Money & Taxes
Calculate take-home pay, taxes, and financial obligations. Comprehensive calculators for salary, self-employment tax, capital gains, sales tax, and VAT.
The gap between what your employer pays you and what hits your bank account on payday is wider than most people realize. For a $90,000 salary in California, roughly $26,000 a year is gone before you ever see it — federal income tax, state income tax, FICA, sometimes local tax stacked on top. Our Salary / Take-Home Calculator is the tool most people open first, because nobody actually memorizes seven tax brackets.
From there, the rest of this category splits into a few clusters.
If you're a W-2 employee, you're usually looking at the Paycheck Tax Withholding tool to adjust your W-4 (the current form is not intuitive, and most people get it wrong the first time), the Tax Bracket Finder to understand where your next dollar actually lands, and the Tax Refund / Balance Due Estimator before filing season. The Marginal vs Effective Tax Rate Visualizer settles the argument about what "being in the 32% bracket" really means — it doesn't mean 32% of everything.
If you're self-employed or freelance, the situation is different. Quarterly estimates, the 15.3% self-employment tax that W-2 workers forget exists, and which expenses you can actually deduct. The Self-Employed Quarterly Tax Planner and Freelancer Expense Deduction Estimator handle most of that day-to-day work, and the Self-Employed / 1099 Tax calculator gives you the annual view.
For investors, we cover Capital Gains Tax (which respects the 0/15/20% long-term brackets), a Capital Loss Harvesting Helper for year-end tax moves, and the Tax-Equivalent Yield Calculator for comparing municipal bonds to taxable bonds on the same footing.
Life events have their own tools. Got married last year? Tax Filing Status Comparison will show whether MFJ or MFS makes sense. Thinking about moving from California to Texas? State Tax Move Impact runs the actual numbers. Kids at home or in college? Child & Dependent Tax Credit Estimator. Lower-income households should run the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) Checker — the EITC is one of the most under-claimed credits in the country.
Retirement account decisions also show up here. Traditional vs Roth 401(k) / IRA Impact runs the tax math across decades. HSA vs FSA Tax Savings is worth checking during open enrollment — HSAs are usually the better deal if you qualify, but it depends on your plan structure. Social Security Payroll Tax Breakdown shows the employer-side cost that never appears on your paystub.
One caveat worth stating clearly: these are estimates built on current federal brackets and standard state rules. They don't know about your specific itemized deductions, your employer's match structure, or whether you had a weird K-1 this year. Use them to ballpark, then verify with a tax professional before you file anything real.
Money & Taxes Guide
What you can do in Money & Taxes
- •Convert your gross salary to actual take-home pay after federal, state, and local taxes
- •Estimate quarterly tax payments when you're self-employed or have 1099 income
- •Calculate capital gains taxes on stock sales, crypto, or real estate—short-term vs. long-term
- •Figure out sales tax or VAT amounts for purchases in different states or countries
- •Compare how filing status (single, married, head of household) affects your tax bill
- •See how HSA or FSA contributions reduce your taxable income
- •Estimate property tax based on assessed home value and local mill rates
- •Understand the difference between your marginal and effective tax rates
Accuracy, assumptions, and sources
- •Tax rates are based on current IRS brackets and state tax tables—results are estimates, not exact amounts.
- •Calculators assume standard deductions unless you enter itemized amounts.
- •Self-employment calculations include the 15.3% SE tax (Social Security + Medicare).
- •Capital gains rates depend on holding period and total income—we show both scenarios.
- •State tax calculations use published rates; local taxes may vary by city or county.
- •All results should be verified with a tax professional before filing.
Pick the right calculator fast
- If you want to know your actual paycheck amount→Salary / Take-Home Calculator
- If you freelance or have 1099 income→Self-Employed / 1099 Tax Calculator
- If you sold stocks, crypto, or property→Capital Gains Tax Calculator
- If you need to add sales tax or VAT to a purchase→Sales Tax / VAT Estimator
- If you're unsure which tax bracket you fall into→Tax Bracket Finder
- If you want to compare single vs. married filing→Tax Filing Status Comparison
- If you're choosing between traditional and Roth 401k/IRA→Traditional vs Roth 401k/IRA Impact
- If you have kids and want to estimate tax credits→Child & Dependent Tax Credit Estimator
Common mistakes to avoid
- •Confusing tax withholding (what's taken from your paycheck) with actual tax owed at year-end.
- •Forgetting to include self-employment tax when estimating 1099 income taxes.
- •Mixing up short-term gains (taxed as ordinary income) with long-term gains (lower rates).
- •Ignoring state and local taxes when calculating take-home pay.
- •Assuming your entire income is taxed at your highest bracket (only the portion above each threshold is).
- •Overlooking above-the-line deductions like HSA contributions or student loan interest.
- •Using last year's tax brackets—rates and thresholds change annually.
- •Forgetting that sales tax rates differ by state, county, and sometimes city.
Editorial policy
- ✓All calculators provide educational estimates, not professional financial, tax, or legal advice.
- ✓Results depend on the assumptions you enter—double-check your inputs.
- ✓Most tools work without sign-in. See our Privacy Policy for analytics, advertising, and cookie disclosures.
- ✓Formulas and key assumptions are disclosed in each tool.
- ✓Found an error? Email us at contact@everydaybudd.com and we'll fix it.
- ✓Tools are updated when tax laws, rates, or formulas change.