Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Mclean County

In Mclean County, 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 accountable for these taxes, and are responsible for figuring out how much they owe.

Most commonly, 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 clearly what you owe.

Self-Employment tax obligations in Mclean County, 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 .

Employees in a regular employer/employee relationship do enjoy one considerable 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 basically doubles your contribution to these programs, without doubling their financial burden on you.

But, if you are self-employed in Mclean County, Illinois, you are accountable to pay both the employee and employer share of the employment tax. Basically, this means that the employment tax for self-employed individuals is double what it would be for regular employees.

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 Mclean County, Illinois exceeds . But, half of this tax is deducted from your income, for income tax purposes. Therefore, 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, basically, the self-employment tax rate is only 14%, as opposed to 15.3%

Can a Mclean County, Illinois Tax Attorney Help?

Self-employed individuals in Mclean County must ensure that they keep good, complete financial records. This makes it much easier to determine what you owe, and, if you need a tax attorney, it makes it easier for them to assist you with your legal tax contentions.

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