Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Battlefield

In Battlefield, Missouri, some taxes are imposed 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.

But what if you're self-employed? You're still obliged to pay these taxes, since you will also be eligible for those retirement programs. It's also your responsibility to determine what your tax liability is.

Typically, it's the employer who makes all these calculations, and the employee doesn't have to think about it. Most larger employers have payroll departments to oversee these matters, making it pretty simple for them. But, if you are self-employed, it's up to you to accurately determine what you have to pay in self-employment taxes

Self-Employment tax obligations in Battlefield, Missouri

If you are an independent contractor, or run a sole proprietorship (a company which you own, and which is not incorporated as a separate legal entity), you must pay the so-called "self-employment tax" if your income from self-employment is higher than per year.

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

However, if you're self employed in Battlefield, Missouri, or anywhere else, you are obliged to make the employee AND employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare, essentially doubling your employment tax liability.

Currently, the self-employment tax rate in the United States is 15.30% of all income earned from self-employment in Battlefield, Missouri. 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 Battlefield, Missouri Tax Attorney Help?

If you're self-employed in Battlefield, you need to keep accurate 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.

Anyone having difficulty with figuring out what they owe in self-employment taxes in Battlefield, Missouri should seek the assistance of a knowledgeable tax attorney. Most tax attorneys also have a good familiarity of accounting, so making this determination probably won't be too hard for them. And on top of that, a skilled tax attorney can give you objective and useful legal advice, which can help prevent more serious issues from rising in the future.