2026 tax year · verified 2026-06-10

Tax calculators for people who work for themselves

Self-employment tax, federal, state and local income tax, and what to set aside, in one place.

Every rate, bracket and threshold on this site is checked against IRS and state revenue sources before it goes up, and the worked examples are calculated from those same figures rather than written by hand. Where a number could not be confirmed, the page says so instead of guessing.

Household tax calculator

One calculation for everyone in the household and every kind of income, wages, self-employment, Social Security, disability benefits, a pension, a 401(k) drawdown. Add a person, add as many income lines as you need, and it works out the whole bill together. That matters because these interact: one spouse's freelance income can make the other's disability benefit taxable when it was not before.

Salary from an employer. Payroll tax is withheld.

Add everyone's income above and press Calculate.

Start here

Two states, head to head

Pay, offers and withholding

The questions that come up between paychecks, not at filing time, what a bonus really keeps, whether a raise beat inflation, what an hourly rate is a year, and whether the contract pays more than the salary.

Tax where you live and where you work

Two layers most calculators skip. Cross a state line to work and two states have a claim on the same wages. Live in one of twelve states and a city, county or school district taxes you on top of the state, 12 states do, in eight structurally different ways.

Local income tax by state

What your profession can deduct

Schedule C is the same form for everyone and the deductions on it are not. A signing agent's mileage, a driver's per diem, a minister's housing allowance that is exempt from income tax and taxed for self-employment tax at the same time:

The deductions checklist that applies to every business →

Gig and platform income

Grouped by what you can deduct rather than by which app pays you, because that is what changes the answer, a Lyft driver and an Uber driver have the same tax question, and a driver and an Etsy seller do not. The gig hub lays out every category:

By platform

Running a self-employed business

The economics behind the tax, what an hour of gig work really pays, what a mile costs, your seller margin, the rate to charge, and how much you can shelter for retirement.

Tax credits

The credits that phase in and out with income, where a small change can swing hundreds or thousands of dollars, and where getting the threshold wrong hurts most.

More situations

Rental property, an early retirement withdrawal, working abroad, a second household income, an owner-operator truck, a creator brand deal, each taxed by its own rules.

Laid off?

A severance letter comes with three deadlines and a countdown on your bank balance. Four calculators that chain into one runway answer, severance net, health coverage, unemployment, then how long the money lasts.

Common layoff questions

Job offers and the office

The decisions around a paycheck, priced: what a return-to-office mandate really costs you, and the counter-offer email that gets the number up before you sign.

Return-to-office questions

Windfalls, gifts and inheritance

Money that arrives outside a paycheck is taxed by its own rules, a gambling win, a gift, an inheritance where the asset type decides everything. These never just say "taxable" or "tax-free".

Investments and capital gains

What you owe on gains, dividends, interest and crypto, the holding period, the 0/15/20% long-term rates, the 3.8% surtax, and which lot you sell, federal and your state, including the states that tax gains differently.

Equity compensation

Each of these has one expensive mistake attached to it, and the pages lead with it:

Personal finance

The money questions beyond tax, net worth, retirement, budgeting and debt:

Lifestyle

What life's big decisions and small habits actually cost:

1099 tax calculator by state

Pick your state for a page built on that state's 2026 income tax rules: