Freelance Taxes
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- dibec0
two things are certain in life ... death and taxes. ;)
- TResudek0
Get a good accountant and save every receipt that you think could possibly be a write off. Then, at the end of the year, give your accountant a shit load of receipts and hope for the best. :)
- AndyRoss0
I bought a bunch of client Christmas gifts today.
I immediately wrote those off.
- sintaxera0
I've got a fulltime 9-5 gig, but have also been working freelance on the side. Am I still able to write-off my rent/mortgage, etc. same as if I were freelancing full-time?
- depends on how much you made freelancing. There are break points.. obviously it looks bad if you are writing off the same amount or more than you grossed.flashbender
- same amount or more than you grossed freelancing.flashbender
- yeah, you have to show some profit on freelance. if it goes negative with all the write off, that's a red flag.tkmeister
- edd-e0
cosmo, take out 40% for taxes, this percentage will give you a good enough bubble where you are over estimating enough where you wont under estimate. the 40% also will guarantee you receive money back instead of you paying more come april 15th. also keep every receipt you can, this means everything. any time you also use your ATM card, if the exchange was under $500 it can be written off. half your rent, and half your bills thru the home can also be included as a write off, if you work out of your home. if you are in a commercial space, and you rent from there its 100% write offs. also a good way to write off is to make charaties more important part of freelancing. a good dontation thru Goodwill or some other charitable organization is awesome!!! and the write off is good for it too. keep all your receipts, bank statements, utilitity bills, for the next 7 years, freelancers get audited a great deal more than businesses and fulltimers. so always be prepared to have all the info you need, just in case. get an accountant too, get someone who knows the loop holes in getting you to keep your money over flushing it out to the govt. each state has a different amount of loop holes so the accountant should know the deal...
good luck!!!
also charge the world for your work!!! demand nothing less as well.
always have a contract, and get everything in writing, and if you charge per job, get a sum up front. dont let your money stay in their pockets!!! its yours so take it!!!:)
- visualplane_0
The IRS is watching you like...
<img src="http://www.ceilingcat.com/img/ceilingcat.jpg">
- visualplane_0
<img src="http://www.ceilingcat.com/img/ceilingcat.jpg">
- visualplane_0
img src="http://www.ceilingcat.com/i...
- visualplane_0
ok, how the hell do you post a image on here?
- edd-e0
- what's the code eddie?visualplane_
- you're thinking about it too much...horton
- *insert baby dangling from stroller image herePoint5
- ah, I think I got itvisualplane_
- honeydesign0
Yea. Pay quarterly to avoid paying penalties! And I agree with flashbender -- get a good tax guy. He'll tell you what to do.
- visualplane_0
When you outsource freelance work to another designer, how does that work? Let's say your charge $X an hour at 60-80 hours a week, and 20-40 of the hours are outsourced?
- univers0
One Book: Adrian Shaughnessy's, How to be a graphic designer without losing your soul. Though doesnt have much detail, really gets you thinking about many of the professional aspects of the Design industry. Easy and great read.
- skelly_b0
You need to get a W9 from from them. Then just keep their invoices so you can write off what you paid them.
- akoni0
write off everything!!... save some for later so you can pay back,... but writing off what you can helps, save reciepts!!
- akoni0
i mean save receipts that have to do with business, like if you use your cell phone for business calls, save gas receipts if you use your car to go to meetings, any hardware, software, business lunches you buy, save those receipts so you can write some of it off again, so you won't have to pay back as much.
- visualplane_0
Cool, thanks
- leadtrum0
I'd just setup an LLC or S-Corp and save some money on taxes. Its a little more paperwork but its worth it.