Home  /  Glossary  /  Schedule SE

Tax & paperwork

Schedule SE

Also called: Schedule SE (Form 1040), self-employment tax form

The IRS form where you calculate self-employment tax on your Schedule C net profit — the 15.3% you owe for Social Security and Medicare as a 1099 worker.

Schedule SE calculates the self-employment tax owed by sole proprietors, partners, and other non-employee workers. The starting point is your net profit from Schedule C; the ending point is the SE tax that flows back to your Form 1040.

The mechanics in order:

  1. Take Schedule C line 31 (net profit).
  2. Multiply by 92.35% (the SE tax adjustment that excludes the employer half of FICA).
  3. Apply 12.4% Social Security up to the wage base ($176,100 for 2026, less any W-2 wages from a day job).
  4. Apply 2.9% Medicare to the full adjusted amount.
  5. Add the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax if combined income exceeds $200K single / $250K joint.
  6. Half the total SE tax becomes a deduction on Schedule 1 — reducing your federal income tax bill.

If you have multiple Schedule Cs, you net them all together first, then calculate one combined SE tax. If your total net SE income is below $400, no SE tax is owed.