Before you can calculate your payroll tax liabilities, you must first determine which of the people who work for you, if any, are "employees" for whom you must withhold and pay taxes. If none of your workers are classified as employees, you generally won't have to worry about payroll taxes at all!

One of the biggest hurdles you'll face in running your own business is to stay on top of your numerous obligations to federal, state, and local tax agencies. A tax headache is only one mistake away, be it a missed payment or filing deadline, an improperly claimed deduction, or incomplete records. And, you can safely assume that a tax auditor presenting an assessment of additional taxes, penalties, and interest will not look kindly on an "I didn't know I was required to do that" claim. The old legal saying that "ignorance of the law is no excuse" is perhaps most often applied in tax settings.