1099 tax calculator: everything you owe on contractor income in 2026
Type the profit your 1099 work leaves after expenses, pick a state and a filing status, and the whole 2026 bill appears line by line.
Total tax on this income in 2026
$20,785
Put aside 24% of each payment · $5,196 per quarter
| Self-employment tax (15.3%) | $12,010 |
| Federal income tax | $5,790 |
| California income tax | $2,985 |
| QBI deduction used | $12,579 |
| Effective rate on all income | 24.5% |
With an S corp election and a $34,000 salary, about $2,866 less tax (check it).
Computed by Radif Partners from IRS documents for tax year 2026 · How we calculate · no email asked, nothing sold
Income reported on a 1099 carries two federal taxes, not one. Self-employment tax of 15.3 % applies to 92.35% of net profit (the Social Security part stops at $184,500 in 2026), and ordinary income tax applies to what is left after half of that SE tax, the $16,100 standard deduction for a single filer and the 20 % qualified business income deduction. A single contractor with $85,000 of profit and no other income owes $12,010 of SE tax and $5,790 of income tax, $17,800 in all, or 20.941 % of the profit. Married filing jointly, the same profit costs $16,006, because the wider brackets lower the income tax while SE tax does not move. State income tax and any city tax come on top, and the calculator adds them for the state you choose. Nobody withholds any of this, so the total is paid through four estimated payments, the first due April 15, 2026.
The calculator starts from net profit: what clients paid you, whether or not a Form 1099-NEC or 1099-K arrived, minus the business expenses you can deduct. That is the figure on line 31 of Schedule C, and it feeds both of the federal taxes a contractor pays. Enter W-2 wages if you also hold a job, because they change both the Social Security cap and the bracket your 1099 income lands in. Health premiums, retirement contributions and children are in the extra fields.
Your 2026 self-employment tax in one line
Self-employment tax
$8,478
| Taxed amount (92.35%) | $55,410 |
| Deductible half | $4,239 |
| Share of profit | 14.1% |
Three layers on one profit
Think of the bill as three layers stacked on the same dollars. The first is self-employment tax, Social Security and Medicare for people who have no employer to pay half. The second is federal income tax, the same brackets employees use. The third is whatever your state and, in some places, your city charge on income. The calculator shows each layer on its own line so you can see which one drives your total.
SE tax: the layer with no brackets
Self-employment tax is flat. Take 92.35% of the profit, then apply 12.4 % for Social Security on the part up to $184,500 and 2.9 % for Medicare on all of it. It starts with the first dollar once net earnings reach $400, with no standard deduction and no lower rate for small amounts. That is why a contractor earning modest sums often pays more SE tax than income tax. The self-employment tax rate page explains the cap and the 0.9 % surtax above $200,000.
Income tax: after three subtractions
Before any bracket applies, three amounts come off. Half of the SE tax is an adjustment on Schedule 1, which lowers adjusted gross income. The standard deduction is $16,100 single and $32,200 joint for 2026. Then the qualified business income deduction removes up to 20 % of the business income, within limits explained on the QBI deduction page. What remains goes through the 2026 brackets from Rev. Proc. 2025-32.
| Net profit | SE tax | QBI deduction | Income tax | Federal total | Share of profit |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| $40,000 | $5,652 | $4,215 | $1,775 | $7,427 | 18.567 % |
| $85,000 | $12,010 | $12,579 | $5,790 | $17,800 | 20.941 % |
| $120,000 | $16,955 | $19,084 | $11,506 | $28,462 | 23.718 % |
| $180,000 | $25,433 | $30,237 | $21,625 | $47,058 | 26.144 % |
Read the last column with care. The share rises with profit, but slowly, because SE tax is a fixed percentage while income tax climbs through the brackets. Past the Social Security cap the SE layer thins out and income tax takes over as the main cost.
A single contractor at $85,000
Here is the full chain for $85,000 of profit. Net earnings for SE purposes are $78,498, and the tax on them is $12,010. Half of that, $6,005, comes off income, which leaves adjusted gross income of $78,995. After the standard deduction and a QBI deduction of $12,579, taxable income is $50,316 and income tax is $5,790. The top dollar is taxed at 12 %, but the average rate on the whole profit is far lower.
Two children change the picture for a married couple: with the $2,200 child tax credit for each, the same $85,000 profit filed jointly leaves $0 of income tax. The credit does not touch SE tax, which stays at $12,010.
Where the state comes in
States start from your federal figures and apply their own rules: some tax nothing, some charge one flat rate, others use brackets with their own deductions. A handful of cities and counties tax earnings or business profit as well. Choose your state in the calculator and the line appears with its source; the state income tax comparison puts every state side by side. Where the state figures have not been verified yet, the calculator shows nothing for the state rather than guess.
When there is also a paycheck
Enter your salary in the W-2 field and two things change. The salary fills the standard deduction and the lower brackets first, so the 1099 profit is taxed at your top rate, which raises the share you need to keep. At the same time, wages already taxed for Social Security use part of the $184,500 base, which trims the SE tax on the side income. The result card then shows the tax this side income adds to the tax you would owe on the salary alone, which is the figure to set aside. If your employer withholds generously, you may not need estimated payments at all: a new Form W-4 can cover the side profit instead.
What the result does not cover
The tool models one business, the standard deduction and the child tax credit. It does not see itemized deductions, capital gains, a spouse's business, education credits, or losses carried from earlier years. It assumes the profit you type is final, so deductions you have not recorded yet will lower the real figure. For a precise return, the result is a starting point to check with a CPA or enrolled agent, not a filing.
One invoice, how much is yours
Yours to spend
$3,950
| To the tax account | $1,050 |
| Federal set-aside rate | 21% |
Single filer, no state tax.
Paying the bill during the year
Clients do not withhold tax from contractor pay, so the IRS expects you to send it in four installments. For 2026 they are due April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026 and January 15, 2027 (Form 1040-ES 2026). You must pay estimated tax when you expect to owe at least $1,000 after withholding. The calculator gives a per-quarter figure, and the quarterly tax calculator shows how to pay less early in the year by basing the payments on last year's tax instead.