Self Employment Tax in San Luis Obispo, California

Find the right Self Employment Tax attorney in San Luis Obispo, CA

Self Employment Tax Lawyers in San Luis Obispo

In San Luis Obispo, California, there are specific taxes that are enforced 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 extremely important to know that, if you are self-employed, you still have to pay those taxes, and it's also up to you to figure out precisely how much you owe, to confirm that you don't pay more or less than you are obliged to.

Typically, it's the employer who makes all these calculations, and the employee doesn't have to think about it. Most larger employers have payroll departments to oversee these matters, making it pretty simple for them. But, if you are self-employed, it's up to you to accurately determine what you have to pay in self-employment taxes

Self-Employment tax obligations in San Luis Obispo, California

If you are an independent contractor, or run a sole proprietorship (a company which you own, and which is not incorporated as a separate legal entity), you must pay the so-called "self-employment tax" if your income from self-employment is higher than per year.

Employees in a regular employer/employee relationship do enjoy one substantial perk that the self-employed do not: their Social Security and Medicare contributions are matched by their employers. So, if you pay in Social Security and Medicare taxes with every paycheck, your employer has to match that. This essentially doubles your contribution to these programs, without doubling their financial burden on you.

But, if you're self employed in San Luis Obispo, California, or anywhere else, you are obliged to make the employee AND employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare, essentially doubling your employment tax liability.

Currently, the self-employment tax rate in the United States is 15.30% of all income earned from self-employment in San Luis Obispo, California. Nonetheless, half of your hypothetical self-employment tax liability can be deducted from your income. This means that you only pay self-employment tax on about 92% of your income, which creates an effective self-employment tax rate of just over 14%.

Can a San Luis Obispo, California Tax Attorney Help?

If you're self-employed in San Luis Obispo, 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.

With all that said, if you are having difficulty deciding just how much money you owe in Medicare and Social Security taxes from self-employment in San Luis Obispo, California, and keep good financial records, it should be relatively easy for a decent tax attorney to help you. And, if you end up facing a more significant legal issue over your self-employment tax liability, a tax attorney may prove to be invaluable.

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Life in San Luis Obispo

San Luis Obispo, California is a city in San Luis Obispo County. It is the county seat of, and largest city in, San Luis Obispo County. It has a population of about 42,000, as of a 2006 estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau. It is located on California's central coast, almost exactly midway between San Francisco and Los Angeles.

San Luis Obispo is home to the California Polytechnic University at San Luis Obispo, which iscommonly referred to as "Cal Poly" or "Cal Poly SLO." Many of its degree programs, particularly argiculture, engineering, and architecture, are consistently ranked among the best in the United States.

Thanks to the presence of a large, nationally-renowned university, San Luis Obispo definitely has a "college town" feel to it. And its proximity to the ocean, and the mountains further inland, provide a wealth of outdoor recreational activities. The Diablo Canyon nuclear power plant is located on the outskirts of San Luis Obispo provides most of the electric power for the area, and is also a major employer for professionals in a wide range of fields, particularly engineers. This power plant creates several thousand well-paying jobs, and is crucial to the local economy.

If you live in San Luis Obispo, California and need an attorney, you should be able to find one. There's almost certainly a San Luis Obispo, California lawyer who can help you with whatever legal issue you might have.

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