Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Ogden
In the U.S., including in Ogden, Utah, taxes are imposed on employees, which are usually 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 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.
Most often, 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 exactly what you owe.
Self-Employment tax obligations in Ogden, Utah
If you primarily work as an independent contractor, or are the owner of a sole proprietorship, you have to pay what's commonly 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.
However, if you're self employed in Ogden, Utah, or anywhere else, you are required to make the employee AND employer contributions to Social Security and Medicare, effectively doubling your employment tax liability.
Self-employed workers in Ogden, Utah 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 Ogden, Utah Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in Ogden, 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.
Anyone having difficulty with figuring out what they owe in self-employment taxes in Ogden, Utah should seek the advice of a good tax attorney. Most tax attorneys also have a good knowledge of accounting, so making this determination probably won't be too hard for them. And on top of that, a competent tax attorney can give you objective and useful legal advice, which can help prevent more serious issues from arising in the future.