About the Schedule SE for Self-Employment Taxes

Everyone has to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes. If you work for someone else, you will pay half of the taxes and your employer will pay the other half.

Self-employed business owners aren't so fortunate. They don't have an employer to contribute half of the taxes, so self-employed persons must pay the full amount themselves. The amount is determined by calculations on Schedule SE and reported to the IRS.

If you're self-employed, you'll need to file tax forms for a Schedule SE and a Schedule C together with a Form 1040 when you file your annual tax return with the IRS. Here's what you need to know.

Social Security taxes for self-employed persons are ​12.4 percent​ of net earnings. Medicare taxes add another ​2.9 percent,​ for a total of ​15.3 percent.​

For the ​2020 tax year​, the maximum income subject to Social Security taxes has been increased to ​$137,700​ from ​$132,900 in 2019​. The maximum amount you could pay in Social Security taxes is ​$17,074.80​ at the rate of ​12.4 percent.​

Medicare taxes do not have a wage base limit. Earners with incomes above ​$200,000​ for a single filer or ​$250,000​ for joint filers are subject to a ​0.9 percent​ additional Medicare tax.

Schedule SE is used to calculate your self-employment taxes for Social Security and Medicare.

Any self-employed owner who makes more than $400 in net profit from their business must file a Schedule SE.

Self-employed business owners are:

• Sole Proprietors and single-member limited liability companies whose owners file a Schedule C with their tax returns
• S Corporation owners who file K-1s for their income portion of an S Corp.
• Partners in multi-member LLCs and partnerships who file K-1s with their tax returns for their share of partnership income. 

If you run two or more businesses, you can combine the net earnings from all of these businesses into one Schedule SE to calculate your self-employment income. A loss in one business will reduce the income from another and reduce the amount of your self-employment taxes.

Start with your Schedule C to calculate the profits from your independent business. Schedule C will show your income and all of your business-related tax deductions and how much money you earned. The profit from this schedule will be entered on Schedule SE that has been redesigned for 2020.

According to the 2020 draft form, enter the business profit you calculated from Schedule C on Line 2 of Schedule SE. Be sure to check the IRS site closer to tax time for the exact form and instructions for the 2020 Schedule SE.

Multiply this profit figure by ​92.35 percent​ and enter on Line 4a.

If you do not have other church income and are not using the optional methods to calculate self-employment taxes, multiply Line 4a by ​12.4 percent​ to get your Social Security tax.

Multiply Line 4a by ​2.9 percent​ to get your Medicare tax.

Add both figures together to find your total self-employment tax and enter on Line 4 of Schedule 2, Additional Taxes, on Form 1040.

Take one-half of your total self-employment tax and enter as an Adjustment to Income on Schedule 1 of Form 1040. You at least get some credit for paying the employer’s share of your self-employment tax.

If your business had a loss or only made a slight profit, check the two optional methods that Schedule SE offers to calculate your net earnings.

As a general rule, the IRS says that if a taxpayer expects to owe more than $1,000 in taxes for the year on their self-employment earnings, they should make quarterly estimated payments.

Because taxes are accrued over a year, you should make quarterly estimated payments for both your business income and self-employment taxes to avoid late payment penalties if you are self-employed.