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Tax & Income Calculators

22 tools built on 2026 IRS brackets and current state rates.

7 groups · No sign-up · Runs in your browser

Tax calculations depend heavily on how you're paid. W-2 employees have withholding handled for them and mainly want to know their take-home figure. Self-employed and 1099 workers owe both halves of FICA, have to make quarterly payments, and face a genuine choice about business structure that can change their bill substantially.

All figures use 2026 federal brackets and standard deduction amounts, with state rates applied separately. These are estimates for planning — they don't account for every credit, deduction, or local tax that might apply to your return.

016 tools

Take-home pay

Federal, state, and FICA withholding applied to salaried or hourly income. State makes a large difference — the same salary nets thousands more in a no-income-tax state.

024 tools

Federal income tax

Your marginal rate applies only to the last dollar earned, not your whole income. The effective rate — total tax divided by total income — is almost always considerably lower and is the more useful planning number.

032 tools

Self-employed and 1099

Self-employment tax is 15.3% covering both employer and employee FICA, on top of income tax. Quarterly estimated payments avoid an underpayment penalty; the safe harbour rules let you base them on last year's liability.

044 tools

Equity compensation

Stock awards are taxed differently from salary, and the timing of vesting or exercise changes the bill.

053 tools

S-Corp election

Electing S-Corp status splits income into salary (subject to FICA) and distribution (not), but requires a defensible salary and adds payroll and filing costs. There's a profit threshold below which it costs more than it saves.

061 tool

Sales tax

Final price including state and local sales tax, or backing tax out of a total.

072 tools

Gift and estate tax

Federal thresholds that matter mainly for large transfers.

Common questions

Short answers to what people ask most before picking a tool.

What's the difference between my marginal and effective tax rate?
Your marginal rate is the bracket your last dollar falls into. Your effective rate is total tax divided by total income, which is lower because earlier dollars were taxed at lower rates. Someone in the 24% bracket typically has an effective federal rate closer to 14–17%. Use marginal for deciding whether extra income is worth it, and effective for budgeting.
How much should I set aside for taxes as a freelancer?
A common rule is 25–30% of net self-employment income, covering the 15.3% self-employment tax plus federal income tax. If you're in a high-tax state or a higher bracket, 35% is safer. The self-employment tax calculator gives a figure specific to your income rather than a rule of thumb.
When is an S-Corp election worth it?
Broadly when net profit exceeds roughly $40,000–$60,000, though the exact crossover depends on your reasonable salary and the added cost of payroll and tax filing. Below that threshold the compliance cost typically outweighs the FICA saving. The S-Corp vs LLC calculator plots the crossover point for your numbers.
What counts as a reasonable salary for an S-Corp?
The IRS requires compensation comparable to what you'd pay someone else for the same work — there's no fixed percentage in the regulations, though 40–60% of profit is a commonly cited working range. Setting it too low is a well-known audit trigger. The reasonable salary calculator applies market rate, revenue, and profit-split methods so you have documented support.

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