Self-Employed vs Employee Calculator
Enter your salary, employer benefits and self-employed costs.
Self-employed income needed
β
Enter values above
Employment package value
β
Business and insurance costs
β
Self-employment tax
β
Extra gross required
β
Per working day
β
Worked example
With the default inputs shown below, this calculator returns the following results:
| Input | Value |
|---|---|
| Employment salary ($) | 90000 |
| Employer pension contribution ($) | 6000 |
| Employer health insurance ($) | 9000 |
| Self-employed business costs ($/year) | 12000 |
| Self-employed health insurance ($/year) | 9000 |
| Self-employment tax rate (%) | 15.3 |
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Self-employed income needed | $148,760 |
| Employment package value | $105,000 |
| Business and insurance costs | $21,000 |
| Self-employment tax | $22,760 |
| Extra gross required | $58,760 |
| Per working day | $391.30 |
Values shown are produced by this page in your browser; change any input to update them.
How to use the Self-Employed vs Employee Calculator
- Employment salary ($) β default 90000
- Employer pension contribution ($) β default 6000
- Employer health insurance ($) β default 9000
- Self-employed business costs ($/year) β default 12000
- Self-employed health insurance ($/year) β default 9000
- Self-employment tax rate (%) β default 15.3
- Press Calculate to update the results instantly.
Frequently asked questions
Because you fund your own pension, health cover, equipment and holidays, and you pay both halves of social security. A 30β40% gross uplift over salary is a normal starting point.
Employees receive both; contractors do not. If you plan four weeks off plus a week of sickness, your billable days fall to around 220 a year, which pressure-tests the day rate.
Yes β an employer contribution of 5β10% of salary is real money. If you would not fund a pension yourself, at least recognise the difference in the comparison.