Self-employment tax isn’t one decision — it’s a dozen connected ones. See them solved together, and the moves you can make this year.
Salary and distributions, retirement contributions, the health-insurance deduction, estimated payments, the QBI and ACA thresholds — for the self-employed, they all interact. Enter your situation and our financial engine resolves them together — including which moves lower your tax before the year closes.
Early access this fall 2026. One list, one note when it opens. No spam.
QBI deduction kept · reasonable-comp set · penalty-safe
Illustrative — an example S-corp consultant near the QBI phase-out. Your own situation and numbers set the real plan.
Start with the situation that fits you.
ACA Subsidy Cliff
Recover the premium subsidy the 400% FPL cliff wipes out.
up to ~$19–33k / yr near the cliffLive soonQBI Phase-Out
Restore the 20% deduction the SSTB phase-out quietly erodes.
~$10k+ for SSTB owners in rangeFreelance Tax Setup
SE tax, estimated payments, and contributions, dialed in for the year.
stop over/under-paying the IRSS-Corp Election
Should you elect S-corp? See the real breakeven for your income.
FICA vs. filing-cost tradeoffRetirement Vehicles
SEP vs. Solo 401(k) vs. Cash Balance — with the limit math done right.
including stacked plansW-2 + Side Business
The interactions between a day job and a side gig, resolved together.
shared 401(k) limits, SE tax＋ Start from scratch
The full engine — build any scenario, no template. For when you already know what you want to model.
the advanced way inStart with self-employment. Underneath is a financial engine built to span your whole picture, not just tax — retirement accounts, property, and equity compensation all belong in the same model, and situations for each are on the way. You’ll never be handed a blank canvas; every situation opens on a worked example.
Model your situation.
A planning tool built on a financial engine. The pieces of your situation pull on each other, so lumsyl models them together from your real numbers — the interactions most calculators miss (deductions ↔ MAGI ↔ subsidy ↔ QBI, all at once). See where you stand against the thresholds that cost you money, what it would take to clear each one, and what each move is worth.
Track your position through the year. With lumsyl you can see where you stand at any point in the year and the moves available to you — so when a strong quarter or a late invoice pushes you toward a threshold, you find out while you can still act on it, not at filing.
Starting with the self-employed — that’s where the thresholds bite hardest and where you can actually move your income: the ACA subsidy cliff, the QBI phase-out, estimated payments, retirement contributions.