Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 02, Self-Employment Tax and Schedule SE

Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 02, Self-Employment Tax and Schedule SE

From Finance Exam Prep by Ran Chen, EA, CFP®

April 29, 2026 · 4 min

About this episode

In this episode, Ran Chen discusses the intricacies of self-employment tax and how to calculate it effectively.

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - How to properly calculate the base for self-employment tax by first applying the 92.35% multiplier to net earnings. - The breakdown of the 15.3% SE tax rate into its 12.4% Social Security and 2.9% Medicare components. - How the Social Security wage base limit affects the tax calculation, especially when a taxpayer has both W-2 wages and self-employment income. - The income thresholds and rules for the Additional 0.9% Medicare Tax. - The correct placement of the deduction for one-half of self-employment tax as an above-the-line adjustment to income. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

People in this episode

Host: Ran Chen

Topics covered

  • self-employment tax
  • Schedule SE
  • tax calculation
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • Additional Medicare Tax

Keywords

  • self-employment tax
  • Schedule SE
  • Social Security
  • Medicare
  • tax calculation
  • Additional Medicare Tax
  • tax deduction

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Open Exam Prep, YouTube Channel

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