Payroll Tax Savings in Chicago Illinois

September 9, 2015
 
Payroll Tax Savings in Chicago Illinois are incredibly uncommon. Many of my new clients coming into the firm are completely overpaying on Social Security and Medicare Benefits. Those over-payments have a tendency to keep them rather cash poor.
 
So let’s begin our discussion on how to reduce your payroll tax expenses with a quiz question. If you are an entrepreneur and write yourself a payroll check for $100, what do the payroll taxes cost you? It’s all your money after all, whether its inside your company or your personal checking account. What percentage does this tax cost you?
 
a) 20% – 30% b) 30% – 40% c) 40% – 50% d) 50% – 60%
 
Most clients will say around 30%. But the correct answer, in the lower W-2 brackets is D…50% to 60%. Please allow me to explain.
 
All of this depends on your filing status and how many exemptions you have. But generally, if you write yourself a check for $100 in salary, you will end up with about $69. But before the social security and medicare taxes are deposited into the IRS, they must be doubled which is an additional 7.65%. Also, you have unemployment taxes on top of the payroll which depending on your circumstance average inside the State of Illinois, somewhere around 4%. So for every $100 that you pay yourself, it costs you $111.
 
Most things in accounting only make sense when you look at them backwards, so here goes…
 
You pay yourself $100. You get $69, but it costs you $111. In other words you spend $42 in tax for every $69 that you receive. That isn’t a 30% tax. It’s a 60% tax. Certainly the unemployment taxes vanish after $12,900 in compensation. But no matter how you look at it, this is not a 30% tax.
 
Why can’t many entrepreneurs afford to make their payroll tax deposits? In many instance, the taxes are just too expensive.
 
What can you do to remedy this problem? The answer is to change how you are taking money out of your business.
 
The Five Legal Ways to Take Money Out Of A Business Are
 
1) W-2 Salary
2) Reimbursements
3) Rent
4) Interest
5) Dividends, Distributions, and Draws
 
We already know that taking money out as salary is one of the most expensive ways to do it. I’m certainly not saying that you can get away without paying payroll taxes in an active trade or business. There are a couple of instances where you can, but for the most part, you cannot. The point is that if the correct tax planning is put into place, you don’t have to pay these excessive taxes on all of your compensation. You can take a reasonable W-2, a reasonable rent on the physical premises, and a reasonable interest on your shareholder loan. Rents and interest are passive forms of income and are not subject to payroll taxes.
 
Dividends, distributions, and draws are another way to legally take money out of your enterprise. Which one you take, has everything to do with the type of entity that you have. You may choose to get out of your sole proprietorship or partnership just so that you can take a distribution which isn’t subject to payroll taxes. But this is a matter of planning. These solutions don’t just present themselves. They are a matter serious thought and planning.
 
If you are having problems with payroll tax savings in Chicago Illinois Bookkeeping Taxes CPA Payroll Processing or issues with your accounting in general, we would love to help. I love hearing from my readers, and can be contacted at
 
Chris@AccountingSolutionsltd.com
 
Additional Accounting Articles and information on my firm can be found at
 
www.AccountingSolutionsLtd.com
 
Chris Amundson is the President of Accounting Solutions Ltd., a full service public accounting firm of Certified Public Accountants and Enrolled Agents handling the bookkeeping, accounting, tax preparation, and audit representation needs of Businesses, Estates, Trusts, and Upper Income Individuals.