The typical job is generally thought of as a 9-to-5, with rules set by management, in a company's workplace. Gig workers comfortably work around this system by working on individual gigs. The term gig originates from the music industry, where independent artists picked up short-term performance jobs called gigs that could last from a few hours to a few days. It has since become a catch-all for short-term work. Gig workers are independent contractors, freelancers or self-employed individuals who are not bound by day-to-day corporate rules. They are part of the fast-emerging gig economy.

Key takeaways:

Quick links to gig worker tax calculators
SECA tax deadlines
Tools to save thousands of dollars and a ton of time on taxes

Because gig workers are independent workers, they have to pay and file their own taxes, whereas employees of corporations have taxes automatically deducted from their paychecks. Taxes are one of the biggest challenges of being a gig worker, but a gig worker tax calculator can help. A gig worker tax calculator lets you calculate your quarterly taxes, including business deductions and federal and state taxes.

Table of contents

What's the gig economy?...Read more

Do gig workers file taxes?...Read more

What are the different gig worker tax calculators?...Read more

What are gig worker taxes?...Read more

How to file taxes as a gig worker?...Read more

What's the gig economy?

The gig economy encapsulates a large number of independent workers who work on short-term temporary gigs. According to Pew Research, 8.5% of Americans worked as gig workers in 2022. Today, much of the gig economy is based around online apps like Uber and Fiverr that help workers and people looking to hire workers find each other for short-term tasks. Anyone can easily register on these apps, based on their aspirations and expertise, and start working and earning almost immediately. Quick tip: Find a tax tool that automates your tax filing process and does the important tax work for you - like finding tax deductions.

Do gig workers file taxes?

Like every other U.S. citizen, gig workers have to file taxes. The annual filing deadline for gig workers is the same as for every other taxpayer. Gig workers have to file taxes on or before the April 15 deadline. In addition to filing their taxes, gig workers need to calculate their quarterly tax payments and make payments to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) using e-File or paying by check.

Infographic entitled Quarterly Tax Payment Deadlines for Freelancers showing the estimated quarterly tax payment deadlines for self-employed individuals.

What are the different gig worker tax calculators?

Depending on the nature of your work, income and frequency of payments, you can use gig worker tax calculators to find your tax liability. These tax calculators will let you estimate your tax owed in minutes and with the minimum information.

Image showing the FlyFin tax 1099 calculator

Quarterly tax calculator: Use this gig worker tax calculator and fill in your basic income-related details, press Calculate; the tool will estimate your quarterly tax payment. Thanks to previous data trends, the calculator can tell you if you can save more on taxes, comparing your entries to those of people from similar professions. 1099 tax calculator: A 1099 worker can use this calculator to estimate annual taxes accurately. You can enter your 1099 income information and find the amount of total yearly taxes. Self-employed tax calculator: Because gig workers are responsible for their own taxes, they must pay the Self-Employed Contributions Act (SECA) tax. This covers Social Security and Medicare taxes. Gig workers must contribute 15.3% of their taxable income as SECA tax. Full-time W-2 employees pay half of this, while their employer pays the other half. Car & mileage calculator: If your gig work includes working as a delivery driver, you can deduct the cost of business miles from your taxable income. This calculator will ask questions like the number of miles you drive each year as part of your work and whether you own or lease the car. You'll get a fair estimation of the mileage deduction once you fill in the miles you've driven in the past year and the percentage of time you used the delivery vehicle for work and the value of the fuel used. Cryptocurrency tax calculator: The popularity of cryptocurrencies has attracted a lot of new traders. If you are one of them, this tax calculator can help you find the correct amount of taxes to pay on your crypto holdings. In addition, it gives you a precise amount of taxes for your long-term and short-term investments. Tax penalty calculator: You can have several reasons to file or pay your taxes late, but you'll still have to pay the penalty. There's a possibility for a tax extension, but late payment or underpayment of estimated taxes attracts a penalty. You can use this calculator to find your tax penalties.

What are gig worker taxes?

A gig worker files two types of taxes:

Income tax
Self-employment tax

Income tax is calculated using the tax rates applied to different income brackets. You can use an income bracket calculator to find your specific tax rate. Self-Employment Contributions Act (SECA) taxes are 15.3% of a freelancer's income. Of this, 12.4% is Social Security tax, and 2.9% is Medicare tax.

Infographic entitled What’s SECA Tax describing the self-employment tax breakdown that includes social security and medicare.

If Sara has an annual income of $79,000, she'll have to pay $12,087 in SECA taxes. She can deduct half of this amount from her income as a deduction. Sara's income falls in the $44,726 to $95,375 tax bracket and her tax rate is 22%. With this rate, Sara will have to pay an income tax of $7,540 plus a standard tax of $5,147 applicable for this bracket.

How to file taxes as a gig worker?

To file taxes, you can either use the IRS e-file method or file using the paper method. If you don't apply for an extension, the annual tax filing date is April 15. For the 2022 tax year, the deadline was April 18. If you filed for an extension for the 2022 tax year, the new deadline is October 16, 2023.

What’s FlyFin?

FlyFin caters to the tax needs of gig workers, freelancers, independent contractors and sole proprietors. This tax tool is especially helpful for gig workers, who don't have tax support from an employer like W-2 employees do. FlyFin tracks all your business expenses using A.I. to find every possible tax deduction. You can also consult our expert CPA team to file a guaranteed 100% accurate tax return. It saves you a couple of thousand dollars and a ton of time on your taxes. Download the FlyFin app and have your 1099 taxes filed in less than fifteen minutes, saving you time and more money on your taxes than last year, guaranteed.