Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Birmingham
In Birmingham, Alabama, there are specific taxes that are levied on employees, which are deducted from their paychecks. The typically well-known employment taxes are the Medicare and Social Security tax, for which a small percentage of every employee's paycheck is deducted.
It's essential to note that if you are self-employed, you're still responsible for those taxes, and it's your responsibility to figure out what you owe.
Most frequently, employers handle all of these calculations. With regular salaried and hourly employees, this is an easy procedure, and any decent payroll computer software can do it automatically. But, if you work for yourself, it is your responsibility to figure out precisely what you owe.
Self-Employment tax obligations in Birmingham, Alabama
If you mainly work as an independent contractor, or are the owner of a sole proprietorship, you have to pay what's regularly referred to as the "self-employment tax," if your annual income from self-employment is over .
For people who are employed by another person or company, the employer typically matches the employee's contributions to Medicare and Social Security. This essentially means that, when you look at your Medicare and Social Security tax statements on your paychecks, you can know that those programs are actually getting double what's shown there - with your employer covering the other half.
But, if you're self employed in Birmingham, Alabama, or anywhere else, you are obliged to make the employee AND employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare, essentially doubling your employment tax liability.
In Birmingham, Alabama, self-employed business owners pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3%. This is, of course, separate from, and additional to, whatever they pay in income tax. In an effort to partially offset this further tax burden, half of what one pays in self-employment taxes can be deducted from their income when filing their income taxes. This means that the self employed pay income taxes on, at most, 92% of their income. And it's probably less, thanks to all the other deductions they might qualify for. This deduction lowers the effective self-employment tax rate to 14%, rather than the "official" rate of over 15%.
Can a Birmingham, Alabama Tax Attorney Help?
If you're self-employed in Birmingham, you need to keep accurate records of all your income and expenses from the operation of your business. This will make it much easier for you to calculate your taxes when they come due, and it will make it simpler for a tax attorney to give you good, useful advice, should you eventually need it.
Thus, if you have some trouble figuring out what you owe in self-employment taxes, for whatever reason, chances are good that a knowledgeable tax attorney in Birmingham, Alabama can advise you with much trouble, and can provide you with good legal and financial advice, which can help you head off much more significant legal and financial issues.