Day-Rate Earnings & Tax Estimator · 2026

The Mariner's Ledger

A take-home, tax, and retirement calculator built for merchant mariners paid by the day. Plug in your rate and your hitch, and see where every dollar lands.

46 U.S.C. § 11108 — if you perform regularly-assigned duties on a vessel operating in interstate or foreign trade (navigable waters of more than one state), only your state of legal residence may tax your sea wages — not the states whose ports or waters you transit. This is why many mariners domicile in a no-income-tax state. Pick your residence below, not where the boat runs. Income earned entirely within one state's waters can still be taxed by that state.

01 Your Run
Your gross taxable day rate (before per diem).
Even-time (28/28) ≈ 182 days. Adjust for your rotation.
28/28 · even time 35/35 2:1 rotation 9 mo year-round
Non-taxable daily reimbursement. Added to take-home, excluded from tax.
02 Filing & Residence
★ No state income tax — your full sea wages stay yours.
Auto-filled per state. Flat-tax states are exact; graduated states are an estimate — override with your own effective rate for precision.
03 Retirement
04 The Reckoning
Annual take-home
$0
$0/mo  ·  $0/day worked  ·  effective tax 0%
Gross sea wages
$0
Total tax
$0
Per diem (tax-free)
$0
Take-home + per diem
$0
Where the gross goes
Take-home$0
401(k)$0
Federal$0
FICA$0
State$0
Gross sea wages$0
401(k) deferral $0
Federal income tax $0
Social Security 6.2% to wage base$0
Medicare 1.45%$0
State income tax $0
Per diem (non-taxable)$0
Net to you$0
Going into retirement this year
$0