Who Must Pay Self-Employment Tax?

You must pay self-employment tax and file Schedule SE (Form 1040) if either of the following applies.

• Your net earnings from self-employment (excluding church employee income) were $400 or more.
• You had church employee income of $108.28 or more.

Generally, your net earnings from self-employment are subject to self-employment tax.  If you are self-employed as a sole proprietor or independent contractor, you generally use Schedule C or C-EZ to figure net earnings from self-employment.

If you have earnings subject to self-employment tax, use Schedule SE to figure your net earnings from self-employment.  Before you figure your net earnings, you generally need to figure your total earnings subject to self-employment tax.