William Byrnes' Tax, Wealth, and Risk Intelligence

In Tax Tip 2014-34, the IRS provided 6 tax tips for self employed taxpayers.

1. Self-employment income includes income received for part-time work.  This is in addition to income from a regular job.
2. A self employed taxpayer must file a Schedule C, Profit or Loss from Business, or Schedule C-EZ, Net Profit from Business, with your Form 1040.
3. A self employed taxpayer may have to pay self-employment tax as well as income tax if a profit was earned.  Self-employment tax includes Social Security and Medicare taxes. Use Schedule SE, Self-Employment Tax, to calculate whether any self employment tax is due.
4. A self employed taxpayer may need to make estimated tax payments. Taxpayers typically make these payments on income that is not subject to withholding.  A taxpayer may be charged a penalty if not paying enough estimated taxes throughout the entire year.
5. A self employed taxpayer can deduct some expenses paid to run your trade or business. A self employed taxpayer can deduct most business expenses in full, but some must be ’capitalized.’  Capitalization means that the deduction will be limited to just a portion of the expense each year over a period of years.  By example, only the first $5,000 of the “start-up” expenses for a new business of the taxpayer is potentially deductible, and not until the year in which the active trade or business begins.  All other start up expenses must be amortized over a 180-month period, beginning with the month the business starts.  Thus, start up expenses in general are only deductible over this 180 month period, and not in the year actually incurred.
6. A self employed taxpayer can deduct business expenses only if the expenses are both ordinary and necessary.  An ordinary expense is one that is common and accepted in an industry.  A necessary expense is one that is helpful and proper for the trade or business.

Due to a number of recent changes in the law, taxpayers are currently facing many questions connected to important issues such as healthcare, home office use, capital gains, investments, and whether an individual is considered an employee or a contractor. Financial advisors are continually looking for updated tax information that can help them provide the right answers to the right people at the right time. This brand-new resource provides fast, clear, and authoritative answers to pressing questions, and it does so in the convenient, timesaving, Q&A format for which Tax Facts is famous.

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