Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Bergen County

In Bergen County, New Jersey, a few different taxes are enforced 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.

It's critical to note that if you are self-employed, you're still responsible for those taxes, and it's your responsibility to figure out what 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 typically very simple, and any decent payroll software can automate this process. But the self-employed are liable for figuring this out for themselves, or hiring an accountant to do it.

Self-Employment tax obligations in Bergen County, New Jersey

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 .

Workers who are employed by someone else enjoy at least one perk that the self-employed do not: their employer matches their Social Security and Medicare contributions, essentially doubling the amount of money that's contributed to these funds on the employee's behalf.

But, if you are self-employed in Bergen County, New Jersey, you are responsible to pay both the employee and employer share of the employment tax. Essentially, this means that the employment tax for self-employed individuals is double what it would be for regular employees.

Self-employed workers in Bergen County, New Jersey pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3% of their income that's derived from self-employment. But, half of whatever they end up paying in self-employment tax is deductible from income tax. This essentially creates a tax deduction of nearly 8% of one's income, requiring you to only pay taxes on 92% of what you earn. Further tax deductions may lower that number further. When this deduction is taken into account, the self-employment tax rate is effectively 14%, as opposed to over 15%.

Can a Bergen County, New Jersey Tax Attorney Help?

If you work for yourself in Bergen County, you have to stay on top of your self-employment taxes, to avoid facing significant legal and financial issues later on. This means you need to keep reliable 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.

Thus, if you have some trouble figuring out what you owe in self-employment taxes, for whatever reason, chances are good that a knowledgeable tax attorney in Bergen County, New Jersey can advise you with much trouble, and can provide you with good legal and financial advice, which can help you head off much more significant legal and financial issues.