The window closes, you count the drawer, and it was a good night. That number feels like yours.
Some of it is not. Part is the state's sales tax, which was never yours to begin with, and part is income and self-employment tax that will be due whether or not you set it aside.
Food trucks get hit harder by this than most small businesses for one reason: the money arrives in cash, fast, on the best nights of the year, and cash in hand is the easiest money in the world to spend.
The two piles people mix up
Sales tax is not income. You collected it for the state. It should leave the operating account immediately and it should never be part of any conversation about how the truck is doing.
Income and self-employment tax are on your profit. Not on what the window took. On what is left after food cost, propane, commissary, fuel, permits, event fees and processing.
Mixing those two up is why owners either panic about a number that is far too big or under-save against a number that is far too small.
Work out what to hold back
Put in what the truck is actually clearing and it gives you a set-aside figure per quarter. It is an estimate, not a filing, and it is a great deal better than the nothing most owners are working from.
Your numbers
What that means
This is a rough estimate to help you save, not tax advice and not a filing. State tax, credits, deductions, filing status, an S-corp election and a dozen other things change it. Talk to a CPA before you file.
What this assumed
- A flat planning rate, not a tax return. It ignores deductions, credits, filing status and state tax.
- Self-employment tax is applied on top of the income rate you choose.
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Not tax advice
Tax rules change and vary by state, county and situation. This tool does not know your filing status, deductions or local rates. Confirm anything you plan to file with a tax professional or the current official guidance.
Official source: IRS
You ran this on August 21, 2026. Rates and rules change, so check the date before you rely on a saved copy.
How to run it, step by step
- 1Start with net, not gross. Not what the window took. What is left after food cost, propane, commissary, fuel, permits, event fees and payment processing. Tax is on profit, and using gross is how people panic for no reason.
- 2Use a real month, then annualise. Festival season and February are different businesses. Take a normal month, or better, average three, and let the tool scale it rather than projecting your best weekend across a year.
- 3Include self-employment tax, not just income tax. This is the line that ambushes first-year owners. Self-employment tax comes on top of income tax and it is the reason a set-aside that felt generous turns out not to be.
- 4Take the deductions you actually have. Mileage on the truck, propane, commissary rent, permits, supplies, equipment. Every legitimate deduction lowers the number, which is exactly why sloppy records cost real money in this trade.
How to read what it gives you
- Treat the figure as a floor for what leaves the operating account and lands in a separate savings account the same week you earn it.
- Divide by the number of service days in the period and you get a per-day set-aside. That is far easier to actually do than a quarterly lump, especially in a cash business.
- Run it again after a big festival month. Your set-aside should move with your income rather than being a fixed number you picked in March.
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Make it a habit, not an event
The owners who never have a bad April all do the same simple thing. The set-aside leaves the operating account in the same week it was earned, into a separate savings account, and it is not touched.
Weekly beats quarterly, because a weekly transfer is small and a quarterly one is a shock. And per-service-day beats weekly if your season is uneven, because it scales automatically with a big festival weekend.
The mechanism matters more than the precision. A rough percentage moved religiously every week beats a perfect calculation that never actually leaves the account.
The deductions you are probably missing
Mileage. The truck, and the personal vehicle when it is used for supply runs and commissary trips. Log it, because reconstructing it in April is both painful and less accurate. There is a free mileage calculator here.
Commissary rent and fees. Every dollar, including the ones you pay in cash.
Permits and event fees. Health permits, fire inspections, festival booth fees, city licenses. These add up to real money in this trade and they scatter across the year.
Equipment and small wares. Pans, coolers, tents, propane tanks, the new griddle.
Payment processing. The percentage on every card, all year.
Photograph every receipt the day you get it. In a business with this much cash and this many small purchases, the undocumented deduction is the most expensive thing in the truck.
The honest caveat
This is an estimate to help you set money aside, and it is not tax advice. Rates, brackets, self-employment thresholds and state rules change, and your situation is not identical to anyone else's.
Spend an hour with an accountant who has worked with mobile food. They will find deductions you did not know about and confirm the set-aside percentage for your actual situation. That hour pays for itself in the first year, usually several times over.
Questions people actually ask
What percentage should I set aside?
There is no single right percentage, which is why guessing goes wrong. It depends on your profit, your filing status, your state and your other income. Run your own numbers and revisit it when your income changes. And confirm it with an accountant, because this is an estimate, not tax advice.
Do I need a separate bank account for it?
It is the single most effective habit in this business. Money that stays in the operating account gets spent on a broken fryer in August. Move the set-aside out the same week you earn it and the quarterly payment becomes a transfer instead of a scramble.
What about sales tax?
Sales tax is completely separate and it was never your money. You collected it on behalf of the state. Rules and rates vary by state and sometimes by city or event, so check your own. Never let it sit in the operating account where it looks like revenue.
What records do I actually need to keep?
Daily sales, every receipt for food and supplies, mileage, permit and event fees, and commissary payments. Photograph receipts the day you get them. The deductions you cannot document are deductions you do not get, and in a cash-heavy business that gap adds up fast.