Self Employment Tax in Portsmouth, Virginia

Find the right Self Employment Tax attorney in Portsmouth, VA

Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Portsmouth

In the U.S., Portsmouth, Virginia included, almost everyone who is employed during most of their adult life is qualified for Social Security and Medicare benefits when they retire. These programs are supported by taxes deducted from the paychecks of most employees.

Individuals who are self-employed are still accountable for these taxes, and are responsible for figuring out how much they owe.

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 Portsmouth, Virginia

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 larger than per year.

For normal employees, Social Security and Medicare payments are made in equal parts by the employee and employer. This basically means that every employee's contribution to his or her future Medicare and Social Security benefits is matched by the employer.

But, if you are a self-employed business owner in Portsmouth, Virginia, you are accountable for both the employee and employer contributions to Medicare and Social Security. This basically doubles your self-employment tax rate.

In Portsmouth, Virginia, self-employed business owners pay a self-employment tax rate of 15.3%. This is, of course, separate from, and additional to, whatever they pay in income tax. In an effort to partially offset this additional tax burden, half of what one pays in self-employment taxes can be deducted from their income when filing their income taxes. This means that the self employed pay income taxes on, at most, 92% of their income. And it's probably less, thanks to all the other deductions they might qualify for. This deduction lowers the effective self-employment tax rate to 14%, rather than the "official" rate of over 15%.

Can a Portsmouth, Virginia Tax Attorney Help?

If you are self-employed in Portsmouth, it's necessary that you keep good records of your income and expenses, because a tax attorney will only be able to assist you to the extent that you help yourself.

If you have any difficulty calculating your self-employment tax liability, an accomplished Portsmouth, Virginia tax attorney would probably have very little trouble helping you figure it out. A brilliant lawyer can also give you practical legal advice, which can help you avoid more serious tax law issues in the future, by dealing with them before they become problematic.

Talk to a Tax Law Attorney now!

Life in Portsmouth

Portsmouth, Virginia is an independent city (meaning it is not part of any county) in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area of Virginia. Its population is about 95,000 people.

Portsmouth is home to the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, a historic and still-active shipbuilding facility for the United States Navy. It was given the name "Norfolk" to avoid confusing it with the Naval shipyard that already existed in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.

This shipyard employs thousands of people, and is one of the major economic drivers of Portsmouth, Virginia. The shipyard, and the associated military installations nearby, employ several Portsmouth, Virginia attorneys, both as military officers and civilians.

Because of its varied industries and large military presence, there are many lawyers in Portsmouth, Virginia practicing a wide variety of legal specialties. If you need legal advice, chances are good that you can find a Portsmouth, Virginia attorney who can help.

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