You just got paid. How much goes to taxes?

The most common first-year mistake: spending money that belongs to the IRS. Enter your payment amount and see the exact dollar split — tax reserve, operating, and profit — so you can move it today, not in April.

2026 IRS rates · Educational estimate · Not tax advice

Profit First Method

You just got paid. Where does it go?

Move the money the same day it arrives. Three accounts, fixed percentages — no spreadsheets, no guessing come tax time.

Your payment

Payment received$5,000

The gross amount you were just paid

$500$50,000

Expected annual net profit$80,000

After expenses, before taxes — sets your bracket

$20,000$400,000

State

Business structure

Move this today

$2,000

to your tax reserve account — right now, before you spend anything

40% of this payment · covers SE tax, federal, and state

Tax reserve

$2,000

40%

Move to tax account now

Profit pull

$250

Optional — skip if cash is tight

Operating

$2,750

55%

Stays in checking

Why 40%?

Self-employment tax (~13%)$629

Federal income tax (~22% marginal)$1,100

State income tax (~7%)$365

Estimated tax on this payment$2,094

We round up to the next 5% to build a small buffer. Your actual bill is settled annually — quarterly estimates draw from this reserve throughout the year.

How this works

Based on the Profit First cash management system by Mike Michalowicz: every deposit gets split immediately into dedicated accounts. The tax reserve percentage is built from your estimated SE tax (if sole prop), your marginal federal bracket, and your state rate. Rounding up to the nearest 5% ensures a buffer. The 5% profit pull is a habit, not a requirement — skip it early on if cash is tight. Quarterly estimates come out of the tax account on schedule.

One more thing

At $80,000 in annual profit as a sole prop, you're paying roughly $11,304 in SE tax per year — that's on top of income tax. An S-corp election limits SE tax to your W-2 salary only. Worth modeling if you haven't already.