Does filing DBA form automatically makes me pay self employment taxes?

Question

I need to put my business online, and obviously I cannot use my real name as a business name. I will have to file a DBA. I am a statutory employee (Financial Advisor), so I get to write off my business expenses on my personal income tax.

My question is: If I file a DBA, does this mean that I would automatically have to fill out a Schedule C with 0 income on it, because all I need the DBA for is to establish my presence on the web.

Thank you

Answer 1

Is your online business part of your work as a statutory employee? If so, then you would put these expenses on the same Schedule C as you use for your statutory employee expenses. The DBA designation does not establish a second income activity for you.

If the online business generates income other than from your employment, then your would need a second Schedule C to record your income and expenses from the online business. Social Security and Medicare taxes of 15.3% would be due on this income. From the wording of your question, this does not appear to be the case.

Answer 2

You don't need a tax id unless you have employees. And no, having it wouldn't make any difference in the tax you pay on your own income. You owe self employment tax on income you make that wasn't from a job where social security and medicare were taken out - that's what the self-employment tax covers. But since you don't have an employer to pay the employer share, you have to pay that also besides the employee share, so it's more. If you make less than $600 on a job, the company that paid you doesn't have to send you a 1099. That doesn't change the fact that it's still taxable income - and that's not a new rule. You report your income based on your records, and include it whether you got a 1099 for it or not. So yes you report it all.

Answer 3

Given the facts as stated, the answer is NO!! with a proviso:
If the web-generated income is separate from your employer it is then self-employment income. So long as you do it in your capacity as an employee no S/E tax comes into play.

Answer 4

If you want to claim the expenses you are going to have file something that show your income.

Answer 5

As another self-employed person, I answered these questions like this:

unemployment ... not covered and so no tax
social security and medicare ... obviously due, use schedule in 1040 package

what other self-employment taxes are there in your state?