Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Tyler
In the U.S., including in Tyler, Texas, taxes are imposed on employees, which are normally deducted from their paychecks. The ones that most people are familiar with are the Medicare and Social Security taxes. The idea is that workers pay into these programs during their entire working lives, and then enjoy the benefits they provide once they retire.
But what if you're self-employed? You're still obligated 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.
Most commonly, employers handle all of these calculations. With regular salaried and hourly employees, this is an easy process, and any decent payroll computer software can do it automatically. However, if you work for yourself, it is your responsibility to figure out clearly what you owe.
Self-Employment tax obligations in Tyler, Texas
If you work as an independent contractor, or operate a sole proprietorship, you are deemed to be "self employed." You are required to pay the self-employment tax if your total income from self-employment exceeds per year.
Employees in a regular employer/employee relationship do enjoy one considerable 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 basically doubles your contribution to these programs, without doubling their financial burden on you.
But, self-employed workers in Tyler, Texas must make both the employee and employer contributions. Therefore, this means that the Medicare and Social Security tax liabilities apply doubly to the self-employed.
Currently, the self-employment tax rate in the United States is 15.30% of all income earned from self-employment in Tyler, Texas. 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 Tyler, Texas Tax Attorney Help?
Self-employed individuals in Tyler must ensure that they keep good, complete financial records. This makes it much easier to determine what you owe, and, if you need a tax attorney, it makes it easier for them to assist you with your legal tax contentions.
Therefore, if you have some trouble figuring out what you owe in self-employment taxes, for whatever reason, chances are good that a reliable tax attorney in Tyler, Texas can assist you with much trouble, and can provide you with good legal and financial advice, which can help you head off much more severe legal and financial issues.