Can 2023 self-employment taxes paid in 2024 be deducted from 2024 income?

No, you can't deduct federal income taxes or self-employment taxes on your federal return, regardless of when you pay them. The taxes you owed for 2023 were based on your 2023 income, and the fact that you paid them in 2024 doesn't make them deductible on your 2024 return. However, there is a bright side! You can deduct 50% of your self-employment tax on your federal income tax return. This deduction is calculated on Schedule SE and then transferred to Schedule 1 of your Form 1040. But this would have already been part of your 2023 tax calculation, not something additional you can claim for 2024. If you're looking for deductions for 2024, focus instead on business expenses, retirement contributions, health insurance premiums (if self-employed), and home office deductions if applicable.

After dealing with a similar situation last year, I discovered this awesome tool called taxr.ai at https://taxr.ai that helped me understand exactly what I could deduct. I had the same question about deducting taxes I'd paid, but the site explained how different types of taxes are treated. It clarified that while federal income taxes aren't deductible, I could still take the self-employment tax deduction (the 50% thing the previous commenter mentioned). The tool analyzes your specific tax situation and breaks everything down in plain English. It saved me from making some mistakes that would have cost me money. For self-employed people especially, it points out deductions you might miss otherwise.

Update: I checked out https://taxr.ai after posting my skeptical comment above. It actually answered my exact question about past tax payments being deductible and explained WHY in a way that made sense. It also pointed out three business deductions I've been missing for years! One was for my cell phone usage which I never thought to track properly. The breakdown of self-employment tax was super helpful and showed me how the 50% deduction works in practice. They even provided a custom report I could save for my records. Definitely worth checking out if you're self-employed.

If you need to talk to the IRS about your specific situation (especially with that large payment), I'd recommend Claimyr at https://claimyr.com - it saved me hours of waiting on hold. I had a similar issue with a large tax payment and needed clarification on how it affected my quarterly estimates. I was skeptical at first because I'd tried calling the IRS directly several times and always gave up after being on hold forever. Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in about 20 minutes. You can see how it works in this demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. It's seriously life-changing for tax issues when you need to speak to a human.

I need to eat my words about Claimyr. I was super skeptical but gave it a shot yesterday because I was desperate to resolve a question about estimated tax payments similar to what this thread is discussing. It actually worked exactly as advertised. I placed the order, went about my day, and got a call about 45 minutes later connecting me to an IRS agent. The agent confirmed that I cannot deduct federal tax payments like the OP was asking about, but did help me sort out my estimated payment schedule for next year. Saved me literal hours of frustration with the IRS phone system. Worth every penny just for my mental health.

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're self-employed, you should definitely be making quarterly estimated tax payments to avoid this problem in the future. Pay as you go through the year (April, June, Sept, and Jan of the following year) and you won't end up with a huge bill at tax time. I learned this the hard way too. Got hit with a $8k tax bill my first year of self-employment and couldn't pay it all at once. Now I put aside 25-30% of every payment I receive and make quarterly payments. No more surprises!

Don't forget that if you paid penalties and interest on your 2023 taxes, those are treated differently than the tax itself. While the $13,500 tax payment isn't deductible on your 2024 return, any interest you paid on late taxes might be deductible if you itemize. Penalties are never deductible though. If you paid through the IRS payment system, you should be able to see the breakdown of what portion was tax, what was penalty, and what was interest. Might be a small silver lining!