Tools · Calculator
What to set aside for tax
Every payment you get has somebody else’s money in it. Put in a typical payment and how many come in a month, and you’ll see what to move aside each time and what’s yours to spend.
It starts at 25%, and your own return tells you better. The sums run in your browser and nothing is stored.
From each payment
Over a month
Find your own rate
If you’ve filed a return before, last year’s tax as a share of last year’s profit is a better number than any starting point.
Questions
How much should you set aside for tax when you work alone?
A share of every payment, decided before the money lands. 25% is where a new WorkWith practice starts. Your own rate depends on where you live, what else you earn and what you can deduct, and last year’s return is the best guide to it.
Why a share of each payment, and not a sum at the end of the year?
Because the bill arrives after the money has been spent. Counting the tax out of each payment as it comes in means the money is there when the bill is, and a good month doesn’t feel better than it was.
Where should the money go?
Somewhere you won’t spend it by accident. A second account at your bank, moved on the day you’re paid, is the usual answer. Nothing here moves money for you.
Is the rate the same in the US and the UK?
No. The tax, the thresholds and the payment dates are all different, and they change from year to year. The arithmetic here is the same in both; the percentage is the part to get right for where you work.
This is arithmetic, not tax advice. An accountant who knows your year will give you a better rate than any calculator.
Or see it every month without typing
On WorkWith, Money shows what you were paid this month and, under it, take-home with your set-aside counted out. Change the percentage where it’s shown. It’s arithmetic: your money goes from your client to your bank, and we never hold it.
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