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What U.S. federal tax would you owe in 2026? And when the honest answer is that this is the wrong question.
An estimate of federal self-employment and income tax for a sole proprietor. Every rate, threshold and deduction below is cited to the IRS or the Social Security Administration, with the date we read it.
- 2026
- Tax year these figures are for
- $184,500
- Social Security wage base, above which the rate drops
- 5
- Primary sources behind the maths
The estimate
Your numbers.
Single and married filing jointly only. Head of household is not offered here rather than estimated from a table we have not cited.
Estimated federal tax, 2026
$32,660
27.2% of $120,000 net profit. Federal only.
- Net profit$120,000
- Self-employment tax$16,95515.3% on 92.35% of net profit, with the Social Security part capped at the $184,500 wage base.
- Less: half of self-employment tax-$8,478
- Less: standard deduction-$16,100
- Taxable income$95,422
- Federal income tax$15,705
- Total federal tax$32,660
Scope
What this models, and what it leaves out.
An estimate is only useful if you know its shape. This one is narrow on purpose, and the things it excludes are not rounding errors — several of them are larger than the number it shows you.
It assumes
- ·Tax year 2026, U.S. federal only
- ·A single-member LLC treated as a disregarded entity, or a sole proprietorship — profit taxed on your personal return
- ·No wages paid to yourself, and no S-corporation election
- ·The standard deduction, not itemised deductions ($16,100 single, $32,200 married filing jointly)
- ·No other household income, credits, or treaty position
It excludes
- ×State and local income tax, which several states charge and several do not
- ×State franchise or entity tax, such as the $400 a Delaware LLC owes each year
- ×Sales tax, which is a different tax on a different base
- ×Payroll tax, if the company has employees
- ×Credits, itemised deductions, the qualified business income deduction, and any treaty position
- ×Any entity election that changes the picture, such as an S-corporation election
The refusal
Why this tool declines to answer for founders outside the United States.
Most calculators of this kind will happily give a non-U.S. founder a number. That number is not approximately right — it is built on two rules that do not apply.
Self-employment tax does not reach you
The Internal Revenue Code does not impose self-employment tax on an individual who is neither a U.S. citizen nor a U.S. resident, unless a Totalization Agreement imposes it. For a sole proprietor that is the single largest line in the estimate, so including it does not skew the answer — it invents it.
The standard deduction is generally not yours
It is a deduction for U.S. persons. A nonresident alien filing Form 1040-NR generally cannot claim it, so a calculator that subtracts it is understating taxable income at the same time as it overstates tax elsewhere.
What you probably do owe is a filing, not a bill
A U.S. disregarded entity wholly owned by a foreign person files Form 5472 with a pro-forma Form 1120 every year, and it cannot be filed electronically. It is an information return — no tax attaches to it, and the penalty for missing it does.
Whether you owe U.S. income tax is a real question
It turns on whether your income is effectively connected with a U.S. trade or business, and on any treaty between your country and the United States. That is a determination for a licensed professional, and no calculator should pretend otherwise.
Next
The other things your entity owes.
Every deadline your entity owes
Federal, state of formation, and every other state you touch — the obligations this calculator deliberately excludes.
Check whether Form 5472 applies
The test for a foreign-owned U.S. disregarded entity.
Check where sales-tax nexus is triggered
A different tax on a different base, and not in the figure above.
Have the filings handled
Coordinated with licensed tax professionals, which Prolify is not.
Get the numbers right first
This estimate is only as good as the revenue and expense figures you put into it.
Every free tool
Seventeen of them, each answering one question with its source shown.
An estimate is a starting point. The filings are the work.
Prolify tracks what your entity owes, when it is due, and what has changed — and coordinates the filings with licensed professionals.