Self-Employed Tax Calculator — Georgia (2026)
Self-employed in Georgia? Your tax bill has three layers that a W-2 employee never sees in full: 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of net profit, federal income tax, and Georgia state income tax. This calculator applies all three to your 2026 net profit and shows the quarterly amount you should be setting aside. Georgia uses a flat personal income tax of 5.39% applied to taxable income after a state standard deduction of $12,000.
Georgia Self-Employed Tax Calculator
Gross 1099 income minus business expenses.
Self-employment tax vs Georgia income tax
Self-employment tax is federal and identical in all 50 states: 12.4% Social Security up to $184,500 of net earnings plus 2.9% Medicare with no cap. Half of it is deductible against income tax, which is why the calculator subtracts it before applying brackets.
Georgia then taxes essentially the same profit figure at 5.39%. On $80,000 of net profit that adds roughly $3,361 to the bill.
Georgia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Deductions that matter for Georgia freelancers
Net profit — not gross revenue — drives every number here. Ordinary and necessary business expenses reduce SE tax, federal tax, and Georgia tax simultaneously: the 2026 standard mileage rate of $0.67/mile, home-office square footage, software, equipment, professional insurance, and the self-employed health insurance deduction.
Retirement plans go further. A SEP-IRA or solo 401(k) reduces income tax (though not SE tax) and is often the largest single deduction available to a profitable logistics contractor in Atlanta.
Working for yourself in Georgia
Georgia's economy leans on logistics, film, and fintech, which shapes the contractor market around Atlanta — and your fixed costs. With one-bedroom rent near $1,650, a freelancer needs meaningfully more gross revenue than an employee to reach the same lifestyle, because there is no employer paying half of FICA.
Georgia switched from progressive brackets to a flat 5.39% income tax in 2026, with a plan to lower the rate by 0.10% each year through 2029.
Local and payroll taxes Georgia adds on top
Georgia adds no state-mandated employee payroll deduction beyond FICA, so nothing extra is taken from your gross pay at the state level.
Georgia has no separate city or county income tax, so the state figure above is the full sub-federal income tax you pay.
Nobody withholds these for you when you are self-employed in Georgia. Local wage taxes, city business licences and gross-receipts style levies are yours to register for and remit alongside your quarterly federal and state estimates.
Working across a state line from Georgia
Georgia has no income-tax reciprocity agreements, so if you live here and work across a state line you generally file a nonresident return in the work state and claim a credit at home to avoid double taxation.
Remote and hybrid work complicates this further: most states tax income where the work is physically performed, so a Atlanta resident spending part of the year at a client site in Florida may owe a nonresident return there. Keep a day-count log if you split time between states.
The rest of your Georgia tax bill
Georgia charges a 4% state sales tax, homeowners pay an average effective property tax of 0.9% of market value, and the minimum wage in force during 2026 is $7.25 an hour.
Local option taxes make about 7.4% the typical combined rate.
Income tax is only one part of a state's take. Georgia recovers revenue through sales and property tax as well, which is why headline income tax rates alone are a poor guide to how far a salary really goes. Georgia exempts Social Security and allows a retirement exclusion of $35,000 (62–64) or $65,000 (65+).
Georgia vs Florida on the same salary
On a $90,000 salary, a single filer keeps about $67,941 a year in Georgia against roughly $72,145 in Florida — a difference of $4,204, or $350 a month.
Effective combined rates are 24.5% in Georgia and 19.8% in Florida. Set that gap against living costs: index 91 here versus 102 there, with property tax at 0.9% and 0.82% respectively.
Georgia income tax brackets 2026 (single filer)
| Taxable income | Rate |
|---|---|
| $0 and up | 5.39% |