{
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  "@type": "Dataset",
  "name": "How do you calculate take-home pay when you're self-employed?",
  "description": "Self-employed workers pay both halves of FICA — 15.3% self-employment tax — plus income tax. On $80,000 of freelance profit, set aside roughly $21,800 (27%): $11,304 SE tax and about $10,500 income tax after the standard deduction and the half-SE-tax adjustment.",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/answers/how-to-calculate-take-home-pay-self-employed",
  "dateModified": "2026-10-01",
  "creator": {
    "@type": "Organization",
    "name": "RevenueLab",
    "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi"
  },
  "license": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "keywords": [
    "Freelancer Paycheck Calculator",
    "Take-Home Pay Calculator"
  ],
  "distribution": {
    "@type": "DataDownload",
    "contentUrl": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/page.json?path=answers%2Fhow-to-calculate-take-home-pay-self-employed",
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  "json": {
    "type": "answer",
    "question": "How do you calculate take-home pay when you're self-employed?",
    "shortAnswer": "Self-employed workers pay both halves of FICA — 15.3% self-employment tax — plus income tax. On $80,000 of freelance profit, set aside roughly $21,800 (27%): $11,304 SE tax and about $10,500 income tax after the standard deduction and the half-SE-tax adjustment.",
    "tableTitle": "Tax stack on $80,000 freelance profit, single (2025)",
    "columns": [
      "Layer",
      "Amount",
      "Note"
    ],
    "rows": [
      {
        "label": "Net profit",
        "value": "$80,000",
        "note": "Revenue − expenses"
      },
      {
        "label": "SE tax (15.3% × 92.35%)",
        "value": "−$11,304",
        "note": "Half is deductible"
      },
      {
        "label": "Income tax",
        "value": "−$8,857",
        "note": "On $80k − $15k − $5,652 adjustment"
      },
      {
        "label": "After-tax income",
        "value": "$59,839",
        "note": "≈ 75% of profit"
      }
    ],
    "context": "Three habits save freelancers thousands: deduct every legitimate business expense before any of this math (SE tax is on profit, not revenue); make quarterly estimated payments (April, June, September, January) to avoid penalties; and consider an S-corp election once profit reliably exceeds ~$60–80k, which can shrink the 15.3% layer. Retirement contributions (SEP-IRA up to 25% of compensation, solo 401(k)) reduce the income-tax layer but not SE tax.",
    "methodology": "SE tax = 92.35% × net profit × 15.3% (12.4% SS to the $176,100 wage base + 2.9% Medicare). Income tax uses 2025 single brackets after the $15,000 standard deduction and the deductible half of SE tax.",
    "dateModified": "2026-10-01",
    "relatedCalculators": [
      {
        "label": "Freelancer Paycheck Calculator",
        "to": "/freelancer-paycheck-calculator"
      },
      {
        "label": "Take-Home Pay Calculator",
        "to": "/paycheck-take-home-calculator"
      }
    ],
    "relatedReading": [
      {
        "label": "How to calculate FICA taxes",
        "to": "/answers/how-to-calculate-fica-taxes"
      }
    ]
  }
}