Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Hempstead
In Hempstead, New York, a few different taxes are placed on employees, and subtracted from their gross pay during each pay period. The examples that most people are familiar with are the taxes imposed to fund Medicare and Social Security, which get their funding mostly from these relatively small pay deductions.
It's imperativel 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 precisely 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 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 Hempstead, New York
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 substantial amount of income from self-employment. You must pay these taxes if your income from self-employment is more than annually.
For usual employees, Social Security and Medicare payments are made in equal parts by the employee and employer. This essentially means that every employee's contribution to his or her future Medicare and Social Security benefits is matched by the employer.
However, the self-employed in Hempstead, New York are responsible for making the employer AND employee contributions to those programs, essentially doubling what they would have to pay if they were employed by someone else.
The self-employment tax rate is 15.3% of all self-employment income, assuming your income from self-employment exceeds per year in Hempstead, New York. But half of your self-employment tax liability can be deducted from your income tax. This results in a slightly lower income tax bill, which partially offsets this additional tax burden. It essentially means that the self-employment tax only applies to 92% of your income, as opposed to all of it. This means that your effective self-employment tax rate is about 14%, as opposed to over 15%.
Can a Hempstead, New York Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in Hempstead, it's imperative that you keep good records of your income and expenses, because a tax attorney will only be able to advise you to the extent that you help yourself.
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 Hempstead, New York 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.