Guides
Free resources to help you understand pay stubs, tax forms, and payroll.
What Is a Pay Stub?
A pay stub (also known as a paycheck stub, pay slip, wage statement, or earnings statement) is a document that accompanies each paycheck an employee receives. I...
How to Read a Pay Stub
Reading a pay stub for the first time can be overwhelming. Between gross pay, net pay, federal withholdings, FICA taxes, and various deduction codes, there is a...
W-2 vs 1099: Understanding the Difference
If you earn income in the United States, you will receive either a W-2 or a 1099 form at the end of the year - and in some cases, both. The form you receive det...
How to Calculate Net Pay
Net pay is the amount of money an employee takes home after all deductions have been subtracted from their gross earnings. Calculating net pay accurately is ess...
Self-Employment Tax Guide: Forms You Need
If you work for yourself - whether as a freelancer, independent contractor, sole proprietor, or gig worker - you are responsible for paying self-employment (SE)...
How to Pay Yourself From an S Corp
If you own an S corporation and work in it, you cannot simply move money from the business account to your personal account and call it income. The IRS treats y...
What Counts as a Reasonable Salary for an S Corp Owner
Reasonable compensation is the amount an S corporation must pay a shareholder who works in the business, as wages, before distributing profit. It is the single ...
Do S Corp Owners Need Pay Stubs?
If you run an S corporation and pay yourself a W-2 salary, you are an employer and an employee at the same time. That raises a question most one-person owners h...
Setting Up Payroll for a One-Person S Corp
Running payroll for a single employee who is also the owner is the least glamorous part of operating an S corporation, and the part most likely to generate a pe...
S Corp Salary vs Distributions
The reason most owner-operators elect S corporation status is the difference in how salary and distributions are taxed. Understanding that difference, and the c...
Do I Have to Give My Nanny a Pay Stub?
If you pay someone to care for your children in your home, you are an employer. That surprises most families, and it brings a set of obligations that includes g...
The Nanny Tax, Explained
The nanny tax is not a separate tax. It is the ordinary set of employment taxes that apply when you hire someone to work in your home, collected through your pe...
Household Employer Payroll Checklist
Paying a household employee correctly is a sequence of small tasks spread across the year rather than one difficult thing. This checklist covers what has to hap...
Schedule H Explained
Schedule H is the form that carries household employment taxes onto your personal return. Instead of filing quarterly payroll returns the way a business does, a...
How to Pay a Caregiver Legally
Arranging in-home care for a parent or spouse usually happens quickly and under stress, and the employment questions get settled by default rather than by decis...