What is the self-employment tax rate?

The federal self-employment tax is 15.3% — 12.4% for Social Security plus 2.9% for Medicare. It applies to 92.35% of your net self-employment earnings, because that factor accounts for the employer-equivalent portion you can deduct. Above the Social Security wage base, only the 2.9% Medicare portion continues.

Does Ohio have a separate self-employment tax?

No. Ohio does not levy its own self-employment tax. Your net self-employment income is simply added to your Ohio taxable income and taxed under the state's regular graduated brackets, the same as wages. There is no extra Ohio SE surcharge.

What is the half-SE-tax deduction?

You can deduct one-half of your self-employment tax from your gross income when figuring federal income tax. This mirrors how an employer's share of payroll tax is not part of an employee's taxable wages, keeping the treatment fair between employees and the self-employed.

What is the 92.35% factor?

Self-employment tax applies to 92.35% of your net earnings, not 100%. The 7.65% reduction represents the employer-equivalent half of FICA, ensuring the self-employed are taxed on a base comparable to an employee's wages after the employer share.

Do I need to pay quarterly estimates?

Usually yes. The self-employed generally must make quarterly estimated tax payments to the IRS and to Ohio to avoid underpayment penalties, since no employer withholds for them. Use this estimate to size those quarterly payments.

Ohio Self-Employment Tax Calculator

Email me this result

Get this tool's output sent to your inbox, plus one useful tool a week. No spam, unsubscribe any time.

Being self-employed in Ohio means handling both halves of FICA yourself through the federal self-employment (SE) tax, plus regular income tax at both the federal and Ohio levels. This calculator combines all of it: the 15.3% SE tax, its deductible half, federal income tax, and Ohio’s graduated state tax on your net self-employment income.

How it works

The calculation follows the IRS Schedule SE order, then adds income tax:

Net earnings factor. SE tax applies to 92.35% of your net profit (the 7.65% reduction is the employer-equivalent share).
SE tax. 12.4% Social Security on net earnings up to the wage base, plus 2.9% Medicare on all net earnings — 15.3% combined below the cap.
Half-SE deduction. Half of the SE tax is deducted from gross income before income tax is figured.
Federal income tax. The 2025 standard deduction and brackets apply to the remaining income.
Ohio state tax. Ohio adds your net self-employment income to taxable income and applies its graduated brackets (0%, 2.75%, 3.5%) — there is no separate Ohio SE tax.

Tips and example

On $50,000 of net self-employment profit, SE tax applies to 92.35% × 50,000 = $46,175. At 15.3% that is about $7,065 in SE tax, half of which ($3,533) is deductible against income tax. Ohio then taxes the income under its low brackets — only a few hundred dollars thanks to the zero bracket on the first $26,050.

Because no employer withholds for you, plan to make quarterly estimated payments to both the IRS and Ohio. Use this estimate to size them, and remember Ohio city income taxes may apply separately on business income earned in a taxing municipality.