2025 Self Employment Tax Rate

The 2025 self-employment tax rate is a flat 15.3% on 92.35% of your net earnings up to a certain income threshold.

This is composed of a 12.4% Social Security tax component and a 2.9% Medicare tax component.

2025 Self-Employment Tax Breakdown

The full 15.3% rate applies to your net earnings (profit after business expenses) up to a specific annual limit for the Social Security portion of the tax. The Medicare portion has no income limit.

Important Details

Taxable Amount: You do not pay self-employment tax on your gross income. Instead, the tax is calculated on 92.35% of your net earnings from self-employment.

This adjustment is designed to put self-employed individuals on a similar footing to traditional employees, for whom the employer pays half of the FICA taxes.

• Income Threshold for Payment: You are required to pay self-employment tax if your net earnings for the year are $400 or more.
• Deduction: You can deduct half of your total self-employment tax from your adjusted gross income (AGI) on your Form 1040 when filing your federal income taxes. This helps offset the fact that self-employed individuals pay both the “employee” and “employer” portions of FICA taxes themselves.
• Calculation: You will use Schedule SE (Form 1040) to calculate your final self-employment tax liability.

We can help you estimate your tax liability based on a specific income amount. With our free self-employed tax calculator, you can calculate your estimated 2025 self-employment tax based on your projected net earnings.