🇺🇸 USA · 2026 tax year
USA tax calculator: Sole proprietor / LLC vs C corporation
Move the sliders to compare how much federal tax an Amazon, eBay or Shopify seller pays as a sole proprietor or single-member LLC versus a C corporation, using the IRS figures for the 2026 tax year.
US Seller Profit Tax Comparison (2026)
Sole proprietor / single-member LLC (income tax + self-employment tax) vs C corporation (21% corporate tax)
Sales minus all business costs, before tax.
US resident (standard deduction $16,100 + self-employment tax)
Federal tax only. State income tax is not included: Wyoming, Texas and Florida have none; other states add roughly 0%–13%.
LLC owner take-home
$47,963
20.1% effective tax ($12,037)
C corp retained profit
$47,400
21.0% effective tax ($12,600)
Better structure at this profit
$563
Sole proprietor / LLC keeps $563 more
Sole prop / LLC
C corp
- Kept / retained
- Income / corporate tax
- Self-employment tax
Tax bands that apply
Sole proprietor / single-member LLC
- Standard deduction shelters $16,100—
- 20% QBI deduction removes $7,932 from tax—
- 10% on $12,400$1,240
- 12% on $19,329$2,319
- Social Security 12.4% on $55,410$6,871
- Medicare 2.9% on $55,410$1,607
- Federal income tax
- $3,559
- Self-employment tax
- $8,478
- Total tax (20.1% of profit)
- $12,037
- LLC owner take-home
- $47,963
C corporation
- 21% flat federal rate on $60,000$12,600
- Corporate income tax
- $12,600
- Total tax (21.0% of profit)
- $12,600
- C corp retained profit
- $47,400
Estimate only, not tax advice. It uses official USA figures (2026 tax year) and the assumptions listed below this calculator. A client’s real bill depends on their full circumstances, so confirm with a qualified accountant in the USA before deciding.
Rates used (2026 tax year)
- Income tax brackets (single)
- 10% to $12,400 · 12% to $50,400 · 22% to $105,700 · 24% to $201,775 · 32% to $256,225 · 35% to $640,600 · 37% above
- Standard deduction (single)
- $16,100
- Self-employment tax
- 15.3% on 92.35% of profit (12.4% Social Security up to $184,500 + 2.9% Medicare), +0.9% over $200,000
- QBI deduction (Section 199A)
- 20% of business income; phases out between $201,750 and $276,750 of taxable income for a business with no payroll
- C corporation tax
- 21% flat
- Qualified dividends
- 0% to $49,450 · 15% to $545,500 · 20% above, plus 3.8% NIIT over $200,000
- Dividends to a non-resident (Pakistan)
- 30% withholding
How the estimate works
- Single filer with no dependants, no itemised deductions and no retirement or health insurance contributions.
- Federal tax only. State and local taxes are not included.
- The business is not a specified service business and has no employees, so the QBI deduction phases out completely above $276,750 of taxable income. The $400 minimum QBI deduction for active businesses from 2026 is included.
- C corporation: the owner takes no salary. "Profit paid out" treats all after-tax profit as qualified dividends in the same year.
- Non-resident: assumes the profit is effectively connected with a US trade or business and taxed at the graduated rates (no standard deduction, no self-employment tax). Many foreign-owned LLCs that sell into the US have no US trade or business and owe no federal income tax; that depends on facts such as US staff, offices and dependent agents, so check before relying on this.
- A foreign-owned single-member LLC must still file Form 5472 and a pro forma 1120 each year even when no tax is due.
Official sources
Figures checked against these pages on 24 October 2026.
- IRS: 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32)
- IRS: Self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare)
- SSA: 2026 contribution and benefit base ($184,500)
- IRS: Qualified business income deduction
- IRS: Tax treaty table 1 (withholding rates by country)
Estimate, not tax advice. This calculator gives a guide figure for comparing structures. It does not know a client’s full situation (other income, family, deductions, treaties, sales tax or VAT), and rates can change. Markify Ecommerce is an ecommerce agency, not a firm of accountants: please confirm any decision with a qualified tax adviser in the USA.
Talk to us about selling in the USA
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