Skip to content
SkillReady to runNewPersonal FinanceFinance

Freelancer Tax Refund Calculator

Written in-house · editorially graded

Every SkillsBank offering is written in-house — never scraped or crowd-sourced — and graded against a fixed editorial rubric in a separate grading step.

Dry-run test passed · Aug 20, 2026

Trigger check passed

Editorially graded · Aug 20, 2026

Builds a self-employed tax refund projection from a freelancer's income, expenses, filing status, and payment inputs, returning an editable, formula-driven Excel model (Schedule C, Schedule SE, QBI, tax liability, refund) plus a client-ready PDF summary. Use when a freelancer or gig worker wants an estimated refund or quarterly tax-planning projection from income and expense figures, or needs an auditable model to hand to a tax preparer.

What you get

An installable SKILL.md file for your AI assistant. Produces an Excel workbook (.xlsx) and a PDF.

Works in
Claude Code · Cursor
Native — drops into .claude/skills/
Copilot · Codex · Gemini CLI
Native — reads .agents/skills/
claude.ai — web & desktop
Upload the .zip in Customize → Skills
ChatGPT
Via a Project — paste into its instructions

See it in action

A real input → output sample

Example Input
I made $120,000 from freelancing in 2024. Expenses: $15,000 rent for studio, $3,000 software, $1,000 meals with clients, 6,000 miles driving to client sites. I put $10,000 in my SEP-IRA and paid $12,000 in estimated taxes. Do I owe money or get a refund?
Example Output
You owe $8,792.75 for 2024. A detailed breakdown is provided in the Freelancer Tax Refund.xlsx and Freelancer Refund Summary.pdf files, which include calculations for Net Profit, Schedule C, Schedule SE, QBI Deduction, and Tax Liability. Note: Filing status was defaulted to Single, and some inputs were estimated due to missing information.

Questions

What information do I need to provide?

Your gross self-employment revenue and expenses by category, tax year, and filing status get you a working model. Adding W-2 wages, spouse income (if joint), retirement contributions, health insurance premiums, dependents, and estimated payments made sharpens the projection further.

What exactly do I get?

An editable Excel model with linked formulas across Schedule C, Schedule SE, QBI, tax liability, and refund tabs, plus a 3-page PDF summary covering the snapshot, the calculation waterfall, and assumptions/sources for handing to a preparer.

What happens if I don't have all my numbers yet?

It builds the full model anyway using stated defaults (like $0 for missing figures or single filing status) and lists every assumption and gap in a closing note, so you can see exactly what to add for a more accurate projection.

Can I use this with my own bookkeeping records or prior returns?

Yes. It can work from figures you provide directly, or from income and expense details found in files like invoices or bookkeeping exports you share, and applies the same calculation rules either way.

How is this different from just asking my assistant for a tax estimate?

It produces a fully-linked, auditable workbook with every rate and threshold sourced and cited, following actual Schedule C/SE/QBI mechanics step by step, rather than a single number with no traceable calculation trail.

Related