Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Herrin

In Herrin, Illinois, some taxes are enforced on employees, and deducted from their paychecks. Most people are cognizant of the Medicare and Social Security taxes - which fund those two programs by taking a small percentage of every paycheck an employee receives.

Individuals who are self-employed are still liable for these taxes, and are responsible for figuring out how much they owe.

Most often, 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 exactly what you owe.

Self-Employment tax obligations in Herrin, Illinois

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 greater than per year.

People who are not self-employed, and work for another person or company, have their contributions to Medicare and Social Security matched by their employers. This means that these programs are obtaining, on your behalf, twice as much money as what's deducted for your paycheck, with your employer covering the other half.

But, the self-employed in Herrin, Illinois are responsible for making the employer AND employee contributions to those programs, effectively doubling what they would have to pay if they were employed by someone else.

Currently, the self-employment tax rate in the United States is 15.30% of all income earned from self-employment in Herrin, Illinois. 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 Herrin, Illinois Tax Attorney Help?

If you are self-employed in Herrin, it's extremely important for you to be diligent in keeping records of your income and expenses, to ensure that you pay all the self-employment taxes that you owe (and also to make sure you don't over-pay). You may one day need a tax attorney to help you with a legal issue, and they can help you far more efficiently if you are able to quickly present them with all the relevant information.

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