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.
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.
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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