Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Riverdale

In Riverdale, Georgia, there are certain taxes that are imposed on employees, which are deducted from their paychecks. The mostly 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 essentiall to be aware of one fact: if you're self-employed, you still have to pay these taxes. And it's your responsibility (or the responsibility of someone you hire for this purpose) to figure out exactly how much you owe.

In most cases, employers make all the necessary calculations to determine how much needs to be deducted from an employee's check to pay these taxes. It's usually very simple, and any decent payroll software can automate this process. But the self-employed are responsible for figuring this out for themselves, or hiring an accountant to do it.

Self-Employment tax obligations in Riverdale, Georgia

If you own a sole-proprietorship, or work primarily as an independent contractor, you need to pay the "self-employment tax" if you derive any significant amount of income from self-employment. You must pay these taxes if your income from self-employment is more than annually.

For people who are employed by another person or company, the employer usually matches the employee's contributions to Medicare and Social Security. This effectively 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 are a self-employed business owner in Riverdale, Georgia, you are responsible for both the employee and employer contributions to Medicare and Social Security. This basically doubles your self-employment tax rate.

The total self-employment tax (note that this is completely distinct from the income tax) is set at 15.3%, if your income from self-employment in Riverdale, Georgia exceeds . However, half of this tax is deducted from your income, for income tax purposes. So, this means that, at most, the self-employed only have to pay income on 92% of their total income, and that amount may be lowered with additional deductions for which you may be eligible. This means that, effectively, the self-employment tax rate is only 14%, as opposed to 15.3%

Can a Riverdale, Georgia Tax Attorney Help?

If you work for yourself in Riverdale, you have to stay on top of your self-employment taxes, to avoid facing serious legal and financial issues later on. This means you need to keep excellent 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.

If you have any difficulty calculating your self-employment tax liability, an experienced Riverdale, Georgia tax attorney would probably have very little trouble helping you figure it out. A good lawyer can also give you practical legal advice, which can help you avoid more serious tax law issues in the future, by dealing with them before they become problematic.