Self employment tax is the payment of Social Security and Medicare taxes for those having more than $400.00 of self employment income per year. The self employment tax is in addition to any income tax the self employed individual may owe. Just as employees must have a percentage of their gross income withheld to pay their Social Security and Medicare taxes, a self employed taxpayer must pay Social Security and Medicare taxes also. For the calendar year 2011, the Social Security tax is 10.4%, plus 2.9% for Medicare taxes. Since there is no employer to pay _ of the tax, the self employed individual must pay the entire amount. Any self employment income above $106,800 is not subject to self employment tax. The tax is calculated and reported on Schedule SE. However, the individual must first complete Schedule C Profit or Loss from Business, or other appropriate schedule to report self employment income. The gross amount of self employment income is not taxed, as the taxpayer may have deductions that reduce gross self employment income. These deductions may be vehicle expenses, utilities, meals and entertainment, depreciation of equipment, professional fees and licenses, etc. If the business has a net loss, no self employment tax will be owed. Interest, dividends, rents and royalties are not subject to the self employment tax. Capital gains are not subject to the tax either. Self employment tax must be paid even if the individual is receiving Social Security retirement benefits. Once the net profit or loss is calculated, profit is reported on Schedule SE. Only 92.35% is used to calculate the self employment tax. After that is deducted, 13.3% of that amount is what is owed for the self employment tax. The IRS provides a deduction equal to _ of the self employment tax owed. This deduction may be used whether or not the taxpayer itemizes deductions or uses the standard deduction. The tax is paid with income taxes owed. Self employment tax must be paid even if the individual is receiving Social Security retirement benefits. If the taxpayer expects to owe more than $1,000 for taxes, including the self employment tax, they must estimate their tax obligation and make payments to the IRS four times per year. Many self employed individuals are required to make estimated tax payments. The estimate should be based on income tax and self employment tax together.