SelfEmployLab publishes free tax calculators and guides for freelancers, 1099 contractors and people with side income in the United States. This page explains how that content is made.
Who writes the content
SelfEmployLab is written and edited by Thomas P., who builds the calculators and writes the guides. Thomas is not a CPA, enrolled agent or attorney, and SelfEmployLab is not a tax preparer or advisory firm. Everything on the site is general, educational information about how US tax rules work. It is not tax, legal or financial advice for your situation.
Where our figures come from
Tax rates, wage bases, thresholds, deductions and due dates come from primary sources:
- The IRS: revenue procedures (for 2026, Rev. Proc. 2025-32 sets the brackets and standard deduction), publications, forms and their instructions, such as Schedule SE, Form 1040-ES, Publication 505 and Publication 587.
- The Social Security Administration, for the Social Security wage base ($184,500 for 2026).
- Each state’s revenue department and legislature: tax forms and instructions, withholding formulas, estimated tax instructions and enacted bills.
We don’t take figures from other blogs. A secondary compilation, such as the Tax Foundation’s annual table of state rates, can be a useful starting point or cross-check, but a figure isn’t used until it has been confirmed against the government source.
Each calculator and guide lists the sources it relies on in a Sources box at the end of the page, with links, and calculator pages also name the main document the figures were checked against.
How pages are checked and updated
- Worked examples are checked against the calculators. Every worked example on the site is checked by hand against the calculator that goes with it, so the numbers in the text match what the tool gives you.
- Tax-year updates. The IRS publishes inflation adjustments for the coming year each fall. When it does, we add the new figures to the calculators and update the guides that quote them. While two years are loaded, the calculators show a year switch so you can see either year.
- Mid-year changes. When a state changes its law during the year, we update the pages it affects.
- Dates you can see. Every guide and calculator page shows an “Updated” date, which changes whenever the page is revised.
- Estimates are labeled. When an official figure hasn’t been published yet, we say so on the page and replace it when it is.
Corrections
If you find a mistake, a broken source link or an out-of-date figure, email [email protected]. Include the page and, if you can, the source that shows the correct figure. We check the report against the primary source and, if we got it wrong, fix the page and any calculator or example that depends on it.
Independence, advertising and affiliate links
SelfEmployLab is free to use and is supported by advertising. Ad units are labeled “Advertisement” and are kept separate from the calculators and article text.
Some pages also include an affiliate recommendation. At the moment there is one: Keeper, an expense-tracking and tax-filing app. Each one appears in a box labeled “affiliate link,” and the link is marked as sponsored. If you sign up through it, we may earn a commission at no cost to you.
Advertising and affiliate relationships never change our numbers. The calculators run the same math whether or not a page carries an offer, and no company pays to be included in a guide.
Use of AI and software tools
We use software tools, including AI writing assistants, to help draft and edit some text and to help build and test the calculators. They are not a source. Every figure, rate and threshold is checked against the primary source cited on the page before it is published, and a tool’s output is never treated as a fact on its own.
What we don’t do
- We don’t give individual tax advice or answer questions about your specific return.
- We don’t prepare or file returns.
- We don’t ask for your tax documents. The calculators run in your browser on the numbers you type in.
For decisions about your own taxes, talk to a CPA or enrolled agent. See our Disclaimer, and How Our Calculators Work for the math behind each tool.