The short of it is I am suggesting you revisit you state statute. You may be able to charge more for your services, and deduct more from SE tax should you wish to.
Lets look at two possible scenarios: First, lets say you notarize seller docs for 3 sellers, one property. There is a deed and an ownerfs title affidavit. In you scenario there would be two notarial acts as all three sellers are listed on one certificate for each doc. So you charge $10 for 2 certs.
According to several folks in this thread that have quoted Colorado law, a RULONA state just like CA and OR, the notarial act would be six. Three people acknowledge the deed, and three people swear/affirm to the affidavit. We would charge $30 in Colorado. Lets say for ease of discussion, we both charge $60 for the job. I can deduct $30 from SE tax due and you can only deduct $10. You would need to pay SE tax on $50 and I would pay SE tax on $30. Another example for a R/E loan signing. Say you have a couple and 10 documents with 10 certificates that need to be notarized. You would have $50 with no SE tax due on 10 docs/certs. I would have no SE tax due on 20 notarial acts. If we both charge $100 for the job, you pay SE tax on $50, I pay none.
So far, you have paid SE tax on $100 and I only pay SE tax on $30. Multiply this by the number of signings you do in one year and the amount you pay in SE tax would likely be significantly more than I.
Caveat: Of course this does not take into consideration that I can charge more for notarial services since I am providing more notarial acts. Also, for this discussion I did not include expense deductions, rather just a simplified way to look at the difference between your current way and a potential change to benefit you should you wish to avoid some SE tax. Now if you want to pay into SE tax, this manner of delineating notarial acts from signing agent fees is irrelevant. Depends on your age and circumstances.
The above is my opinion, not gospel, based on what I read in Colorado statute and in the interest of possibly increasing your profits and lowering your tax liability; I suggest reading the statute and having a conversation with your CPA or attorney. Hope this gives you food for thought.
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Messages in this Thread |
| Colorado Notary Question-SE Tax - Brandi Solano on 2/3/19 10:13am |
| Good question. No authoritative answer. - Lee/AR on 2/3/19 12:08pm |
| Do you complete and stamp one jurat or two? - Linda_H/FL on 2/3/19 12:21pm |
| wow, Linda, not so in Oregon! Its the number of people. - sigtogo/OR on 2/3/19 1:19pm |
| Not sure if we'd get away with that here in FL - Linda_H/FL on 2/3/19 1:59pm |
| Re: wow, Linda, not so in Oregon! Its the number of people. - Brandi Solano on 2/3/19 2:19pm |
| Ack/jurat certs are PROOF of the notarial act - LisaKT/CA on 2/3/19 4:29pm |
| Re: Do you complete and stamp one jurat or two? - LisaKT/CA on 2/3/19 2:06pm |
| Re: I’ve always done as Linda since early 1990 - Carolyn Bodley on 2/3/19 6:37pm |
| think of all the taxes you may have unnecessarily paid :) - sigtogo/OR on 2/4/19 3:51pm |
| Re: How so? - Carolyn Bodley on 2/4/19 8:43pm |
| Re: Correction — one certificate /one act // not one doc n/m - Carolyn Bodley on 2/4/19 8:45pm |
| If you could earn more and pay less SE tax would you? - sigtogo/OR on 2/5/19 12:42am |
| Re: If you could earn more and pay less SE tax would you? - VT_Syrup on 2/5/19 6:47am |
| Re: If you could earn more and pay less SE tax would you? - LisaKT/CA on 2/5/19 6:58pm |
| Re: If you could earn more and pay less SE tax would you? - VT_Syrup on 2/5/19 8:08pm |
| Colorado Notary Fee CRS 24-21-529(1) - ABC Legal Docs, LLC - Jerry Lucas on 2/3/19 6:09pm |
| Found this interesting - Luckydog on 2/3/19 8:25pm |
| #2 page 5 IRS sorry n/m - Luckydog on 2/3/19 8:26pm |
| I'm confused by your post. The deduction for SE tax is a - MW/VA on 2/4/19 10:21am |
| Possibly focusing on the wrong question? - JanetK_CA on 2/4/19 2:56am |
| Re: Colorado Notary Question-SE Tax - Doris_CO on 2/4/19 11:04am |
| Colorado Notarial Acts CRS 24-21-502(6) - ABC Legal Docs, LLC - Jerry Lucas on 2/4/19 12:38pm |
| While I reach same conclusions as you Jerry, it seems... - sigtogo/OR on 2/4/19 3:35pm |
| Colorado Notarial Acts - ABC Legal Docs, LLC - Jerry Lucas on 2/4/19 4:00pm |
| Re: ABC - Carolyn Bodley on 2/4/19 5:02pm |
| Colorado Notarial Acts CRS 24-21-502(6) - ABC Legal Docs, LLC - Jerry Lucas on 2/4/19 10:48pm |
| Re: Colorado Notary Question-SE Tax - Carolyn Bodley on 2/4/19 4:52pm |
| Re: Colorado Notary Question-SE Tax - LJCA on 2/4/19 7:57pm |
| My last .02 FWIW...about the suggestion to - Linda_H/FL on 2/5/19 6:18am |
| Re: My last .02 FWIW...about the suggestion to - JanetK_CA on 2/5/19 2:03pm |
| We’ll agree to disagree - LisaKT/CA on 2/5/19 6:37pm |
| CA Handbook & Newsletter defines notarial act - LisaKT/CA on 2/4/19 11:46am |
| Colorado State Archives Charges $10 for Notary Services - ABC Legal Docs, LLC - Jerry Lucas on 2/5/19 12:32pm |