Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Middletown
In Middletown, Ohio, a few different taxes are imposed 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.
But what if you're self-employed? You're still required 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.
Usually, 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 handle 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 Middletown, Ohio
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 greater than per year.
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, effectively doubling the amount of money that's contributed to these funds on the employee's behalf.
However, the self-employed in Middletown, Ohio are responsible for making the employer AND employee contributions to those programs, effectively doubling what they would have to pay if they were employed by someone else.
Self-employed workers in Middletown, Ohio pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3% of their income that's derived from self-employment. However, half of whatever they end up paying in self-employment tax is deductible from income tax. This effectively creates a tax deduction of nearly 8% of one's income, requiring you to only pay taxes on 92% of what you earn. Additional 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 Middletown, Ohio Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in Middletown, it's essential that you keep good records of your income and expenses, because a tax attorney will only be able to help you to the extent that you help yourself.
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 Middletown, Ohio 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.