Your marginal rate is the tax on your next dollar — the bracket your last dollar of taxable income falls in. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income — the share of your whole year that went to taxes. Because brackets are progressive, the effective rate is always lower than the marginal rate. Use marginal to evaluate extra work and deductions; use effective to understand your real burden and to check whether your quarterly payments are in the right ballpark.

Per IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32, for single filers in 2026: 10% to $12,400; 12% to $50,400; 22% to $105,700; 24% to $201,775; 32% to $256,225; 35% to $640,600; 37% above. Married filing jointly thresholds are roughly double for the first five brackets. The 2026 standard deduction is $16,100 single / $32,200 MFJ. Figures verified September 2026 — confirm the current year's Revenue Procedure before filing.

Self-employment tax. Employees split Social Security and Medicare with their employer (7.65% each); freelancers pay both halves — 15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings from the first dollar. At an $80,000 profit, SE tax ($11,303.64) is about 60% of the total federal bill. The income-tax piece is small because the standard deduction and the lower brackets shield much of the profit. This is the single most misunderstood number in freelance finance.

Three steps: (1) net earnings = profit × 92.35% (the 7.65% haircut mirrors the employer share an employee never sees); (2) 12.4% Social Security on the first $184,500 of net earnings (the 2026 wage base) plus 2.9% Medicare on all of it = 15.3% combined; (3) above $184,500, only the 2.9% Medicare continues. High earners also owe 0.9% additional Medicare on earnings over $200,000 single / $250,000 joint. One-half of the total is deductible from income tax (not from SE tax itself).

No — and that is a deliberate, disclosed simplification. The Section 199A qualified business income deduction can cut taxable income by up to 20% for eligible pass-through businesses, subject to income thresholds and phase-ins that depend on your trade and total income. Because eligibility is genuinely complicated, this calculator omits it and will therefore overstate income tax for those who qualify. Treat the income-tax line as a conservative ceiling and model QBI with a tax professional.

No. State rules vary enormously — from zero income tax (Texas, Florida, Washington) to 13%+ top rates (California) — and many states have their own standard deductions and brackets. Add your state's effective rate on top of the federal number here for a complete picture. The federal-only scope is why the tool says "federal" in every output label.

Earnings above $200,000 (single) or $250,000 (married filing jointly) face an extra 0.9% Medicare tax on top of the regular 2.9% — so 3.8% total Medicare on those dollars. The thresholds are not inflation-indexed, so more freelancers drift into them each year. Unlike regular SE tax, there is no employer-equivalent deduction for the additional 0.9%. This calculator applies it to net SE earnings above the threshold for your filing status.

Three concrete uses: (1) Pricing extra work — a $2,000 rush project in the 22% bracket nets $1,560 after income tax (SE tax applies too, so roughly $1,250 after both at typical levels); (2) Valuing deductions — a $1,000 business expense saves you $220 of income tax at a 22% marginal rate, which is exactly what the deduction finder models; (3) Timing income — pushing a December invoice into January only helps if it keeps dollars out of a higher bracket.

Because Congress designed it that way: employees never pay income tax on the employer's 7.65% FICA share, so the self-employed get an equivalent break — one-half of SE tax is an above-the-line deduction (Schedule 1, line 15) that lowers AGI. Note it does not reduce the SE tax itself, only the income tax computed on what remains. It also lowers AGI-driven thresholds, which can help with credits and phaseouts.

Probably not — but check three things. First, this is federal only; add state tax. Second, if you itemize or claim the QBI deduction, your real income tax is even lower than shown. Third, remember the effective rate divides by total income while much of that income was never taxable (standard deduction, half-SE deduction). A 15–25% all-in federal effective rate is completely normal for freelance profits between $50,000 and $150,000.

No. This is a planning estimate built on published 2026 IRS figures. It simplifies real returns: standard deduction only, no QBI, no state tax, no credits, no AMT, no retirement-plan interactions. Tax law changes every year — the IRS Revenue Procedure for the current year always wins over any calculator. For anything consequential, work with a licensed tax professional or enrolled agent.