Do self-employed people have to pay the Social Security and Medicare taxes twice?

All taxpayers must pay 7.65% their gross income to Social Security and Medicare of which 6.2% up to an amount set annually to goes to Social Security and another 1.45% of all gross income for the year goes to Medicare. Employers must match those percentages equally, for a total of 15.3%. The income limits for Social Security taxes in 2004 is $87,900, up from $87,000 in 2003. If you work for yourself, you're essentially both an employee and an employer. As a result, you have to pay the full 15.3% all by yourself. This payment is the so-called "self-employment tax." The good news is that the employer half of the Social Security payment is tax deductible as an adjustment to AGI. Additionally, as opposed to employees, who pay 7.65% on their gross income, as self-employed, you only pay 15.3% on your net income (gross income less business expenses).