How much of every 1099 payment to keep for taxes, and what to pay each quarter.
Covers: self employed, 1099, freelance, contractor, gig, quarterly, estimated tax, set aside, 1040-es, schedule c.
Open the Quarterly Taxes & Set-Aside tool →When you work for yourself, no employer withholds taxes from your pay, so you have to do it yourself, and you owe two taxes, not one. First is self-employment tax: both halves of Social Security and Medicare (15.3% on 92.35% of your profit). Second is regular income tax, federal and state, on your profit minus the deductible half of that SE tax. We add the two together to get your tax for the year.
From that we show the share to skim off every payment you receive (move it to a separate tax account the day it lands) and the four equal estimated payments the IRS expects on the 1040-ES schedule. If you enter last year's total tax, we also show the safe-harbor minimum: pay at least that much across the year and you avoid the underpayment penalty even if you earn more than expected. It is the smaller of 90% of this year's tax and 100% of last year's — 110% of last year's if last year's AGI was over $150,000, or over $75,000 if you file separately (IRC §6654(d)(1)(C)). The threshold is measured on LAST year's AGI, so enter it too if you have it; left blank we use this year's and say so on the line.
We don't subtract the QBI (20% qualified business income) deduction, so the number leans slightly high, which is the safe side when the whole point is setting enough aside. Filing status, state, and income flow to and from My Situation.
Five deductions new for 2026 are not modeled here: tips (§224), overtime (§225), car loan interest (§163(h)(4)), the deduction at 65 (§151(d)(5)(C)), and giving without itemizing (§170(p)). If any of them applies to you, your real federal tax is lower than the figure above. Take-Home and Federal Income Tax ask for them and apply them.
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