Self-employment tax and quarterly estimate calculator
Enter your expected profit for the year to see roughly what you'll owe in self-employment tax and income tax, and what a quarterly estimated payment would be.
Draft, figures being verified: Juliette or Fred checks this calculator against the IRS and Virginia Tax tables before it goes live.
Estimate for the year
Fill in the form and choose Work it out to see an estimate.
Paying a quarter of the year's tax on each due date is one way to pay. Our post on quarterly estimates explains the other.
For estimation only, not tax advice. What you owe depends on your whole return. See our terms of use.
For estimation only, not tax advice. What you owe depends on your whole return. See our terms of use.
How this works out the estimate
- Self-employment tax is worked out on the IRS share of your profit, and half of it is deducted before income tax, as on the return.
- Income tax uses the standard deduction and the tax brackets for the year, with no other deductions or credits.
- It leaves out the qualified business income deduction, which lowers income tax for many sole proprietors, so the income tax shown may be higher than you'll owe.
- It doesn't add the extra Medicare tax on high earnings.
- Virginia income tax uses the Virginia standard deduction and personal exemptions. Head of household uses the single amount, as on the Virginia return.
Tax tables last checked against IRS and Virginia Tax sources on 7 October 2026.
Sources for the tables this calculator uses
- Topic no. 554, Self-employment tax (2 figures), checked 7 October 2026
- Publication 15 (2026), (Circular E), Employer's Tax Guide (3 figures), checked 7 October 2026
- Rev. Proc. 2025-32 section 4.14(1) Standard Deduction (6 figures), checked 7 October 2026
- Code of Virginia § 58.1-320. Imposition of tax (1 figure), checked 7 October 2026
- New Virginia Tax Laws | Virginia Tax (published July 7, 2026) (2 figures), checked 7 October 2026
- Exemptions | Virginia Tax (1 figure), checked 7 October 2026
Want the exact quarterly amounts?
We set estimated payments for clients from last year's return and how this year is going.