They offered W-2. Here’s 1099 take-home next to it.

They named an employee hourly. That is one column, not the floor

In 2026 a company says “we can put you on W-2 at $55 an hour.” That sentence is an employee number. It is not your freelance floor. It is not a day package. It is not a raise you send next quarter. This card only sits that offer next to contractor hours against a floor you already have, after a tax share you type so the two keeps share a clock.

W-2 keep = W-2 hourly you type × hours you type. Nothing else is multiplied. Nothing is subtracted. The $55 is the face they named. This column will not shave 7.65%, will not add an employer-load, and will not pretend benefits are a second hourly.

1099 keep = (hours × floor) × (1 − tax share you type). Same hours. Your floor. A share you typed. Worked: 20 × 90 = 1,800, then 1,800 × (1 − 0.30) = $1,260. The 0.30 is on the card so the arithmetic is visible. It is a digit you can replace. It is not a recommended freelance tax rate. It is not FICA. It is not a mill this page published.

The hourly floor you already built on the hub is still income, billable weeks, and a tax buffer you set. This page does not clone that slider. If the floor is still a shrug, set it on how to set a freelance rate before you treat $90 as covering the week. If that floor moved and you need a date plus a new number, that is raise your rate — not this comparison.

Worked USD: 20h × $55 W-2 = $1,100 vs 20h × $90 × (1−0.30) = $1,260

First preset: hours 20. W-2 hourly $55. Floor $90. Tax share you type 0.30. W-2 keep: 20 × 55 = $1,100. 1099 keep: (20 × 90) × 0.70 = $1,260. Difference: 1,260 − 1,100 = $160 more on the 1099 column in this arithmetic. The $160 is not a law. It is two products from numbers you can clear.

Second preset: same 20h, same $55, same $90, you typed 0. W-2 keep still $1,100. 1099 keep: 20 × 90 × 1 = $1,800. Share 0 means you did not apply a tax slice on this card. That is a number you typed, not a claim that 1099 work is untaxed, and not a 50-state engine returning zero.

Third preset: same 20h, same $55, same $90, you typed 0.40. 1099 keep: 1,800 × 0.60 = $1,080. W-2 keep still $1,100. A larger share is a smaller 1099 keep. This page did not pick 0.40 as a market. You did.

You type the tax share. This page will not invent FICA or a 50-state engine

Blogs love a tidy “add 7.65% for self-employment” and a “multiply W-2 by 1.3 for benefits.” This card does not ship those tables. No FICA mill. No employer-load multiplier. No unemployment line. No 50-state filing grid. No “typical contractor tax is 30%.” The 0.30 in the worked example is a digit you can clear. Paste the share you actually set aside. If you do not have a share yet, do not treat 0.30 as official. Get the number you use, then type it.

Share is a fraction: 0.30, not 30. Typing 30 would be 3,000% and this card will not play that game — the box is capped at 1 so keep cannot go negative from a percent-vs-fraction mix-up. W-2 keep is always hourly × hours. 1099 keep is always (hours × floor) × (1 − share). That is the whole machine.

This card is not the other money cards

This is not how you set the floor. Income target, billable weeks, a tax buffer, expenses — that walk lives on how to set a freelance rate. This card assumes the floor already exists and only uses it as one input. Do not rebuild annual gross here. If $90 is still a guess, leave and build it there, then come back with the number.

This is not a raise. A percent on the current rate, extra monthly keep, one date, grandfather vs one date for all — that is raise your rate. An employee offer is not “I am raising from $75 to $90.” If the W-2 number made you notice the floor is stale, raise there. Compare the offer here.

This is not a day package. Hourly × hours in a day, half-day rules of thumb, a week of five days — that is the day rate guide. A W-2 hourly × 20 hours is not “a day.” Do not drop a 7-hour day into the hours box and call it this comparison. Two different products: a package for multi-day work vs two keeps on the same clock.

This is not the processor. Card percent, ACH cap, domestic receive, USD wire, Instant Payout — that cut lives on Stripe vs Wise. Run a dollar amount first. Then subtract the rail. A W-2 offer vs 1099 after a tax share is not 2.9% + 30¢. Do not paste a Stripe schedule into the share field.

This is not selling the bill. Keep = invoice × (1 − share) on a net invoice you sell for cash this week lives on invoice-factor. Haircutting a receivable is not “they offered me W-2.” Two different shares, two different products. Do not drop a factor quote into this tax-share box.

This is also not a closet SKU. Marketplace listing fees live under seller-fees. Do not clone a take-rate table onto an employee hourly they named.

Not classification advice. Not a tax desk. Not a contract

Some people call this “should I take the W-2.” This page will not. We will not tell you that $1,260 beats $1,100 as a career move. We will not classify you as an employee or a contractor. Educational planning only — not tax advice, not legal advice, not employment-law advice. Confirm live terms in whatever offer letter or 1099 agreement they actually send, with counsel where you work, before you accept a classification. Typing here does not accept the job and does not change how they pay you.

USD labels on this page; currency picker and tax buffer stay on the hub. You enter hours, their W-2 hourly, your floor, and a share. The card prints both keeps, the difference, and one sentence you can paste so the note matches the screen.

Send the sentence before you answer the offer

Name the hours. Name their W-2 hourly. Name your floor. Name the tax share you typed. Name both keeps. Copy from the card so the numbers match.

• Worked 20h × $55 vs $90 × (1−0.30). Hours 20. W-2 hourly $55.00. W-2 keep $1,100.00. 1099 floor $90.00. Tax share I typed 0.30. 1099 keep $1,260.00. 1099 keep − W-2 keep $160.00. This is not FICA, not an employer load, and not a 50-state tax engine. Please confirm the share before I treat this as take-home.
• You typed 0. Hours 20. W-2 keep $1,100.00. Tax share I typed 0. 1099 keep $1,800.00. Share 0 means I did not apply a tax slice on this card — not a claim that 1099 work is untaxed.
• You typed 0.40. Hours 20. W-2 keep $1,100.00. Tax share I typed 0.40. 1099 keep $1,080.00. A larger share is a smaller 1099 keep. I typed 0.40; this page did not publish it as a market.

Skip speeches about “everyone adds 30% for self-employment.” If you do not have a floor yet, do not block the offer on a mill — build it on how to set a freelance rate. If that floor moved, send the new number from raise your rate. If they want a day package instead of a clock, convert on the day rate guide. The hub still holds the live hourly number.

Planning numbers, not a payroll desk

Education only — not a lawyer, not a tax desk, not an HR classification, and not a 50-state filing table. No official 7.65%. No employer-load mill. No seller-fee clone. Use the hourly they named and the floor you already have. If you need an enforceable offer letter, counsel where you work drafts it before you sign. Typing here does not mint that paper.

You enter hours, their W-2 hourly, your floor, and the share. The card prints W-2 keep = hourly × hours, 1099 keep = (hours × floor) × (1 − share), the difference, and one sentence. USD signs here; tax slice you live on stays a number you type. The floor stays on how-to-set. The raise stays on raise-your-rate. The day package stays on the day-rate guide. The rail stays on Stripe vs Wise. The haircut stays on invoice-factor.

Rate calculator Build the hourly number Raise the floor — one date Day rate — hourly × hours in a day

Rebuild the floor on the hub if billable weeks moved. They offered an employee hourly — print both keeps here. The walk that makes the floor is how to set a freelance rate. A floor that already moved is raise your rate. A multi-day package is the day rate guide. The processor after a dollar exists is Stripe vs Wise. A net invoice you sell is invoice-factor.

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