Career & HR
Salary, tax & workplace calculators
Freelance Rate Calculator
Work out the day or hourly rate you must charge to hit your target take-home. Accurate, instant and free — for US · UK.
What these mean:
What these mean:
What these mean:
Sole-trader only — IR35 out of scope
To take home $80,000 after tax and expenses, charge $665/day ($83/hr) across 168 billable days.
Where it goes
- Take-home · 72%$80,000
- Tax · 21%$23,402
- Expenses · 7.5%$8,400
How your required freelance rate is calculated
The calculator works backwards from your target take-home: it finds the gross revenue at which your after-tax, after-expense net equals exactly your goal, then divides by your billable days. Because taxes are a function of gross income, simple addition does not work — the engine uses a bisection solver to converge on the exact gross within ±$0.01.
Required gross via reverse-solve
Binary search: gross s.t. net(gross) = target
Bisection converges in <60 iterations to within 1 cent
A direct formula is impossible because tax brackets are non-linear. The solver tries a gross, computes the exact net, adjusts, and repeats until convergence.
US: self-employment tax + QBI deduction
Schedule SE + Section 199A — 2026 parameters
SS capped at $184,500; QBI deduction = 20% of qualified net income
The 15.3% SE rate applies to 92.35% of net earnings (the 7.65% employer-share notional deduction). Half of SE tax is deductible above the line, further reducing federal income tax. The 20% QBI deduction applies unless you are an SSTB above the phase-out threshold ($276,775 single in 2026).
UK: income tax + Class 4 NI
Personal Allowance taper + England/Wales/Scotland bands
PA £12,570; tapers £2 per £1 above £100,000; Class 2 = £0 (voluntary)
The solver finds the profit (revenue minus expenses) that nets the target, then adds expenses back to get required gross revenue. Scotland uses separate income-tax bands (starter / basic / intermediate / higher / top); Class 4 NI is the same across the UK.
Billable days from working assumptions
Weeks × days/week × billable fraction
Default: 48 weeks × 5 days × 70% = 168 billable days/yr (US) or 161 billable days/yr (UK: 46 weeks × 5 × 70%)
A 70% billable fraction is a common planning figure: roughly 30% of working time goes to admin, business development, holidays, sick days, and between-contract gaps. Reducing this fraction raises your required day rate — fewer days must cover the same annual gross. Edit weeks, days/week, and billable fraction in the Assumptions panel.
$80,000 US target and £50,000 UK target — step by step
Filing status Single, Texas (no state income tax), $8,400 business expenses, 48 weeks × 5 days/week × 70% billable = 168 billable days, 8 hours/day.
- 1Billable days: 48 weeks × 5 days × 70% = 168 billable days.
- 2Reverse-solve gross (bisection): Find gross such that gross − $8,400 expenses − SE tax − federal tax = $80,000. The solver converges on $111,801.55 required gross revenue.
- 3SE tax on net 1099 income: Net SE income = $111,801.55 − $8,400 = $103,401.55; taxable SE base = $103,401.55 × 0.9235 ≈ $95,489; SE tax = $95,489 × 15.3% ≈ $14,610. Half ($7,305) is deductible above the line.
- 4Federal income tax (with QBI): Adjusted gross income ≈ $103,402 − $7,305 (½ SE) = $96,097; minus the $16,100 standard deduction (2026 Single) = $79,997 before QBI; QBI deduction = 20% × $79,997 = $15,999 (lesser-of rule); taxable income ≈ $63,997. Federal tax ≈ $8,791 (10/12/22% brackets, 2026 Single filing).
- 5Day rate and hourly rate: $111,801.55 ÷ 168 = $665.49/day; $665.49 ÷ 8 = $83.19/hr.
England/Wales income-tax bands, £4,800 business expenses, 46 weeks × 5 days/week × 70% billable = 161 billable days, 8 hours/day.
- 1Billable days: 46 weeks × 5 days × 70% = 161 billable days.
- 2Reverse-solve profit (bisection): Find profit such that profit − income tax − Class 4 NI = £50,000. The solver finds profit ≈ £66,704; required gross = profit + £4,800 expenses = £71,504.48.
- 3Income tax on profit: Personal Allowance £12,570 (untaxed); basic-rate band 20% × (£50,270 − £12,570) = £7,540; higher-rate 40% × (£66,704 − £50,270) = £6,574. Total income tax ≈ £14,114.
- 4Class 4 NI: 6% × (£50,270 − £12,570) = £2,262; 2% × (£66,704 − £50,270) = £329. Total Class 4 NI ≈ £2,591. Class 2 NI = £0 (voluntary, April 2024 reform).
- 5Day rate and hourly rate: £71,504.48 ÷ 161 = £444.13/day; £444.13 ÷ 8 = £55.52/hr.
Frequently asked questions
Start with your target take-home, add back the taxes you will owe (US: self-employment tax + federal/state income tax; UK: income tax + Class 4 NI), add business expenses, then divide by your billable days. Because taxes are a function of gross income, the calculator reverse-solves: it finds the gross revenue such that net(gross) = your target take-home, then divides by billable days. For a US sole trader targeting $80,000 net with 168 billable days and $8,400 expenses, the required day rate is $665.49.
Self-employment (SE) tax is the 15.3% Social Security and Medicare tax that covers both the employee and employer halves (12.4% SS capped at $184,500 net earnings in 2026, plus 2.9% Medicare uncapped). It is calculated on 92.35% of net self-employment earnings. You can deduct half of it above the line, and you may also take the 20% QBI deduction on your qualified net income. Together these deductions reduce your effective rate, but the gross revenue you must earn is significantly higher than your take-home target.
UK self-employed individuals pay Class 4 NI on profits: 6% on profits between £12,570 and £50,270, then 2% on profits above £50,270 (2026/27 rates). Class 2 NI became voluntary from April 2024 and costs £0 in cash. Income tax applies on top: 20% basic rate (£12,571–£50,270), 40% higher rate (£50,271–£125,140), with the Personal Allowance tapering above £100,000. A UK sole trader targeting £50,000 net with 161 billable days and £4,800 expenses needs a day rate of £444.13.
A billable fraction is the share of working days you can actually invoice a client — the rest goes to admin, business development, holidays, and downtime. A common planning figure is 70% (0.70). At 48 weeks × 5 days/week × 70%, that is 168 billable days per year. Reducing the fraction (e.g. to 60%) raises the required day rate because fewer days must cover the same gross revenue target.
No. This calculator models a straightforward sole-trader / Schedule C / self-employed path. IR35 (UK) and limited-company (Ltd) structures involve additional rules — corporation tax, salary vs dividend splits, and contractor status tests — that are outside the scope of this tool. If you operate through a limited company or fall inside IR35, the rates shown are estimates only. To see how an equivalent employed salary would look after tax, use the Take-Home Salary Calculator.
The benchmark bands (low / mid / high) come from Clockify 2026 freelance rate data (US) and YunoJuno 2026 rate benchmarks (UK), and represent typical market rates for developers, designers, writers, and consultants. They are indicative, not contractual — your actual market rate depends on experience, niche, location, and client type. The calculator shows where your required rate falls relative to the mid-market benchmark for your role.
Method, assumptions & references
Methodology note: US self-employment tax uses 15.3% on 92.35% of net earnings (Social Security capped at $184,500; Medicare uncapped). The 20% QBI deduction applies to non-SSTB income below the 2026 phase-out. UK Class 4 NI: 6% on profits £12,570–£50,270, 2% above; Class 2 is voluntary (£0). All rates are 2026 tax-year parameters. Day-rate benchmarks from Clockify (US) and YunoJuno (UK), updated annually. Worked-example figures are engine-computed exact values, not estimates.
Results are estimates for sole-trader / Schedule C filing
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