penalties, so a practical habit is parking 30% of each payment for taxes, often phrased as setting aside 25-30%, as the money comes in rather than scrambling at year-end.