Millions of Big Earners Should Expect Higher Payroll Taxes in ‘17

shutterstock_260489408

 

For those who have been excited to see their tax bill go down under a Trump administration, there might be cause for some concern, especially for some of the country’s highest earners. That’s because for the millions of workers who pass a certain threshold a tax hike is coming. So why the increase?

First, this change was in place before President Trump won the election in November. This scheduled change comes in the form of an adjustment to Social Security payroll taxes, and it will affect a lot of high earners. Over the past several years, workers have paid a 6.2 percent payroll tax to Social Security, which is matched by employers and automatically deducted from their paychecks.

That number will remain the same in 2017, but there is a catch. It used to be that workers only paid that amount on the first $118,500 they earned for the year. This year, that threshold increases to $127,200. That will amount to hundreds of dollars for anyone affected. Meantime, for self-employment workers, the news is even worse because they are forced to pay the full Social Security tax themselves without splitting the cost with an employer.

So how many people are we talking about? Anyone that makes less than $118,500 won’t be affected but the estimated 12 million workers that make more than that will see a hit, which amounts to one of the biggest changes in the tax code in nearly 30 years.

http://time.com/money/4628475/payroll-taxes-social-security-2017/

Posted in
CARES Act, a short summary

Short summary of CARES ACT

Short summary of CARES ACT in a letter sent by one of our partners to some of his clients: Dear Clients and Friends: I hope you are doing as well as possible. Congress passed (with only one “no” vote in the House of Representatives) and the President signed (on Friday) the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and…

President Trump Signs CARES ACT

President Trump Signs CARES ACT, What Does this Mean?

Fremont California, March 27, 2020 – President Trump Signs CARES ACT. As COVID-19 continues to threaten almost every aspect of our lives, our government has expedited passing legislation and President Trump has signed, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) ACT.  The CARES ACT is a massive bill, the majority of which does not…

The AICPA urges IRS to provide payment relief due to COVID-19

The AICPA urges IRS to provide payment relief due to COVID-19

The AICPA on Thursday urged Treasury and the IRS to provide broader tax filing and payment relief for taxpayers affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. In a letter to Treasury Assistant Secretary for Tax Policy David J. Kautter and IRS Commissioner Charles Rettig from Christopher Hesse, CPA, chair of the AICPA Tax Executive Committee, the AICPA…

coronavirus

Coronavirus (COVID-19) Tax Information Summary

Coronavirus Tax Information Please note: clients will need to work extensively with their payroll tax service provider, and their Human Resource professional as this all gets complex. I assume information of how to compute and input amounts on the related forms will be provided in detail in the coming weeks. Congress is working on another…