Disclaimer

Last updated 5 August 2026

1. We are not your adviser

LocumPayLab is an independent publisher. We are not a certified public accountant, an enrolled agent, a tax preparer, an attorney, a financial adviser, an insurance broker or agent, or a staffing agency. Reading this site, using the calculator or emailing us does not create a professional, advisory or fiduciary relationship, and no communication from us should be treated as advice on which you may rely.

2. Why this matters more here than on most websites

Independent contractor taxation turns on facts-and-circumstances tests. Whether your travel is deductible depends on whether you maintain a qualifying tax home and whether each assignment is temporary. What constitutes reasonable compensation in an S-corporation depends on your specialty, market, hours and the nature of the services performed. Whether an entity election helps at all depends on the states you work in. Two clinicians with identical day rates can have entirely different correct answers.

The consequences of getting it wrong are not theoretical. Distributions reclassified as wages bring back payroll tax, interest and penalties across multiple years. Underpaid estimated tax accrues interest quarter by quarter. Travel deductions denied for want of a tax home are assessed years later, when the money is long spent. That is why every page here points you toward a professional rather than pretending the internet can settle it.

3. What the calculator does

The calculator applies published 2026 tax parameters to figures you type in. Specifically it applies:

• self-employment tax under IRC §§ 1401–1402: 12.4% Social Security on 92.35% of net profit up to the $184,500 contribution and benefit base, 2.9% Medicare with no ceiling, and the 0.9% Additional Medicare Tax above $200,000 (single/HOH) or $250,000 (joint);
• the deduction for one-half of self-employment tax under IRC § 164(f), excluding the Additional Medicare Tax;
• the self-employed health insurance deduction and a retirement plan deduction, both above the line, capped at earned income;
• the § 199A qualified business income deduction, treating medicine as a specified service trade or business — which for 2026 means it phases out between $201,775 and $276,775 of taxable income (single/HOH) and between $403,550 and $553,550 (joint);
• federal income tax using the 2026 brackets and standard deduction from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32;
• state income tax using each state's published 2026 single-filer brackets, standard deduction, personal exemption and personal credit, applied to federal AGI;
• an optional local tax rate that you supply, applied to net profit;
• the 50% limit on business meals under IRC § 274(n), tracking cash spent separately from the deduction;
• for the S-corporation scenario: employee and employer FICA on the salary you set, FUTA, and the running costs you enter, with the remaining distribution passing through free of payroll tax.

It annualises over the number of weeks you say you work, so the marginal bracket is realistic, and scales the result back to your contract by revenue share.

4. What the calculator does not do

This list is not exhaustive, but these are the omissions most likely to move your real number:

• Tax credits and itemised deductions. None are applied.
• Other household income. A spouse's earnings, investment income or a second business will change your bracket. There is a field for your own other W-2 wages; there is none for anyone else's.
• Multi-state apportionment and nonresident returns. Self-employment income is sourced to where the work is performed, and a locum commonly files several returns with a resident-state credit. The tool estimates one state.
• State gross receipts and franchise taxes. Washington's B&O tax, Hawaii's General Excise Tax, New Mexico's Gross Receipts Tax, DC's Unincorporated Business Franchise Tax, Texas's margin tax and New Hampshire's Business Profits and Business Enterprise Taxes all reach independent contractors and are not modelled. Notes are shown for the affected states.
• State pass-through entity taxes and S-corporation entity-level taxes. Flagged in the S-corp section as a note, not computed.
• The 2% shareholder health insurance rule. An S-corporation must run a more-than-2% shareholder's health premiums through payroll, which increases Medicare wages. Not modelled.
• State filing status. State tax is estimated using single-filer parameters for every state, regardless of the federal filing status you select.
• State-specific mechanics. Deduction and exemption phase-outs, Oregon's federal tax subtraction, Ohio's business income deduction, Pennsylvania's and New Jersey's disallowance of the half-SE-tax deduction, Connecticut's benefit recapture and similar rules are noted where relevant but not modelled.
• Local income taxes beyond the optional manual field. Routine in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Maryland, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri and New York City.
• Depreciation, § 179 and bonus depreciation on equipment or a vehicle.
• The QBI minimum deduction introduced by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act is applied only while the business still qualifies. Whether a fully phased-out specified service business can claim it is unresolved, and assuming it can would be optimistic.
• Withholding. The output estimates tax owed for the year, not what any payer will withhold — for a 1099 contractor, nothing is withheld at all.

5. Estimates, not entitlements

Every output is an estimate. The warnings the tool raises are heuristics based on published rules and general practice. They are prompts to ask a question, not determinations that anything is improper, and their absence is not a clearance. In particular, there is no published percentage that makes an S-corporation salary safe; the standard is reasonable compensation for services actually performed, judged on the facts.

6. Sources and currency

We cite primary sources — the Internal Revenue Code, the IRS, the SSA, the GSA and state revenue departments — and date our figures. Tax law changes, per diem rates reset each 1 October, and states amend their schedules mid-year, often retroactively. Figures on this site were last reviewed on 5 August 2026. Every parameter driving the calculator is published in an openly readable file with its source cited inline, so you can check our arithmetic. Figures may have changed since. Always check the current published rate before relying on it.

7. No guarantee of results

Nothing here is a prediction or guarantee of earnings, assignments, tax treatment, agency behaviour, insurance cover or contract terms. Rates and contracts described in examples are illustrative and are not offers, market averages or benchmarks. We do not publish agency-sourced rate data.

8. Affiliate disclosure

Some links on this site are affiliate links. If you click one and buy something, we may receive a commission from the provider. You never pay more because of it. This disclosure is made in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission's Endorsement Guides and 16 CFR Part 255.

Specifically:

• Where they appear. Affiliate links appear only in clearly labelled placements — on the Resources page and in bordered, labelled boxes at the foot of related guides. They are never placed inside editorial paragraphs disguised as ordinary links, and every such placement carries a visible "Affiliate" label.
• Which categories. Four: medical malpractice and tail coverage; LLC, PLLC and S-corporation formation services; bookkeeping and 1099 accounting software; and own-occupation disability insurance.
• What we do not take. We take no referral fees, commissions or placement fees from locum tenens staffing agencies, and we publish no "recommended agency" lists. We do not sell sponsored articles, do not accept paid links inside editorial content, and do not allow any commercial partner to review content before publication.
• A commission is not a recommendation. We are not a broker, an insurance agent, a producer or an adviser. We do not place cover, we do not receive your application, and we do not know your circumstances. Where a category is covered, the guidance on this site is written around the criteria you should apply, precisely so that you can judge any provider — including ones we have no relationship with.
• Editorial independence. No commercial relationship changes what we publish. If our own analysis says a product category is usually not worth buying — as our S-corp analysis concludes for many readers — it says so, regardless of whether a partner sells that product.
• Display advertising. The site also carries display advertising served programmatically. We do not control which ads appear, and an advertisement is never an endorsement. See the privacy policy for how advertising cookies work.

If you would rather not use an affiliate link, every provider can be reached directly through a search engine, and the official sources listed on the Resources page are free and carry no commercial relationship at all.

9. Third-party content

The site links to external sources. We do not control or endorse third-party content, products, services or data practices. Any transaction with an advertiser, affiliate partner or linked site is at your own risk and is governed by that party's own terms.

10. How to get real advice

Look for a CPA or enrolled agent who works with independent physicians and 1099 clinicians specifically, and who can discuss reasonable compensation, multi-state filing and entity choice without needing the concepts explained to them. Ask how many independent clinicians they file for, and ask them to quantify the benefit of any structure they propose, net of every cost. The fee is small relative to the exposure, and the right time to engage one is before your first contract, not after a notice arrives.

For contract terms, restrictive covenants or employment disputes, consult an attorney licensed in the relevant state. For insurance, use a licensed broker who can show you the actual policy wording.

11. Your responsibility

You are responsible for your own tax filings, business structure, insurance and financial decisions. By using this site you accept that any action you take based on it is at your own risk, and you agree to the terms of use, including their limitation of liability.