Eleven tools built on 2026 IRS brackets and current state rates.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Compare SE tax vs S-Corp salary + distribution split — see your annual FICA savings.
Crossover chart — the exact profit threshold where S-Corp saves more than it costs.
IRS-defensible W-2 salary estimate using market rate, revenue, and profit-split methods.
Final price including state and local sales tax, or backing tax out of a total.
Short answers to what people ask most before picking a tool.
