Self Employment Tax forms.

Not sure that this would be the correct forum to post, but figured I may get better answers here than in CH0.

I'm trying to figure out what forms I need to fill out and the IRS website makes my face hurt. I have an LLC. I gross around 20-25k a year pre-tax. I have very minimal write offs (but would like to find more creative/legal ways to write more off). Around 1/4 of my work is done at my house and my car/cell phone is used around 50% of the time for business.

Do I fill out a 1040? 1040EZ? Schedule C?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

go to an IRS office and ask...

better to waste an hour or two at their office than to do the wrong or incomplete thing and spend days trying to correct it.

i think you need sch se and possibly 941s depending on how you pay your taxes.

It depends. I've been technically self-employed for the last three years off and on. I consult for different companies and get paid as a 10-99. If this is the case, filing your taxes is simple. Having a home office is not an automatic red flag that gets you audited these days. You can pretty much write off anything you buy that has a use in your business and also write off a certain percentage of your utilities. My office is roughly 20% of my home's square footage, so I write off 20% of my rent and 20% of my utilities and all of my internet and cell phone bills.

If you're a business owner, I would suggest seeing an accountant as that can get pretty complicated depending on what your are looking to do. I own a cupcake catering business that is a LLP. I have an accountant handle that shit as I'd rather not make any mistakes. I do all my sales tax filing quarterly but I let him handle year end. This is our 2nd year and instead of paying ourselves out, we're putting all of the money aside and reinvesting it into the business so we can claim a loss rather than income.

When I file online, there's an area to enter in self-employment income. If you have doubts, just make sure set aside money to actually pay your taxes and extra to pay someone at an accounting office to work with you to file them.

The more I think about this, the whole 1099 thing seems to be more applicable to me. I do restorations and car fab. Most of my income is subbed to me from my dads business. I have no employees, nor do I want any right now. Half my work is done from my house, the other work is done at my dads shop or at other places. I have very little write offs except for a few things here and there.

Typically my wife and I file our own taxes, however I'm wondering if I should be filing separately to make things easier.

If you do work on a contract basis and use your own tools, then you'd likely be a 10-99.

You'd be surprised at what you can write off. You can write of the depreciation business related items that you purchase. That means if you bought some sort of tool for your job a two years ago, you can write off the amount of loss in value it has incurred since you first got it.

My wife and I filed jointly last year. Between her tax return and the write offs, we were able to more than cover the amount I owed for taxes and still get a decent return. If you plan on filing separately, set aside a decent chunk of money to pay your taxes, especially if you don't have a lot of write offs.

You can do 1099s on your own, but if you're planning on claiming a bunch of deductions you should at least consult with an accountant to get things set up.

I was 1099 for a year when I was a messenger...I thought it was going to be a huge headache but for various unexpected reasons it turned out all right.

go to an IRS office and ask...

i'd advise the original poster to never talk to an IRS agent.

what they tell you is probably not the truth. they all have different answers. and they are even legally immune if you listen to what they say but it turns out to be false. same with cops. dont ask cops or govt agents for advice on the law.

talk to an accountant or lawyer

That's probably the better option

i'd advise the original poster to never talk to an IRS agent.

what they tell you is probably not the truth. they all have different answers. and they are even legally immune if you listen to what they say but it turns out to be false. same with cops. dont ask cops or govt agents for advice on the law.

 

talk to an accountant or lawyer

While I agree that a accountant is the best option, not asking the IRS just does not make sense. To automatically assume that what they say is false is just a sign of pure government hatred. Which is not surprising coming from AOD, who makes a point of segregating himself from society in a trailer in the middle of the woods in the Carolinas.

If someone owes someone else money, who better to ask then that person, who also deals with these issues every single day? You can even ask a few of the IRS agents and see if you get the same answer.

Asking the IRS is free, why not ask them?

People at the IRS are idiots. I've had the same local agent call me four months in a row about sales tax forms that I filed on time the first time and refiled just to placate her and she still called me to tell me I didn't. Basically that dumb bitch called me a liar and sent me a bunch of letters talking about how they were gonna seize my business assets over a mistake on their part. It's just like the dumbshits at the DMV. They never know what they're talking about and most of the time you can find the information yourself on the web.

my local irs is incredibly helpful and have told me better people to talk to when facing something beyond their scope.

if you feel they are doing you wrong, get the agent's number and know that each conversation you have with an irs agent is recorded to protect YOU the civilian from issues mentioned. what cilone said.

unless your shit is incredibly complex, which it doesn't sound like, you can save yourself money. if an accountant fucks up and you get audited--you don't get to not pay. if your get help from the IRS, you can retrieve the conversation and guidance given and have a better chance of keeping your money.

your call.

Had I known that shit was recorded, I would have taken a much different approach to the situation. I'm sure there are very knowledgeable people at the IRS. I made a blanket statement in based upon my dealings with a couple of people. Lately, I've been of the mindset that there are aspects of business that are better left to others so I can better focus on meeting my customer's needs rather than sitting on hold waiting for the right person to speak with.

some back pedalling:

apparently not all IRS offices record. the ones i've been to here in WA do, i assumed it was the same across the board as its a federal entity, but apparently not the case. sorry.

my local irs is incredibly helpful and have told me better people to talk to when facing something beyond their scope.

 

if you feel they are doing you wrong, get the agent's number and know that each conversation you have with an irs agent is recorded to protect YOU the civilian from issues mentioned. what cilone said.

 

unless your shit is incredibly complex, which it doesn't sound like, you can save yourself money. if an accountant fucks up and you get audited--you don't get to not pay. if your get help from the IRS, you can retrieve the conversation and guidance given and have a better chance of keeping your money.

 

your call.

if you follow some of the more well known tax cases of the last 50 years or so, you'll find that IRS agents, police and all government agents in general are immune from prosecution on the 'advice' they give.

my point is you MIGHT get a right answer, and you might not.

i personally know of many cases where people specifically asked police if something was legal, and they were arrested for doing what they were told was legal. i also know of people who were told one thing by the IRS, they complied, and were still taken to court. a family member once had numerous conversations with an IRS office to maintain compliance with IRS code, they followed their advice and were hit with penalties the very next year for the same thing the IRS office previously told them to do. they literally can do what they want, because every single aspect of the IRS code and laws in general are up to interpretation. they wont even answer you with a straight face when asked the question: 'what is income?' they term their procedures 'voluntary compliance.' it might as well be something out of an orwell novel.

point being: they can tell you whatever they want to. the advice might be right, and it might be wrong. there is no conceivable way an IRS agent can know all the tens of thousands of pages of the code. state agents have legal authority to lie to you and be immune from any consequences. any competent lawyer will tell you to never talk to police or agents. anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. some people might question advice that comes from them. others might not. to each their own. but just remember, when they haul your ass to court the old 'the IRS told me to do this....' argument doesnt work.