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How much should you set aside for taxes?

Enter your net profit and a reserve rate to get a plain-dollar answer, total and per month. A planning estimate, not tax advice. No signup, nothing stored.

Revenue minus all costs, what your business actually kept, after any owner salary you already pay yourself through payroll.
The share of profit to hold back, as a percent. 20% is a planning default, not a rule, your real effective rate depends on your entity type, state, and household income. Last year's return is the best calibration: tax owed ÷ net taxable income.
Add this to spread the total into a per-month set-aside amount.

Enter your net profit to see the recommended set-aside.

A planning estimate to help you hold back cash, not tax advice, and not a tax calculation. Confirm amounts and dates with your CPA. Nothing you enter here is saved or sent anywhere.

How the math works

One honest multiplication.

Set-aside = your net profit (only when it's positive) × your reserve rate. Divide by the months elapsed and you have a monthly amount to move into a separate tax account. That's the whole model, deliberately a planning aid you calibrate, not a tax engine.

The difference in the product: you never type the profit number. Still's Tax & Set-Aside Autopilot reads net profit from your live P&L, shows your prior-year return beside the rate so you can calibrate it, and keeps a forward calendar of your typical filing dates. This calculator is one small piece of what Still tracks automatically.

Tax set-aside questions

How much should I set aside for taxes as a small business owner?

A common planning starting point is 20-30% of net profit, but the honest answer is: it depends on your entity type, your state, and your household's total income. The most reliable calibration is your own prior-year return, divide the tax you owed by your net taxable income to get your real effective rate, and reserve at that. If your day-job withholding already covers most of your tax, a lower rate may be right; if you had a big April bill, go higher.

Do I set aside a percentage of revenue or of profit?

Profit. You owe tax on what the business keeps, not what it collects, for a product business with inventory, fees, and ad spend, the difference is enormous. This calculator applies your rate to net profit only, and a loss year produces a $0 set-aside, because you only reserve against positive profit.

What about quarterly estimated taxes?

If you expect to owe $1,000 or more for the year, the IRS generally expects estimated payments in April, June, September, and January. Setting aside monthly into a separate account is the habit that makes those quarterly payments painless, the money is already there. Your CPA can tell you the safe-harbor amount for your situation.

Is this calculator tax advice?

No. It is one honest multiplication: max(0, net profit) × your reserve rate, the same planning formula Still's in-app Tax & Set-Aside Autopilot uses. It is a cash-planning aid, not a tax calculation, and it does not know your deductions, credits, or filing situation. Confirm amounts and dates with your CPA.

Never re-type your profit number again.

This is one small piece of what Still tracks automatically, tax set-aside, filing dates, P&L, and cash runway, from your live numbers.

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