Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Lawrence
In Lawrence, Massachusetts, 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 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.
Typically, the employer makes all the necessary calculations and deductions from a person's paycheck. If you are self-employed, however, you are required to make this determination, and to ensure that it's accurate.
Self-Employment tax obligations in Lawrence, Massachusetts
If you own a sole-proprietorship, or work mainly 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, the self-employed in Lawrence, Massachusetts 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 Lawrence, Massachusetts exceeds . 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 Lawrence, Massachusetts Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in Lawrence, it's essential that you keep good records of your income and expenses, because a tax attorney will only be able to help you to the extent that you help yourself.
Anyone having difficulty with figuring out what they owe in self-employment taxes in Lawrence, Massachusetts 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 significant issues from arising in the future.