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About the author
Andy Markowitz is an AARP senior writer and editor covering Social Security and retirement. He is a former editor of the Prague Post and Baltimore City Paper.
Yes. You pay in the form of Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes, reported on your federal tax return. You file a Schedule C (Form 1040) to report profit or loss from self-employment and Schedule SE (Form 1040) to calculate your Social Security and Medicare taxes.
The Social Security tax rate for 2026 is 12.4 percent on net self-employment income up to $184,500. You do not pay Social Security taxes on earnings above that amount. There is no such cap for Medicare contributions; you pay the Medicare tax rate — 2.9 percent for most people but more for higher earners (see below) — on all profits from self-employment. A portion of your SECA tax can be taken as a deduction elsewhere on your tax return.
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Keep in mind
- If you hold a wage-paying job, you pay 6.2 percent of your gross income up to $184,500 into Social Security via FICA payroll-tax withholding. Your employer makes a matching payment.
- Like wage earners, self-employed people with higher incomes are subject to the Additional Medicare Tax, a 0.9 percent surtax on income above $200,000 for a single taxpayer and $250,000 for a couple filing jointly. For example, a single filer who makes $225,000 from self-employment would pay Medicare taxes of 2.9 percent on the first $200,000 and 3.8 percent on the additional $25,000.
More on Social Security
FICA Taxes While Working and Collecting Benefits
Is FICA the same as Social Security?