Self Employment Tax Lawyers in East Grand Rapids

In East Grand Rapids, Michigan, some taxes are placed on employees, and deducted from their paychecks. Most people are aware 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 necessaryl 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 clearly how much you owe.

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 normally very simple, and any decent payroll software can automate this process. But the self-employed are accountable for figuring this out for themselves, or hiring an accountant to do it.

Self-Employment tax obligations in East Grand Rapids, Michigan

If you own a sole-proprietorship, or work primarily as an independent contractor, you need to pay the "self-employment tax" if you derive any considerable 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 normally matches the employee's contributions to Medicare and Social Security. This basically 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.

However, the self-employed in East Grand Rapids, Michigan are responsible for making the employer AND employee contributions to those programs, basically 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 East Grand Rapids, Michigan. However, 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 East Grand Rapids, Michigan Tax Attorney Help?

If you're self-employed in East Grand Rapids, you need to keep complete 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 easier for a tax attorney to give you good, useful advice, should you eventually need it.

With all that said, if you are having difficulty determining just how much money you owe in Medicare and Social Security taxes from self-employment in East Grand Rapids, Michigan, and keep good financial records, it should be relatively easy for a decent tax attorney to help you. And, if you end up facing a more severe legal issue over your self-employment tax liability, a tax attorney may prove to be invaluable.