Self-Employment Tax 2026: Rates and Quarterly Due Dates
The short answer
If you work for yourself, you pay both halves of Social Security and Medicare through self-employment (SE) tax. For 2026:
- The rate is 15.3%: 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare.
- It applies to 92.35% of your net profit, not all of it.
- The 12.4% Social Security part stops at $184,500 of combined wages and self-employment earnings for 2026.
- You deduct half of the SE tax when you work out your income for income tax.
- You owe nothing if your net earnings from self-employment are under $400.
For most freelancers, that works out to about 14.1% of net profit, on top of income tax. Because no employer withholds it, you normally pay it during the year in four estimated payments. The 2026 due dates are April 15, June 15 and September 15, 2026, and January 15, 2027.
How the 2026 calculation works
The steps follow the Self-Employment Tax and Deduction Worksheet in the 2026 Form 1040-ES:
- Net earnings = net profit × 0.9235
- Social Security = 12.4% × net earnings, but only up to $184,500 minus any W-2 Social Security wages
- Medicare = 2.9% × all net earnings
- SE tax = Social Security + Medicare
- Deduction = half of the SE tax
Why 92.35%? An employee only pays half of the 15.3%, and the employer’s half is a business expense. Multiplying by 92.35% (100% minus half of 15.3%) gives the self-employed the same treatment before the tax is applied.
The $184,500 figure is printed in the 2026 Form 1040-ES as the maximum amount of earned income (wages plus net earnings from self-employment) subject to Social Security tax for 2026.
Worked example: $48,000 of freelance profit
A graphic designer expects $48,000 of net profit for 2026 (income minus business expenses, the Schedule C bottom line) and has no other job.
| Step | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Net earnings | $48,000 × 0.9235 | $44,328.00 |
| Social Security | $44,328.00 × 12.4% | $5,496.67 |
| Medicare | $44,328.00 × 2.9% | $1,285.51 |
| SE tax | $6,782.18 | |
| Deductible half | $6,782.18 ÷ 2 | $3,391.09 |
| Per quarter, SE tax only | $6,782.18 ÷ 4 | $1,695.55 |
$6,782.18 is 14.1% of the $48,000 profit. The $3,391.09 deduction does not reduce the SE tax itself. The IRS says it reduces the income that income tax is worked out on.
Remember that the quarterly figure covers SE tax only. Federal income tax, and state tax where it applies, come on top, and your estimated payments usually need to cover both.
Worked example: a side business on top of a W-2 job
An engineer earns $170,000 in W-2 wages and makes $40,000 of net profit from consulting on the side. She files single.
- Net earnings: $40,000 × 0.9235 = $36,940.00.
- Social Security room left: her wages already used $170,000 of the $184,500 limit, leaving $14,500. Social Security is 12.4% × $14,500 = $1,798.00, not 12.4% of the full $36,940.
- Medicare: 2.9% × $36,940.00 = $1,071.26. Medicare has no cap.
- SE tax: $1,798.00 + $1,071.26 = $2,869.26.
She also crosses the Additional Medicare Tax threshold. The IRS sets it at $200,000 for single, head of household and qualifying surviving spouse filers, $250,000 for married filing jointly and $125,000 for married filing separately. Her wages use $170,000 of her $200,000, so 0.9% applies to the $6,940 of net earnings above the remaining $30,000: $62.46. Form 8959’s instructions say the self-employment threshold is reduced by your Medicare wages, which is why her job’s pay counts first.
The lesson: the Social Security cap is shared between your job and your business. The more you earn in wages, the less SE tax your side income attracts.
Who has to make estimated payments
The 2026 Form 1040-ES says that, in most cases, you must pay estimated tax if both of these are true:
- You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for 2026 after withholding and refundable credits, and
- Your withholding and credits will be less than the smaller of 90% of your 2026 tax or 100% of the tax on your 2025 return (which must cover all 12 months).
If your 2025 adjusted gross income was over $150,000 ($75,000 if married filing separately in 2026), the 100% becomes 110%.
That second rule gives you a simple target. If your total tax on your 2025 return was $9,600 and your AGI was under $150,000, paying $2,400 by each due date covers 100% of last year’s tax. You may still owe more when you file, but you have met the test in rule 2.
If you also have a job, the form notes you can increase your withholding instead of, or as well as, making estimated payments.
2026 estimated tax due dates
| Payment | Due |
|---|---|
| 1st | April 15, 2026 |
| 2nd | June 15, 2026 |
| 3rd | September 15, 2026 |
| 4th | January 15, 2027 |
The form also says you can pay the whole year’s estimate by April 15, 2026 instead of in four parts. A payment you mail counts as made on its U.S. postmark date.
You can skip the January payment if you file your 2026 return by February 1, 2027 and pay the full balance with it. If your income is uneven, for example a seasonal business, the form points to the annualized income installment method in IRS Publication 505, which can lower the earlier payments.
Form 1040-ES lists IRS Direct Pay for free bank transfers, payments through your IRS online account, EFTPS (free, but you must enroll), and card payments through service providers that charge a fee.
Common mistakes
- Setting aside 15.3% of profit. The rate applies to 92.35% of profit, so the real figure is about 14.1%. Then add income tax on top.
- Forgetting income tax. SE tax is only part of what you owe. Many freelancers are surprised in April because they only saved for one of the two.
- Ignoring the wage base when you have a job. W-2 wages count toward the $184,500 first.
- Deducting the half from the SE tax itself. The half is an income tax deduction, not a discount on SE tax.
- Missing the first deadline. The first 2026 payment was due April 15, 2026, the same day as the 2025 return.
When to get a professional
Bring in a tax professional if you have both a job and a business near the Social Security cap, a spouse who is also self-employed, farm or church employee income, large swings in income during the year or a mix of income sources that makes the safe-harbor test hard to judge. These change the numbers in ways a simple worksheet does not.
To run your own figures, the self-employment tax calculator applies the 2026 rules, including W-2 wages and the Additional Medicare Tax, and shows the deductible half and a quarterly figure. If you are setting prices, the freelance rate calculator works backwards from a take-home target to the hourly rate that covers SE tax, expenses and time off.
This is general information about 2026 federal tax rules, not tax advice. State taxes and your full return can change what you owe.