Automatically estimate your income tax in QuickBooks Self-Employed

Learn what federal self-employment taxes are and how QuickBooks Self-Employed automatically helps you estimate your federal tax payments.

If you're self-employed, you probably need to pay federal self-employment taxes. These payments cover your income, Social Security, and Medicare taxes for your self-employed work.

See your tax estimate

Everything you track for your business automatically gets calculated in an income tax estimate that you can check any time. 

This tool is only a rough guide and isn’t meant for complex situations, but it can help plan ahead for many common tax situations. Be sure to consult a tax professional for complete and accurate information. 

How QuickBooks Self-Employed calculates your taxes

QuickBooks gives you an estimate for federal income and self-employment tax. This is calculated by applying income tax rates to your total self-employment taxable profit from your business plus any personal income you entered from outside your business. Self-employment tax is calculated by applying Social Security and Medicare tax rates to your business taxable profit.

Here’s what you can do to get a more accurate estimate:

Review and start a quarterly tax payment

Review the IRS website for the most up-to-date quarter schedule and payment deadlines. When you're ready, QuickBooks can help you make estimated quarterly tax payments.

When it's time to file, you can export your data directly to TurboTax.