S Corp Calculator
Put in your own numbers to compare your federal tax as a sole proprietor and as an S corp. A lot of quick S corp math stops at the Social Security and Medicare tax you’d save. This calculator also figures your income tax both ways and adds the yearly cost of running the S corp. In the article’s example, those two things cut the savings about in half.
For U.S. business owners filing single or married filing jointly. It uses 2026 federal numbers and doesn’t include state tax. It runs entirely in your browser, so nothing you enter is sent or saved.
If you’d like the full explanation first, read Should Your Business Be an S Corp in 2027?
Please check the following:
Your estimate
| Sole proprietor | S corp | |
|---|---|---|
| Social Security and Medicare tax | ||
| Federal income tax | ||
| Added yearly S corp costs | $0 | |
| Total |
Income tax in both columns includes the 20% qualified business income deduction, capped at 20% of taxable income.
- Sole proprietor: figured on your profit minus the deductible half of your self-employment tax.
- S corp: figured only on the profit left after your salary, the S corp’s half of payroll tax, and the added costs.
The income tax lines include tax on the W-2 wages you entered. I left out the Social Security and Medicare tax on those wages, since it’s the same either way.
Salary comparison, not a recommended salary
Your salary drives this whole comparison, so the table below runs it again at salaries apart.
| S corp salary | S corp vs. sole proprietor |
|---|
Your salary has to be reasonable. A lower one will make the numbers here look better, but the IRS expects it to be close to what you’d pay someone else to do your job. How to set a reasonable salary
Before you decide
This is a rough estimate based on what you entered, so please don’t treat it as a guarantee of savings. State taxes, retirement contributions, and health insurance can all change the result, sometimes by a lot.
If you want this run with your actual numbers, that’s part of my Tax Review. It comes as a written report with your next steps in order.
Request a tax review. Please don’t send tax documents through the website form.
At your income, the qualified business income deduction follows extra rules that depend on your type of business and the wages it pays. A quick estimate could be off in either direction, so this calculator doesn’t guess. A Tax Review runs this comparison with your actual numbers.
Request a tax review. Please don’t send tax documents through the website form.
What this calculator assumes
- 2026 federal tax brackets, standard deduction, and Social Security wage base. The 2027 numbers will be slightly different.
- Federal tax only. There’s no state or local tax in here, and a few places tax S corps differently.
- You file single or married filing jointly and take the standard deduction.
- No retirement contributions, health insurance, or other deductions and credits. No income other than the business and any W-2 wages you enter.
- The business earns the same profit either way. As an S corp, it pays your salary, its share of the payroll taxes, and the added costs you entered, and deducts all of it.
- The qualified business income deduction is 20%, capped at 20% of taxable income. As an S corp, it only counts the profit left after your salary. If your taxable income before that deduction is over $201,750 ($403,500 married filing jointly), more rules kick in, so the calculator won’t show a number.
- If you also have a W-2 job, your own Social Security tax stops once your wages and the business together reach $184,500 for 2026, and anything extra withheld comes back as a credit when you file. The S corp still pays its 6.2% on your full salary, even if your other wages are already over the limit. Your spouse’s wages don’t count toward your limit.
- Both columns include the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax on wages and self-employment earnings combined above $200,000 ($250,000 married filing jointly, counting both spouses).
- Everything is figured to the cent and rounded to the nearest $100 only for display, so the rows, totals, and difference may not add up exactly.
This calculator gives a general estimate of U.S. federal taxes, not advice for your situation. Tax rules change, state rules differ, and whether an S corp makes sense depends on your income, business, state, and other details.