Читать книгу Small Business Taxes For Dummies - Eric Tyson - Страница 42

Business owners are responsible for the timely payment of all employee-related payroll or employment taxes. Some of these are withheld from the employees’ pay while others are paid by the employer. Here are the taxes I’m talking about:

 Federal income tax withholding

 State income tax withholding

 Social Security and Medicare taxes (also known as FICA) — half paid by employer, half paid by employees

 Federal unemployment tax — paid by employers

 State unemployment tax

It’s imperative that you understand and properly withhold and pay all of these taxes on a timely basis. For a list of state tax authorities, visit www.taxadmin.org/state-tax-agencies. Otherwise, you and your business could be subject to stiff penalties and interest charges. Here’s an overview of the frequency with which employment taxes are required:

 Larger employers (those who paid more than $50,000 in employment taxes the previous calendar quarter) must submit/deposit their employment taxes every two weeks.

 Moderate-sized employers (those who have between $2,500 and $50,000 in employment taxes) can submit their employment taxes monthly.

 Smaller employers (those who have less than $2,500 in employment taxes quarterly) may submit their employment taxes with their quarterly employer tax returns. Those with $1,000 or less for income tax withholding and Social Security and Medicare tax payments or federal unemployment tax payments under $500 can pay annually.

Employers must generally deposit these taxes electronically using the Electronic Federal Tax Payment System (EFTPS), which was originally launched in 1996 and doesn’t charge users. This system enables the transfer of your funds from your bank account to the U.S. Treasury.

If your annual employment taxes for your business exceed $1,000, you must file IRS Form 941, “Employer’s Quarterly Federal Tax Return,” each quarter. You can instead file IRS Form 944, “Employer’s Annual Federal Income Tax Return” if your annual employment taxes are less than or equal to $1,000.

To ensure the timely credit of your taxes, plan on submitting them at least one day before they’re actually due. Alternatively, your tax advisor, payroll service, bank, or other financial institution can make the deposit on your behalf.

For more information, visit www.eftps.gov or call 800-555-4477.

Also, remember that self-employed individuals need to pay self-employment taxes, which are Social Security and Medicare taxes. See Chapter 10 for all the details.