Wyoming Self-Employment Tax Calculator (2026)
Federal self-employment tax, federal income tax and how much to set aside for each estimated payment on 1099 income earned in Wyoming, which has no personal income tax. Business, sales, local and entity-level taxes are outside the calculator and are described below.
Federal 2026 data checked against the official publications, last on 2026-09-05 Runs in your browser — nothing you type is sent anywhere, not even when you reload or share the link No sign-up Methodology and data status
- Total tax
- $14,803
- Effective rate
- 20.6%
- Set aside per quarter
- $3,701
- After-tax income
- $57,197
| Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Net profit (income − expenses) | $72,000 |
| Self-employment tax | $10,173 |
| Social Security (12.4%) | $8,245 |
| Medicare (2.9%) | $1,928 |
| Federal income tax | $4,630 |
| Adjusted gross income | $66,913 |
| Standard deduction | −$16,100 |
| Qualified business income deduction (20%) | −$10,163 |
| Taxable income · marginal rate 12.0% | $40,651 |
| Wyoming income tax | None |
| Total federal + state | $14,803 |
Amounts to set aside, not bills: federal $3,701 for each Form 1040-ES installment (Apr 15, Jun 15, Sep 15, Jan 15). For the safe-harbor amount and payments you have already made, use the quarterly calculator with these inputs.
Wyoming and self-employment income
Wyoming has no personal or corporate income tax. A self-employed person in Wyoming pays federal self-employment and income tax only, and files no state return on business profit.
Wyoming at a glance, for a one-person business
| Stands in for an income tax | Nothing at state level |
|---|---|
| Where it starts | Not applicable |
| Are freelance services taxable? | No for design, writing, consulting and code. Yes for photography, which the Department's rules tax directly |
| State licence | Sales tax licence, $60 once, only if you sell taxable goods, photography or digital products |
| What a sole proprietor files | Nothing; an LLC files an annual report with a $60 minimum licence tax |
None of this is income tax, so none of it is in the calculator above. The same five rows for all 9 states without an income tax sets Wyoming against the rest.
What a Wyoming freelancer may still owe
- Wyoming taxes a short, closed list of services: rentals of tangible property, intrastate telecommunications, intrastate passenger transport, utilities, prepared meals, lodging, admissions, repair or alteration of tangible property, oil and gas well services, and a few others. Design, writing, consulting and software development are not on it.
- Photography is the exception the general rule hides. The Department of Revenue's own regulation taxes the sales price paid for photographs, photography, photo developing and printing. Delivering images on a disc or a drive is the clearest case, and a separately stated sitting fee is not a way around it when photographs are sold.
- Specified digital products are taxable when the buyer has permanent use, but the statutory definition covers exactly three things: digital audio-visual works, digital audio works and digital books. A downloadable photo gallery or a delivered design file is not one of them. A downloadable film, an audio track or an ebook is.
- The sales tax licence is a one-off $60 per place of business and stays valid until the department revokes it. Reporting no gross sales for three consecutive years can trigger a revocation notice, which matters for a licence kept open for occasional work.
- An LLC or corporation files an annual report with the Secretary of State and pays a licence tax based on Wyoming assets, with a $60 minimum. A sole proprietorship files neither.
Wyoming business obligations last read against the agency's own pages on 2026-09-09: W.S. title 39 ch. 15: taxable services, digital products, licence fee, 011-2 Wyo. Code R. § 2-12, the photography rule, Wyoming excise tax FAQs. These are outside the calculator; it computes income tax only.
Where the impression of motion decides the tax
A Cheyenne videographer and a Cheyenne photographer, each billing $90,000, are not treated alike. A wedding film delivered as a permanent download is a digital audio-visual work, a series of images imparting an impression of motion, and is taxable on that basis. Still photographs are not: the statutory list of specified digital products runs to audio-visual works, audio works and books, and stops. That does not leave the photographer clear, because the Department's rules tax photography directly instead, whichever way the images are delivered. A designer or a developer billing the same $90,000 is caught by neither route. The short list of taxable services is the rule most people learn; photography is the exception sitting underneath it.
How the federal part is worked out
Net profit is 1099 income less business expenses (Schedule C). Self-employment tax is 15.3% of 92.35% of that profit — 12.4% Social Security up to $184,500 of combined wages and earnings, 2.9% Medicare on all of it. Half of that tax, the $16,100 standard deduction ($32,200 joint) and the 20% qualified business income deduction come off before the 2026 brackets are applied; the child tax credit and the earned income credit then reduce what is left, and the refundable parts can offset self-employment tax. The methodology page sets out the full sequence and every rule the calculator leaves out.
Quarterly estimated tax deadlines (2026)
If you expect to owe $1,000 or more of federal tax for the year, the IRS expects four estimated payments (Form 1040-ES). Because Wyoming has no income tax, there is no separate state estimate to make.
The 2026 dates are April 15, 2026, June 15, 2026, September 15, 2026, January 15, 2027. The federal amount is split into four equal Form 1040-ES installments after any withholding you entered; paying 100% of last year's tax instead (110% above $150,000 of prior-year AGI) also avoids the penalty. The quarterly calculator works that out and subtracts what you have already paid, and the guide to the due dates explains the rule.
Common questions
Do I pay self-employment tax if Wyoming has no income tax?
Yes. Self-employment tax is a federal tax that funds Social Security and Medicare. It applies in every state regardless of state income tax.
Is half of self-employment tax really deductible?
Yes, for federal tax. The employer-equivalent half is an adjustment to income on Schedule 1, which lowers your AGI and therefore your federal income tax. It does not reduce the self-employment tax itself.
Does an LLC change these numbers?
For federal income tax and self-employment tax, a single-member LLC taxed as a sole proprietorship follows exactly the calculation shown here. State and local obligations can still differ: an LLC may be a taxable entity for a state's franchise, gross-receipts or excise tax, and may owe registration or licence fees a sole proprietor does not — Wyoming's are listed above. Electing S-corporation status changes the federal arithmetic too (salary plus distributions) and is outside this tool's scope.
What if I moved to Wyoming during the year?
Income earned while you were a resident of another state is taxable there under that state's rules. This calculator assumes all income was earned as a Wyoming resident.
Data sources and status
Federal figures for 2026: verified · last verified 2026-09-05 · the revenue procedures and forms they were read from, with every other data set
Wyoming Department of Revenue · How figures are checked · Corrections log
Other states
Comparing the states that skip the income tax altogether? What the 9 states with no individual income tax charge instead puts the gross-receipts taxes, sales tax treatment of services and licence fees side by side.
Paying as you go? The quarterly estimated tax calculator applies the federal safe harbor and subtracts what you have already paid.