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Tax · super (composes 4 primitives)

Freelancer tax master

Pull your 1099 income from your profile. We chain SE tax (15.3% on 92.35%), federal income tax with brackets and deductions, quarterly safe-harbor splits, the home-office deduction, and the tax savings from your retirement contribution.

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Inputs

Load a preset

Result

Total estimated tax burden $23,031 (24.2% effective). Quarterly: $5,758.

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Action: Set aside $5,758 per quarter in a separate account. The IRS doesn't care that revenue was uneven — they want it on schedule.

  1. 1

    Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office)

    $86,250

    $95,000 gross − $8,000 expenses − $750 home office

  2. 2

    Self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35%)

    $12,187

    $79,652 × 15.3%. Deduct half ($6,093) above the line.

    Stand-alone calc
  3. 3

    Retirement contribution (10.0%)

    $8,625

    Pre-tax — reduces taxable income

    Stand-alone calc
  4. 4

    Federal taxable income

    $56,532

    +W-2 $0 − ½ SE tax − retirement − $15,000 std deduction

    Stand-alone calc
  5. 5

    Federal income tax

    $7,351

    Marginal rate 22% at this income

    Stand-alone calc
  6. 6

    Planning state income tax (4.50%)

    $3,493

    $77,625 planning base × 4.50%

  7. 7

    Quarterly safe-harbor estimate

    $5,758

    Estimated federal + SE + state tax ÷ 4. Pay by April 15 / June 15 / Sept 15 / Jan 15.

    Stand-alone calc
  8. 8

    Tax savings from retirement contribution

    $1,898

    $8,625 × 22% marginal

Assumptions & notes
  • Federal brackets are 2026 estimates; verify against the latest IRS Rev. Proc. before filing.
  • State income tax is a flat planning-rate estimate here; verify deductions, credits, and local rules before filing.
  • Solo 401(k) contribution caps: $23,500 employee + 25% net SE employer, $70,000 total in 2026.

Continue the profile

Keep this tax path connected

Apply a tax-profile chip above to carry the same assumptions into the full chain, quarterly estimate, or bracket view.

10-year projection

Cumulative tax + net income

Primary
Cumulative net of tax
$-33k$188k$409k$629k$850kY0Y2Y4Y6Y8Y10Y0: $28kY1: $58kY2: $88kY3: $120kY4: $154kY5: $189kY6: $226kY7: $264kY8: $304kY9: $346kY10: $390k

Multi-scenario comparison

What if — ±20% on one input

Scenario1099 / Schedule C net earningsHeadlineΔ vs baselineMagnitude
−20% (cautious)$76,000Total estimated tax burden $16,880 (22.2% effective). Quarterly: $4,220.$-19,000
Baseline$95,000Total estimated tax burden $23,031 (24.2% effective). Quarterly: $5,758.0
+20% (aggressive)$114,000Total estimated tax burden $29,952 (26.3% effective). Quarterly: $7,488.+$19,000

Try the input with the highest sensitivity (above). The Δ column shows the dollar swing from a 20% move — that's how much room you have for a counter, raise, or hedge.

Goal seek

Solve for an input value

Pick the input you want to vary and the output you care about. We'll find the input value that gets you to the target. Bisection-based; converges in < 50 iterations.

Monte Carlo simulation

Distribution under input uncertainty (500 trials)

We perturb every numeric input with normal-distributed noise (10–25% sigma depending on input type) and run 500 compute trials. The output is a probability distribution, not a single number — closer to how finance actually works.

Most-leveraged inputs (sensitivity analysis)

Where to focus — what moves the answer most

Each input perturbed ±10%; measured impact on Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office). Higher elasticity = bigger lever.

  1. 1

    1099 / Schedule C net earnings

    Elasticity 1.10× — 10% change in this input increases Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office) by 11.0%.

  2. 2

    Annual business expenses (already deducted from earnings if zero)

    Elasticity 0.09× — 10% change in this input decreases Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office) by 0.9%.

  3. 3

    Home office sq ft (0 if none)

    Elasticity 0.01× — 10% change in this input decreases Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office) by 0.1%.

  4. 4

    Planning state tax rate

    Elasticity 0.00× — 10% change in this input affects Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office) by 0.0%.

ShowMath is the only calc site that surfaces this. Adjust the highest-leverage input first — that's where small moves create big results.

Chain payload (for the 3D constellation)
{
  "slug": "freelancer-tax-master",
  "depth": 1,
  "primitives": [
    "1099-quarterly-tax-estimator",
    "effective-vs-marginal-rate",
    "estimated-tax-safe-harbor",
    "sep-vs-solo-401k-comparison"
  ],
  "composes": [],
  "chain": [
    {
      "key": "net_se",
      "label": "Net SE earnings (after expenses + home office)",
      "primitive": "home-office-deduction",
      "numeric": 86250
    },
    {
      "key": "se_tax",
      "label": "Self-employment tax (15.3% on 92.35%)",
      "primitive": "1099-quarterly-tax-estimator",
      "numeric": 12186.736875
    },
    {
      "key": "retirement_contrib",
      "label": "Retirement contribution (10.0%)",
      "primitive": "sep-vs-solo-401k-comparison",
      "numeric": 8625
    },
    {
      "key": "taxable_income",
      "label": "Federal taxable income",
      "primitive": "effective-vs-marginal-rate",
      "numeric": 56531.6315625
    },
    {
      "key": "fed_tax",
      "label": "Federal income tax",
      "primitive": "effective-vs-marginal-rate",
      "numeric": 7350.95894375
    },
    {
      "key": "state_tax",
      "label": "Planning state income tax (4.50%)",
      "numeric": 3493.125
    },
    {
      "key": "quarterly",
      "label": "Quarterly safe-harbor estimate",
      "primitive": "estimated-tax-safe-harbor",
      "numeric": 5757.7052046875
    },
    {
      "key": "ret_savings",
      "label": "Tax savings from retirement contribution",
      "numeric": 1897.5
    }
  ]
}

The chain explained

Each step above corresponds to a primitive calculator. Click any to see the stand-alone version with its own explainer + sources.

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