Self Employment Tax in Santa Barbara, California

Find the right Self Employment Tax attorney in Santa Barbara, CA

Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Santa Barbara

In Santa Barbara, California, there are specific taxes that are imposed 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 ensure 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 Santa Barbara, 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.

However, if you're self employed in Santa Barbara, 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.

Self-employed workers in Santa Barbara, California pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3% of their income that's derived from self-employment. However, half of whatever they end up paying in self-employment tax is deductible from income tax. This essentially creates a tax deduction of nearly 8% of one's income, requiring you to only pay taxes on 92% of what you earn. Additional tax deductions may lower that number further. When this deduction is taken into account, the self-employment tax rate is effectively 14%, as opposed to over 15%.

Can a Santa Barbara, California Tax Attorney Help?

If you work for yourself in Santa Barbara, you have to stay on top of your self-employment taxes, to avoid facing significant legal and financial issues later on. This means you need to keep reliable records of all your income and expenses, in case you need to seek the advice of a tax attorney: the more information you can provide your lawyer, the better he or she can help you.

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 Santa Barbara, California 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.

Talk to a Tax Law Attorney now!

Life in Santa Barbara

Santa Barbara, California is a city in Santa Barbara County, where it also serves as the county seat. It currently has a population of about 88,000 people.

Santa Barbara, California is known for being host to one of the very few military engagements of World War II to occur on the continental United States. In 1942, a Japanese submarine surfaced off the coast of Santa Barbara, and fired several shots at the Ellwood oil refinery. There were no injuries. Although there was no evidence that collaboration or espionage by any U.S. residents played a role in the attack, the incident was used by the government to justify the internment of Japanese-Americans living on the West Coast, a decisions which is now remembered as one of the low points in America's history.

After World War II, many of the servicemen who served in the war, and disembarked from Santa Barbara, California moved into the city permanently. This caused a population boom. Many of these servicemen went on to college, and became successful professionals in Santa Barbara, California, some of them lawyers.

If you live in Santa Barbara, California and are in need of an attorney, it's very likely that there's a Santa Barbara, California attorney who can provide assistance.

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