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Freelance rate fairness checker

Enter the net income you want to keep, a tax rate you choose, overhead, and the time you expect to bill. The checker returns the gross hourly rate that covers those inputs. It is a planning estimate, not a quote or tax advice.

This rate is your own allowance for income tax and self-employment tax together. The IRS does not publish one combined freelance rate to drop in here.

How the rate is built

Annual overhead is the monthly figure times 12. Gross income is desired net income plus that overhead, divided by one minus the tax rate you entered. The tax line is that gross amount times your rate. It is not a lookup from a tax table.

Working weeks are 52 minus vacation weeks. Working days are those weeks times the days you work each week, minus sick days. Each working day is treated as 8 hours. Billable hours are working days times 8 times the billable share. The hourly rate is gross income divided by billable hours.

Worked example

The form opens on this example. Desired net income is $75,000. The tax rate is 30 percent. Monthly overhead is $500, so annual overhead is $6,000. Gross income needed is $81,000 divided by 0.70, or $115,714. Tax at 30 percent of that gross is $34,714.

Vacation is 4 weeks, so 48 weeks remain. At 5 days a week that is 240 days, and 5 sick days leave 235 working days. At 8 hours and a 70 percent billable share, billable hours are 1,316. The hourly rate is $115,714 divided by 1,316, or about $88.

Questions

What does the hourly figure mean?

It is the gross hourly rate that covers the net income you entered, the overhead you entered, and the tax rate you set, spread over the billable hours.

Is the tax rate an IRS figure?

No. You set the rate. It is a planning assumption for self-employment tax and income tax together, not a rate published by the IRS.

How are billable hours counted?

The checker uses 52 weeks, subtracts your vacation weeks, multiplies by the days you work each week, subtracts sick days, and then keeps the billable share of an 8-hour day.

Last updated .

Cite or link to this page

Link to https://testedprofit.com/Freelance%20Rate%20Fairness%20Checker/. The 2026 tax-loss estimate and the tools page are separate.