Posted by Joan Bergstrom on 4/23/07 11:52pm
Msg #186642

Tax information for Notaries

www.eliteplus.biz has some good free information for notaries concerning our "self employment taxes."

Many notaries (particularly new notaries) don't know that we are not subject to Self Employment Taxes because we are considered "public officials." I'm talking about Jurat & Acknowledgments not being subject to these taxes!

This website also gives a list of expenses that notaries could claim on their Federal Tax Return.

Some suggestion of depreciation and home office expenses are also listed.

Reply by hcampersFL on 4/24/07 7:00am
Msg #186651

Joan thanks for posting this. I have filed an extention and could use all the ideas that I can get.

Reply by aatatusko on 4/24/07 7:22am
Msg #186656

Wonderful information! Many thanks for posting.

Reply by Shannan Reis, Esq. on 4/24/07 8:40am
Msg #186665

I don't think this covers loan signings though. If I understand it correctly, only wages earned as a notary & allowable under state law would not be covered (ie: in Ma I think you can charge about $1.25 or so for a notary).

Reply by BrendaTx on 4/24/07 8:51am
Msg #186668

**only wages earned as a notary & allowable under state law would not be covered **

In Texas, at $6 a notarization - at 15-20 per package (in Texas), that's $90-$120, leaving only around $10-$100 subject to SE Tax out of a normal $100-$250 job.

Why don't you think it applies to loan signings?

Reply by CrystalT_FL on 4/24/07 9:09am
Msg #186671

It does cover loan signings, for the portion of your fee that can be tied to the notarizations.

For example, in Florida, we can charge $10 per certificate. If I do a signing with 10 certs, and charge $100, it can all be classified as notary fee. If that same signing only had 8 certs, then $80 is notary fee, the other $20 is other income. If that same signing had 12 certs, its still $100 in notary fee.

You have to do this based on each individual signing, you cant just take the total number of certs for the year and deduct that from total income.

(I also have an accounting service, just so you know I am qualified to give this information ;-))

Reply by Larry/Ca on 4/24/07 12:34pm
Msg #186719

"you cant just take the total number of certs for the year and deduct that from total income."

This is not completely true. You must consider the number of notarizations for each signing. If you notarize 12 signatures for a signing and you only get $100 for that signing, you can only deduct $100 from the SE income for that signing. The amount you deduct from SE income for "Notary Exempt" will likely be less than the total number of notarizations done.

Reply by Larry/Ca on 4/24/07 12:43pm
Msg #186722

I obviously misread the post... sorry n/m

Reply by WDMD on 4/24/07 1:50pm
Msg #186731

"you cant just take the total number of certs for the year and deduct that from total income."

You can in Maryland, never had one come close to being more in notary fees than price of signing at $2 a pop LOL.

Reply by dickb/wi on 4/24/07 7:46pm
Msg #186801

think about wi @ .50 cents.... n/m