About Side Hustle Tax Calculator
A free calculator for people who earn 1099 income on top of a W-2 job and want to know what they'll actually owe — before the bill arrives.
Why this site exists
Most tax calculators assume your income comes from a single source. Real side hustles don't work that way. A nurse picks up per-diem shifts, a designer takes freelance projects on weekends, a driver runs a few nights on DoorDash — all while a W-2 job is already withholding tax at one rate. That stacked income pushes you into a higher marginal bracket and, on the self-employed portion, adds the 15.3% self-employment tax that a regular employer would normally split with you.
The result is a surprise almost every first-year freelancer runs into: a tax bill far larger than expected, plus an IRS request to start making quarterly estimated payments. This site exists to remove that surprise. Enter your W-2 wages and your 1099 income, and the calculator shows the self-employment tax, the income tax on the stacked total, and roughly what to set aside each quarter.
Who runs it
Side Hustle Tax Calculator is built and maintained by Pond Software, an independent maker of free, single-purpose web calculators. We build focused tools that do one job well and stay free to use — the same approach behind our other calculators for freelance rates, loan payments, and salary conversions.
We are not a CPA firm, a tax-prep service, or affiliated with the IRS. We don't file returns or see your data — the calculator runs entirely in your browser, and the numbers you enter never leave it.
How we build the numbers
- Sourced from IRS rules. The federal brackets, standard deduction, self-employment tax rate, and Social Security wage base come from the published IRS figures for the tax year shown. When the IRS updates them, we update the calculator.
- Honest about scope. The core calculator estimates federal self-employment and income tax. It does not model every credit, every state, or an S-corp election. Where a page leaves something out, we say so rather than implying the estimate is a final return.
- Plain-English guides. The written guides — on 1099 taxes, deductions, and specific situations like gig work — exist to explain the result, not to pad the page. They link back to the calculator so you land on a number, not a wall of text.
Where the estimate ends and a professional begins
An estimate is enough to plan a quarterly payment or decide how much of a freelance check to set aside. It is not a substitute for a CPA when your situation gets complex — multiple states, an S-corp, large equipment purchases, or a mixed W-2/1099 household. When in doubt, use the number here as a starting point and confirm it with a tax professional. See our terms of use for the full disclaimer.
Questions or corrections?
If a number looks wrong or a guide is unclear, tell us — accuracy matters more than word count here. Get in touch.