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meech2019
Returning Member

Self Employment Taxes

I have both a full time salary and additional contract work on top of that. I know that self employment taxes are 

15.3% with 12.4% for Social Security and 2.9% for Medicare. Do I pay my federal and state tax on top of that percentage? For example, if I'm in the 22% federal tax bracket and my state tax is 5.5%, do I end up paying 42.8% of 1099 wages earned in taxes? For example, if I make $10,000 on contract work in 2021, I would owe $4,280 in taxes?

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2 Replies

Self Employment Taxes

Yes you pay both SE tax and regular income tax on the Net Profit.

 

Self Employment tax (Scheduled SE) is automatically generated if a person has $400 or more of net profit from self-employment.  You pay 15.3% SE tax on 92.35% of your Net Profit (If it is greater than $400).  The 15.3% self employed SE Tax is to pay both the employer part and employee part of Social Security and Medicare.  So you get social security credit for it when you retire.  

 

The SE tax is already included in your tax due or reduced your refund.  It is on the 1040 Schedule 2 line 4 which goes to 1040 line 23.  The SE tax is in addition to your regular income tax on the net profit.  You do get to take off the 50% ER portion of the SE tax as an adjustment on 1040 Schedule 1 line 14 which flows to 1040 line 10a.  Turbo Tax automatically calculates the SE Tax and Adjustment.

 

The 50% SE tax deduction only reduces your taxable income and regular income tax.  It will not reduce your schedule C Net Profit or reduce the total self employment tax.  

 

For 2020  Schedule C Net Profit or Loss goes to 1040 Schedule 1 line 3.  Then the total on schedule 1 line 9 goes to 1040 line 8.

 

If you also have W2 income, you have to break out the Social Security and Medicare taxes. Only the Social Security part maxes out.  Turbo Tax does it automatically for you.

 

The SE tax includes what you already paid in from your W2s so your schedule SE tax will only be the difference up to the max amount of $8,537.40 for social security. The max income for social security for 2020 is $137,700 between W2 wages and the schedule C Net Profit.

 

Medicare is 2.9% (both er & ee parts) of all wages & 92.35% Schedule C Net Profit - no max.

 

You are paying 15.3% for……

SS for employer 6.2% (up to 137,700 wages & profit)

SS for employee 6.2% (up to 137,700 wages & profit)

Medicare for employer 1.45% (on all wages & profit, no max)

Medicare for employee 1.45% (on all wages & profit, no max)

ronaldg11
Expert Alumni

Self Employment Taxes

Hi Meech2019,

 

As a self-employed individual, generally you are required to file an annual return and pay estimated tax quarterly.  Self-employed individuals generally must pay self-employment tax (SE tax) as well as income tax. SE tax is a Social Security and Medicare tax primarily for individuals who work for themselves.  Before you can determine if you are subject to self-employment tax and income tax, you must figure your net profit or net loss from your business.  You have to file an income tax return if your net earnings from self-employment were $400 or more. If your net earnings from self-employment were less than $400, you still have to file an income tax return if you meet any other filing requirement listed in the Form 1040 and 1040-SR instructions.  

Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals PDF, is used to figure these taxes. Form 1040-ES contains a worksheet that is similar to Form 1040 ...

Form 1040-ES also contains blank vouchers you can use when you mail your estimated tax payments or you may make your payments using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS). If this is your first year being self-employed, you will need to estimate the amount of income you expect to earn for the year.

 

If you estimated your earnings too high, simply complete another Form 1040-ES worksheet to refigure your estimated tax for the next quarter. If you estimated your earnings too low, again complete another Form 1040-ES worksheet to recalculate your estimated taxes for the next quarter.

 

Hope that helps

Ron G

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