Calculators

S-corp or sole proprietor, for 2026.

Both paths from the same net profit: self-employment tax against payroll tax on a salary, income tax on each, what the S-corp costs to run, and the salary where the two come out even. The same arithmetic the app runs on a real ledger.

Your situation

Nothing typed here leaves your browser. Both paths recompute as you type.

Filing statusState

Expected net profit from the businessThis year, after expenses and before any salary. What Schedule C would show.Other W-2 wagesFrom a job or another entity. They fill the brackets and use up the Social Security wage base first.Other ordinary incomeA K-1 share, interest, rental. No payroll tax on this on either path.

The salary the S-corp would pay youDefaults to 60% of net profit, a common starting point, not a rule. The IRS expects a reasonable wage for the work; the rest is a distribution.

What an S-corp costs to run

Payroll service, a yearRunning one salary through a payroll provider.The extra returnPreparing the 1120-S the S-corp files on top of your own.State entity tax or feeModelled for California from the statute; zero elsewhere unless you know yours.

Side by side, 2026

Type your expected profit to see what the election would save.

What this does not model

The 2% shareholder health insurance treatment for a working S-corp owner.
How a retirement plan interacts with a lower W-2 wage base.
State unemployment insurance, which is left out until you choose a state (only the federal FUTA is in the added costs), and any other state payroll tax on the salary.
The Social Security benefit effect of taking a lower wage now.

Arithmetic over the figures you typed, not advice to elect. An S-corp brings payroll, a second return and state filings; talk to an accountant before you file Form 2553.

On your real books

Contha runs this from your actual Schedule C.

Connected accounts instead of typed guesses, and the comparison kept current through the year from the profit your books actually show. On Business, $10 a month.

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