Free · 2026 tables · No contact to see your result
The self-employed tax calculator that shows you more than the tax.
Enter your numbers and see what you owe in self-employment tax for 2026, free, with no name, email, or phone. Most calculators stop there. This one keeps going, to how that tax can be cut, and what the same setup does to your coverage cost.
Generated from your inputs. Nothing is stored or shared until you ask for the full report.
No salesperson. No one calling you. If the structure does not beat what you pay now, the result says so.
We only make money when an owner we connect actually comes out ahead. If the math does not clear, the screen tells you, and so do we.
Why this calculator shows more than the tax you owe.
Every self-employed tax calculator answers the same question: how much you owe in self-employment tax on what you net. That is a real number and you get it here. But most calculators treat it as fixed, and it is not. When you pay yourself a salary and take the rest as a distribution, the figure can change, and the calculator shows you that version too, run on the 2026 tables for your CPA to confirm. Then there is a number no other calculator shows at all: the same setup that can move your tax is the exact thing a real big-company group health plan runs through. So you see a third number, what coverage costs you today against what it costs inside the group plan. One calculator, three numbers, no contact.
The setup that can cut your self-employment tax is the doorway to a real group health plan. The same payroll that moves the tax runs the coverage. Two wins from one structure.
How the other two numbers work.
Right now, as a sole proprietor or default LLC, all of your profit is treated as self-employment income, and the tax rides on the whole thing. Electing to be taxed as an S-corp lets you split a reasonable salary from a distribution, and the calculator shows what that does to your number. The election is a routine filing your CPA does all the time, not a reorganization. That same election sets up payroll, and a real group health plan runs through payroll. A 500-person company gets better coverage at a better price than you can buy alone, because it buys as one large group instead of as one person. Your business can join a group like that, even if the only employee is you. The plan is a national PPO. Your doctors stay the same.
We do not promise a tax figure in a sentence, because your number depends on your profit, your reasonable salary, and your state. The calculator shows yours, run live on the real 2026 tables, and your CPA confirms the exact treatment for your situation. We show the number. Your accountant signs off.
We are not the plan provider. A separate licensed provider runs the coverage. We run your numbers and connect you.
The believability clause
You do not build a group. You join one that already exists.
A business of one qualifies the same as a business of fifty.
What it asks, and what you get back.
A few quick questions: what you net, what you pay yourself if anything yet, your state, and what you pay for coverage now. Nothing else, and nothing that identifies you. It runs live on the real 2026 federal and state tables. You get your numbers back, free: what you owe now, what a salary-and-distribution setup does to it, and your coverage cost today against the group plan. If you are not in range yet, the screen says so plainly and tells you what to watch for, instead of forcing a win that is not there.
Want it in writing? The full CPA audit report, generated for your exact numbers, is yours to hand your accountant, built to be checked line by line.
The plans behind the coverage number.
Representative composite rates, set by the group and not by your age. Your actual rate is set at enrollment, and your own number comes from the calculator above.
The fee
One flat fee per person, month to month, no long-term contract. The fee does not climb when you pay yourself more or add a person.
The calculator works for a specific owner.
Clear all three and the second numbers usually work in your favor.
Your income, not your team's.
What reaches the premium today.
Taxed as an S-corp or C-corp, or willing to elect. Most readers here have not elected yet, and that is fine, electing is the first step.
The honest off-ramp
If you net under $90,000 today, the structure usually will not clear yet, and the calculator will tell you that plainly rather than sell you a yes. That is not a no forever. It is a not yet. The tax number you came for is still yours to see, free, and you can run it again the moment your income crosses the line. We would rather hand you an honest read than a result you cannot use.
If you are on a spouse's plan, or you already pay very little for coverage, the coverage number probably will not beat what you have, and the screen will say so.
You came for the tax number. See all three.
Run it free. No call, no email, no salesperson. If the structure does not beat what you pay now, the screen tells you so and you owe us nothing, because we only make money when an owner we connect actually comes out ahead.
Your exact 2026 numbers, free. The full CPA audit report when you want it.
If it is just you and you clear the line, the solo owner walkthrough goes deeper. Ready to run the election math? Use the S-corp tax calculator. Weighing whether to elect at all? Start here.
dollar
As a sole proprietor, every dollar of profit carries the full self-employment tax, and every renewal you wait, the age-rated price you pay for coverage alone climbs again. The setup that changes both is decades old and routine. Seeing your number costs nothing.
In the news
The 2026 cost shock made national news.
When the 2026 subsidies ended, the squeeze on owners and the self-employed was covered across the major networks. The cost structure was always there. The news just put it on everyone's screen.
Millions face the ACA subsidy expiry
The quiet fallout from higher ACA premiums
How the end of ACA subsidies is squeezing owners
Premiums set to skyrocket Jan. 1
Millions of Americans in limbo
Health premiums set to soar
Unedited segments from each network's own coverage. USA OPS is not affiliated with or endorsed by these outlets.
Self-employed tax calculator questions, answered straight.
How does a self-employed tax calculator work?
It estimates what you owe in self-employment tax on what you net, on the 2026 federal and state tables. You enter your earnings, your state, and what you pay for coverage now. This one adds two numbers most calculators skip: what a salary-and-distribution setup does to that tax, and what the same setup does to your coverage cost.
Is this self-employment tax calculator free, and do I have to give my contact details?
No contact to see it. The calculator returns your numbers with no name, email, or phone, free, on the real 2026 federal and state tables. Contact is asked only if you want the full CPA audit report sent to you and your accountant, built to be checked line by line.
I am a sole proprietor or 1099 contractor. Can I lower my self-employment tax?
For many self-employed owners with enough profit, electing to be taxed as an S-corp and splitting a reasonable salary from a distribution lowers what is owed, but it adds payroll and filing work, so there is a break-even. The calculator shows your figure on the 2026 tables and your CPA confirms it. If you are not in range yet, the screen says so.
Do I need to be an S-corp to use this freelance tax calculator?
No. You can run it as a sole proprietor, a single-member LLC, or a 1099 contractor who has not elected anything. The calculator computes your self-employment tax as you are taxed today, then shows what an election would do. Electing is a routine filing your CPA handles, and it is the first step, not a requirement to see your number.
Can an independent contractor or freelancer get a real group health plan?
Yes. You do not build a group, you join a large one that already exists, even if you are the only employee. Once you elect and run payroll, the premium runs through it, the plan is a national PPO, and a business of one qualifies the same as a business of fifty. The calculator shows your cost before any contact.
What does it cost to work with you, and how do you get paid?
One flat fee per person, month to month, 150 dollars for the full stack or 75 for compliance only, and it does not climb when you pay yourself more. We are an independent referral partner, not the provider, and we only earn when the math leaves the owner we connect better off. If it does not, the screen says so.