Self Employment Tax Lawyers in New Orleans
In New Orleans, Louisiana, 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.
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 exactly how much you owe, to confirm that you don't pay more or less than you are required to.
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 New Orleans, Louisiana
If you mainly work as an independent contractor, or are the owner of a sole proprietorship, you have to pay what's usually referred to as the "self-employment tax," if your annual income from self-employment is over .
For ordinary employees, Social Security and Medicare payments are made in equal parts by the employee and employer. This effectively means that every employee's contribution to his or her future Medicare and Social Security benefits is matched by the employer.
But, the self-employed in New Orleans, Louisiana 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 self-employment tax rate is 15.3% of all self-employment income, assuming your income from self-employment exceeds per year in New Orleans, Louisiana. But half of your self-employment tax liability can be deducted from your income tax. This results in a slightly reduced income tax bill, which partially offsets this additional tax burden. It essentially means that the self-employment tax only applies to 92% of your income, as opposed to all of it. This means that your effective self-employment tax rate is about 14%, as opposed to over 15%.
Can a New Orleans, Louisiana Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in New Orleans, 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 New Orleans, Louisiana 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.