Self Employment Tax Lawyers in Mercer Island
In the U.S., Mercer Island, Washington 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.
Normally, 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 take 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 Mercer Island, Washington
If you own a sole-proprietorship, or work mainly as an independent contractor, you need to pay the "self-employment tax" if you derive any considerable amount of income from self-employment. You must pay these taxes if your income from self-employment is more than annually.
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, the self-employed in Mercer Island, Washington are responsible for making the employer AND employee contributions to those programs, basically 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 Mercer Island, Washington. But half of your self-employment tax liability can be deducted from your income tax. This results in a slightly reduced 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 Mercer Island, Washington Tax Attorney Help?
If you are self-employed in Mercer Island, it's extremely important for you to be diligent in keeping records of your income and expenses, to ensure that you pay all the self-employment taxes that you owe (and also to make sure you don't over-pay). You may one day need a tax attorney to assist you with a legal issue, and they can help you far more efficiently if you are able to quickly present them with all the relevant information.
That said, if you are encountering trouble figuring out clearly how much self-employment tax you owe in Mercer Island, Washington, a competent tax attorney shouldn't have any trouble helping you on that front. Likewise, if you end up in a dispute with the government over your self-employment tax requirement, a good tax attorney can give you the best possible chance of getting a favorable result.