Freelancer Tax Set-Aside Calculator
Enter your own set-aside percentage and your monthly or per-payment freelance income to get exact per-month set-aside amounts, a quarterly accumulation view with your own due dates, and year-to-date totals -- all to the penny. Nothing is collected, stored, or sent anywhere; every calculation happens right here in your browser.
Not Tax Advice
This calculator is an organizational tool only and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice — consult a licensed tax professional for your specific situation.
Your numbers
Your set-aside plan
Enter your own set-aside percentage above (ask your CPA) to see calculated set-aside amounts below.
Per-month set-aside
No income entries yet -- add one above to see your monthly set-aside amounts.
| Month | Income | Set aside |
|---|
Quarterly accumulation
Fill in your own due date for each quarter -- these are never pre-filled. "Accumulated" is the running total from the start of the tax year through that quarter.
No income entries yet -- add one above to see the quarterly view.
| Quarter | Income | This quarter | Accumulated | Your due date (fill in) |
|---|
Year totals
No income entries yet -- add one above to see year totals.
| Year | Income | Set aside |
|---|
How these numbers are calculated
Each month's set-aside is your entered income for that month multiplied by your own entered percentage, rounded once to the nearest cent -- never a fractional penny. When a month has more than one income entry (say, two client payments), that month's cent-exact total is split back across the individual entries using largest-remainder rounding, the same method this calculator's sibling tools use for splitting dollars -- so each payment's own set-aside amount always adds up to exactly the month's total, never a cent short or over. Quarters group calendar months (Jan–Mar, Apr–Jun, Jul–Sep, Oct–Dec) and simply add up their months' already cent-exact totals; the "accumulated" column is a running sum of quarters within the same calendar year, resetting to zero at the start of each new year. Nothing here is rounded to the nearest dollar at any step.
Freelancer tax set-aside FAQ
Why doesn't this calculator suggest a set-aside percentage for me?
There is no single number that fits every freelancer -- your right set-aside percentage depends on your total income, filing status, deductions, other household income, and which state you're in, among other things. A number that's right for one person's situation can be badly wrong for someone else's. So this tool asks you to bring your own percentage, from a CPA, your tax software's estimate, or your own prior-year effective rate, and it only handles the arithmetic from there.
How do I figure out my own set-aside percentage?
The most reliable way is to ask a licensed tax professional who knows your full financial picture, or to run your numbers through tax software's estimated-tax worksheet. If you've filed as a freelancer before, your prior year's actual total tax divided by your prior year's income is often a reasonable starting estimate for a similar income level -- but check it against your current year's numbers, since income, deductions, and tax law can all change year to year.
What if my freelance income varies a lot month to month?
That's exactly what this calculator is built for -- add one income entry per payment or per month, whatever matches how you actually get paid, including more than one entry in the same month for multiple clients or invoices. Each month's set-aside is calculated from that month's real total, and the plan updates automatically as you add, edit, or remove entries.
Why are the quarterly due-date fields blank instead of filled in?
Estimated-tax due dates shift slightly most years around weekends and federal holidays, and printing a specific date risks being wrong or out of date. Look up the current year's exact dates at IRS.gov (or your own country's tax authority if you're outside the US), then type them into the date fields yourself -- the calculator will still total up what you should have accumulated by each date you enter.
What does the "accumulated" total in the quarterly view mean?
It's a running total of your set-aside amount from the start of the tax year through the end of that quarter -- so the Q2 accumulated figure includes Q1's set-aside plus Q2's, not just Q2 alone. That running total is what you'd want on hand by each quarterly due date if you're paying estimated taxes quarterly. It resets to zero at the start of each new calendar year, since estimated-tax accumulation is tracked per tax year.
Is this calculator a substitute for a tax professional?
No. This is an organizational tool only -- it multiplies the percentage you provide by the income you enter and adds up the results in exact cents. It does not calculate your actual tax liability, does not know your deductions or filing status, and does not constitute tax, legal, or financial advice. Confirm your specific situation with a licensed tax professional.
Want more than a calculator?
This tool covers the set-aside math. These two go further, if you want them.
Printable · $6 instant download · Coming soon
Freelancer Quarterly Tax & Cash Flow Planner
The full 8-page system: a quarterly due-date and set-aside tracker (every rate field left blank for you to fill in), a monthly invoice and payment log, a cash-flow overview, a deductible-expense log by category, a mileage and home-office log, and a year-end prep checklist. Organizational only -- not tax advice.
In the worksSpreadsheet · $25 instant download
Etsy Shop Profit and Tax Estimator
Running an Etsy shop instead of (or alongside) freelance client work? This 5-tab Excel/Google Sheets workbook breaks out every Etsy fee, calculates real monthly net profit, and estimates your quarterly self-employment tax set-aside from your own shop numbers.
View on Etsy →