Usually my taxes amount to around 27-28% of my paycheck on W2. This last year I worked as an independent contractor, why is it 35% this year

[vkrish198]

my first year filing as an independent contractor.

[MichaelL1 · Accepted solution]

In addition to income tax, you are now paying self-employment tax of 15.3% on the net profit for the business.

When you are an employee, the employer pays half of the social security taxes and you pay half.