Tax Planning for 2013 – The Payroll Tax Cut
Enacted in 2011, employees and self-employed people alike received a temporary 2% cut in their payroll taxes. Mired in Congress, the extension of this tax cut was given some odd treatment because the two sides of the aisle couldn’t agree on how to pay for it so for a while, there was just a two month extension. At the end of February, a full year extension was finally passed but as we get closer to the end of the year, it’s unclear what the fate of this tax cut is going to be.
If you’re an employee (of a company you don’t own), there’s not a lot you can do to plan. Either the cut will be extended and you’ll get or it won’t and you’ll see your pay check take a hair cut. For the self-employed who pay SE tax, you fate is about the same. If you’re an employee of your S-Corporation, there is a little bit you can do. In December, if the political winds are telling you that an extension isn’t going to pass, it might be a good time to push some salary (maybe a one time bonus or an advance) from 2013 into 2012. Other than that, this one is a big “wait and see.”