Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Concord
In Concord, North Carolina, a few different taxes are levied on employees, and subtracted from their gross pay during each pay period. The examples that most people are acquainted with are the taxes imposed to fund Medicare and Social Security, which get their funding mostly from these relatively small pay deductions.
Individuals who are self-employed are still liable for these taxes, and are responsible for figuring out how much they 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 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 Concord, North Carolina
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 .
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, if you are self-employed in Concord, North Carolina, you are liable to pay both the employee and employer share of the employment tax. Effectively, this means that the employment tax for self-employed individuals is double what it would be for regular employees.
In Concord, North Carolina, self-employed business owners pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3%. This is, of course, separate from, and additional to, whatever they pay in income tax. In an effort to partially offset this further tax burden, half of what one pays in self-employment taxes can be deducted from their income when filing their income taxes. This means that the self employed pay income taxes on, at most, 92% of their income. And it's probably less, thanks to all the other deductions they might qualify for. This deduction lowers the effective self-employment tax rate to 14%, rather than the "official" rate of over 15%.
Can a Concord, North Carolina Tax Attorney Help?
If you work for yourself in Concord, you have to stay on top of your self-employment taxes, to avoid facing serious legal and financial issues later on. This means you need to keep excellent records of all your income and expenses, in case you need to seek the advice of a tax attorney: the more information you can provide your lawyer, the better he or she can help you.
So, if you have some trouble figuring out what you owe in self-employment taxes, for whatever reason, chances are good that a qualified tax attorney in Concord, North Carolina can help you with much trouble, and can provide you with good legal and financial advice, which can help you head off much more serious legal and financial issues.