Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Marion
In Marion, Illinois, some taxes are levied 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 Marion, Illinois
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 $400.
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, the self-employed in Marion, 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.
The total self-employment tax (note that this is totally distinct from the income tax) is set at 15.3%, if your income from self-employment in Marion, Illinois exceeds $400. But, 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 further 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 Marion, Illinois Tax Attorney Help?
If you're self-employed in Marion, you need to keep thorough 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.
Anyone having difficulty with figuring out what they owe in self-employment taxes in Marion, Illinois should seek the advice of a reputable tax attorney. Most tax attorneys also have a good knowledge of accounting, so making this determination probably won't be too hard for them. And on top of that, a competent tax attorney can give you objective and useful legal advice, which can help prevent more egregious issues from arising in the future.