TallyUp

Tax-Season Kit

A filing season on freelance income, in working order: gather and estimate the position, split it into quarterly payments, check the deadlines, work the deductions, and finish with the reference tables the return is checked against.

Last updated: October 27, 2026

For freelancers and other self-employed filers working through a filing season: this kit sequences the site's tax tools and IRS reference pages in working order — estimate the position first, split it into quarterly payments, check the deadlines those payments hang on, work the deductions that lower the profit both taxes are computed on, and finish with the reference tables and the retirement lever. Every step already exists on TallyUp; the kit is the order.

The sequence

  1. Self-Employment Tax Estimator

    Enter your net self-employment income and state, and the estimator works out your 2026 self-employment tax, federal income tax, and state tax — and what to pay each quarter. This is the gather-and-estimate step: every later step in this kit is sized from the position it establishes.

    You walk away with: the year's full tax picture from one income figure, including the set-aside percentage that fits your income, filing status, and state.

    The math, explained: How to Calculate Self-Employment Tax walks through the 92.35% adjustment, the 15.3% rate, and the Social Security cap step by step.

  2. Quarterly Estimated Tax Calculator

    Enter the self-employment income you expect for 2026 and the calculator splits the expected annual tax into the four quarterly payments — it subtracts withholding already covered before dividing what remains. Use it to turn the step-1 estimate into the payment schedule the IRS actually collects on.

    You walk away with: four concrete quarterly payment amounts, each tied to its due date.

  3. Estimated Tax Deadlines — 2026 & 2027

    Every quarterly due date for tax years 2026 and 2027 on one evergreen page, with the weekend and District of Columbia holiday shifts already applied, a countdown to the next deadline, and a downloadable calendar file. The page also explains the annualized installment method for uneven income and the safe harbor for how much is enough.

    You walk away with: the four due dates on your calendar, checked against the shifted dates — not the unshifted ones a memory of last year would give you.

  4. 1099 vs W-2 Calculator

    If any part of the year was — or is about to become — a choice between contract and staff work, this calculator compares a contract offer against a salary on total value: after taxes, benefits, and the costs you would fund yourself, plus the contract rate you would need just to tie. Run it before the filing position is final, because the answer changes what the income is worth.

    You walk away with: a total-value comparison of the two offers and the break-even contract rate that ties them.

    The comparison, explained: How to Compare a 1099 vs W-2 Offer puts both offers through the same tax engine and adds back the benefits a salary hides.

  5. Mileage Deduction Calculator

    The IRS changed the mileage rate mid-year in 2026, so the deduction is two multiplications: enter your business miles for each half of the year and the calculator applies the split rates — 72.5¢ for January–June and 76¢ for July–December — and shows what the deduction is worth in tax savings. The page also sets out the log the IRS expects the deduction to stand on.

    You walk away with: your 2026 mileage deduction figure, with the record it depends on made explicit.

    Background: How the 2026 Mileage Deduction Works covers who qualifies and how the split year is figured, and the Standard Mileage Rates archive tables every IRS rate period from 2000 to 2026, each with its source.

  6. Home Office Deduction Calculator

    Enter your office size for the IRS simplified figure — $5 a square foot, capped — then add your home's size and annual expenses for a regular-method estimate to compare against it. Both methods stand behind the same eligibility gate, which the page states before the numbers.

    You walk away with: both methods' figures side by side, so the deduction claimed is the larger one you qualify for.

    The gate and the methods, explained: How the Home Office Deduction Works sets out the eligibility test both methods share and a worked example of the comparison.

  7. Federal Tax Brackets & Standard Deduction — the file-time references

    The two reference tables the finished return is checked against. The brackets page gives every ceiling for every filing status — 2026 first, with the 2025 and 2024 tables archived below it, straight from the IRS Revenue Procedures. The standard deduction page gives the base amount for every filing status for 2026 back through 2023, plus the additional amounts for age 65 or older and blindness.

    You walk away with: the published figures to check the return against at their source, rather than a figure remembered or copied from a summary.

    The second table: Standard Deduction — 2026 Amounts & Prior-Year Archive. Both pages sit in the IRS Tax Data Hub alongside the mileage rates and deadlines used earlier in this kit.

  8. Solo 401(k) Calculator

    The last lever that still moves the year's income tax: pick your business type and the calculator shows your true 2026 maximum — employee deferral plus employer profit-sharing, with the worksheet steps shown. Contributions reduce your income tax, though not your self-employment tax.

    You walk away with: your maximum 2026 contribution room wearing both hats, employee and employer.

    The limits behind it: Solo 401(k) Contribution Limits for 2026 sets out the deferral, catch-up, employer, and overall limits, and why sole proprietors use 20%, not 25%.

You're done when…

…you hold a full estimate of the year's tax built from your own net profit, that estimate is split into four dated quarterly payments sitting on your calendar, the mileage and home-office deductions are figured from records rather than reconstructed, and the bracket and standard-deduction figures on the return have been checked against the published IRS tables. At that point the filing itself is transcription — the numbers were settled by the sequence, in order.

Estimates for planning only — not tax advice. The calculators in this kit provide estimates for planning purposes. The data pages reproduce figures published by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) in TallyUp's own words and layout; TallyUp is not published by, affiliated with, or endorsed by the IRS. Figures on the data pages are federal only. For decisions that affect your filings, talk to a qualified tax professional.

Frequently asked questions

Who is the Tax-Season Kit for?

Freelancers, independent contractors, and sole proprietors working through a filing season on self-employment income. The sequence assumes nobody withholds tax from your income — it starts by estimating the full self-employment and income tax position, splits that position into quarterly payments, and then works the deductions and reference figures the return stands on. If part of the year was W-2 employment, the kit still applies: withholding counts toward the same obligation, and step 4 compares contract and staff work on total value.

What if I am starting mid-season rather than at the beginning?

Start at the step that matches the work in front of you and continue down the list. The order matters most where one step's output is the next step's input: the quarterly split in step 2 is sized from the estimate in step 1, and the deductions in steps 5 and 6 lower the profit both taxes are computed on, so if your deductions are not yet figured, re-run the estimate after them. The deadlines page in step 3 covers both 2026 and 2027, so it is the right check at any point in the year.

My income arrives unevenly. Does the sequence still work?

Yes — the uneven case is built into the assets the kit links. The deadlines page explains the annualized income installment method, which sizes each quarterly payment from the income actually earned by that point in the year instead of splitting the year into four equal payments. The standard schedule divides the year's expected tax by four; the annualized method exists for income that does not arrive evenly, and the kit's step-3 page is where it is set out.

Are the figures in this kit federal or state?

Both appear, in different places. The Self-Employment Tax Estimator in step 1 estimates federal and state income tax alongside self-employment tax. The reference tables in steps 3 and 7 — deadlines, brackets, standard deduction, and mileage rates — are federal figures, each traced to the IRS document that published it; state brackets, deductions, rates, and deadlines differ and are not covered by those data pages.

Is this kit tax advice?

No. The kit sequences calculators, guides, and reference tables that provide estimates for planning purposes only; nothing in it is tax advice, and no step files or pays anything for you. The data pages name their IRS sources so any figure can be verified at irs.gov, and decisions that affect your filings belong with a qualified tax professional.