For freelancers, contractors, and 1099 workers
Stop guessing what
to set aside for taxes.
No employer is withholding anything for you. So you pick a percentage, hope it’s enough, and find out in April. We read your actual deposits and calculate the real number — self-employment tax, federal, and state — updated every time you get paid.
- Read-only bank connection
- We never see your login
- No money ever moves
Try it — this is the real calculator
- Self-employment tax$12,999
Social Security + Medicare, the part an employer would normally split with you
- Federal income tax$6,926
After the standard deduction and a $13,880 qualified business income deduction
- Colorado income tax$3,762
Estimated at your state's rate
Set aside this year
25.7% of what you bring in
That’s $3,912 of your own money parked for no reason.
2026 rates. Illustration on gross income before business expenses — an estimate to plan with, not tax advice. State figure is approximate ($3.8K at 4.40%).
How it works
Four steps, then it runs itself.
01
Connect your account, read-only
Plaid handles the login — we never see your bank credentials, and the connection can only read transactions. There is no path from here to your money.
02
We find your business income
Recurring client payments get flagged automatically. You confirm or correct each one in about a minute, so the number is built on income you recognise.
03
We calculate what you actually owe
Self-employment tax, the QBI deduction, federal brackets, your state's rate — the real 2026 math, not a percentage someone picked.
04
You get a number, and a nudge
One figure to set aside before the next quarterly deadline, plus an optional reminder a week out so it never arrives as a surprise.
The difference
Most apps have you guess a flat 25–30%.We calculate what you actually owe.
A flat percentage isn’t wrong by a consistent amount — it’s wrong unpredictably. It over-saves when your income is modest and your deductions are real, and it quietly under-saves right when you can least afford the shortfall.
Same three people, same 30% rule of thumb. Look at how differently it lands.
2026 rates, calculated on gross business income before expenses. State figures use a single rate per state and are rougher than the federal calculation, which is exact. Estimates for illustration, not tax advice.
Where this is going
We’ll tell you exactly what we do and don’t do yet.
Most tax tools are vague about where the software stops. Here’s the whole plan, including the parts we haven’t built.
- 01Live now
We calculate it
We read your real deposits and work out self-employment tax, federal brackets, the QBI deduction and your state's rate. Not a flat percentage — the actual math.
This is an estimate to help you plan. It's free while it's an estimate.
- 02Next
An accountant confirms it
A licensed accountant reviews your numbers alongside our system, so what you see stops being an estimate and starts being what you actually owe.
Not built yet. This is what we're working on next.
- 03The goal
It just happens
Your tax gets set aside and paid automatically as you get paid, and your return is filed for you. You stop thinking about tax altogether.
The goal. It needs a banking partner and real regulatory work to get there.
We’re at step one. Everything you see today is an estimate built to help you plan, not tax advice or a filing — and we’ll say so plainly on every number until an accountant is standing behind it.
What we don’t do
The safest way to handle your money is to never touch it.
We never see your bank login
Plaid handles authentication directly with your bank. Your credentials never touch our servers, and we couldn't store them if we wanted to.
The connection is read-only
We pull transaction history. That's it. There is no transfer capability in this product — not disabled, not built.
Your money stays where it is
We don't hold funds, move funds, or open an account for you. You keep your money in your bank and pay the IRS yourself.
Your data isn't for sale
Transaction data is used to calculate your estimate and nothing else. We don't sell it, and we don't share it with advertisers.
Find out what you actually owe.
Connect an account, confirm your income in a minute, and see a real number for the next quarterly deadline.