Your side gig probably owes more tax than your paycheck covers.
Enter your W-2 salary and what you made on the side. We show the extra tax the side income adds — SE tax plus the bump in federal income tax — and how much to set aside each quarter.
Tax and payroll data last updated: July 2026. Sources & methodology
Your numbers
Box 1 wages from your employer — withholding already comes out of this.
Extra money from a side gig, consulting, or platform payouts before expenses.
Costs tied to the side work — supplies, mileage, software, platform fees.
Side income may qualify for the 20% pass-through deduction — leave on unless you know you don't.
Set aside about $800 per quarter on top of W-2 withholding.
- Net side income
- $10,500
- Self-employment tax on side income
- $1,484
- Extra federal income tax
- $1,717
- Combined tax (W-2 + side)
- $15,271
- Quarterly on side income
- $800
- SE tax14%
- Extra income tax16%
- Side take-home70%
Shows extra federal tax from side work when you also have W-2 wages. Assumes single filer, standard deduction. Your employer already withholds on the W-2 — this is what to pay yourself on the side. State tax not included.
How this is calculated
Side income from freelancing, consulting, or platform work is self-employment income. Even if your day job withholds tax, the IRS still expects SE tax (15.3% on net side earnings) and additional income tax on the side profit. We compare your combined bill to what you would owe on W-2 wages alone — the difference is what your side gig costs in tax.
SE tax applies to 92.35% of net side income. Social Security caps at $184,500 in 2026 across all jobs combined — if your W-2 already hit the cap, less side income faces the 12.4% Social Security piece. This calculator models the typical case where side income adds on top of W-2 wages. Federal brackets use the $16,100 standard deduction and optional 20% QBI deduction on qualified side income.