only if he itemizes deductions
― sarahell, Tuesday, 17 April 2012 05:14 (twelve years ago) link
fuck this shit
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 03:34 (twelve years ago) link
thankfully my day job cut into what i owed from freelancing, cuz o_O
― yologram (J0rdan S.), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 03:36 (twelve years ago) link
^^ i was freelancing all year and i've wound up having to dip into what i'd set aside to keep myself afloat these last 3 months, now i'm filing an extension and still owe in the four figures
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:09 (twelve years ago) link
closer to 5 figures, even
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:10 (twelve years ago) link
and fucking turbotax trying to rip me off for my last hundred dollars til payday in a month, fuck you
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:11 (twelve years ago) link
Same boat as you HOOS. I owed 4 figures. Still unemployed. Had to borrow money from my moms to pay for it. Thankfully I lost my last shred of dignity about 4 months ago, so I didn't feel too bad. But that freelancing bullshit is for the birds.
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:12 (twelve years ago) link
oh yeah, also got stuck paying 80 on HR Block because of the "contractor" thing (should have been 40, but I had to pay again for Virginia, for which I owed and received nothing).
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:13 (twelve years ago) link
Hey you know that thing where some people will joke with you about well hey you're married now so you lost your freedom but at least you will save money on taxes? Well those people are filthy bastard liars.
― Rango Unchained (jjjusten), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:15 (twelve years ago) link
heard it was teh gays that ruined marriage or something so its probably there fawlt
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:16 (twelve years ago) link
It's like having showtunes stolen from us all over again
― Rango Unchained (jjjusten), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:25 (twelve years ago) link
you need some babies
― iatee, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:26 (twelve years ago) link
RIP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJOjTNuuEVw
― stay in school if you want to kiw (Gukbe), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 04:26 (twelve years ago) link
HR Block sucks the big one!
― sarahell, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 10:14 (twelve years ago) link
Realizing I owed, um, more money than I expected a few years ago thanks to freelancing was a very rude awakening. I started to set aside a little bit from each check for this purpose. Still sucked.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 10:49 (twelve years ago) link
I miss my flexible spending account from my last job. That was a nice little tax break. I still feel like I'm being cheated a little when I have to pay co-pays non-pre-tax. Your qualified medical expenses have to be really damn high before they count as an itemized deduction.
H2, your friend could dispute the charge through his/her credit card.
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Wednesday, 18 April 2012 14:47 (twelve years ago) link
got this off in time and somehow finagled it so that what I owed to state was offset by what I'm getting back from federal. not entirely positive what I did with claiming a home office deduction was right, but nothing I could find really said otherwise (I had to be available 24/7 at my last job); it saved my ass, thankfully.
― akm, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 21:55 (twelve years ago) link
if you were freelancing schedule c is your best friend.
― akm, Wednesday, 18 April 2012 21:56 (twelve years ago) link
tvs become 'computer monitors', for example.
do you actually want to know whether you did it right? it sounds like you don't really want to know.
― sarahell, Thursday, 19 April 2012 07:40 (twelve years ago) link
When I was a waiter at a sort of nice restaurant, a wine rep told us to save receipts for eating out and liquor purchases and deduct them as career education expenses. I did it and the person at H&R Block went along with it. Seems pretty questionable.
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Thursday, 19 April 2012 14:22 (twelve years ago) link
that is only deductible if you itemize/file Schedule A. It is a bit questionable - certainly not all restaurant meals and booze purchases would be legit.
― sarahell, Thursday, 19 April 2012 16:08 (twelve years ago) link
When I went on a Roadfood tour with Jane & Michael Stern in 2010, he was in line next to me at the New Mexico State Fair and got a receipt for a piece of pie. I had a bit of a blinding OMG moment and said "everything you eat is a deductible expense, isn't it?" and he just looked at me and smiled real big.
― improvised explosive advice (WmC), Thursday, 19 April 2012 16:13 (twelve years ago) link
there were a couple years when i made several hundred extra dollars doing music writing. it occurred to me at tax time that, if i'd had a receipt for every single thing i'd ever done for fun in that year i could have made out like a bandit. but alas.
― goole, Thursday, 19 April 2012 16:47 (twelve years ago) link
I think the classic question is really not whether you "can" do all that kind of stuff, but whether you're setting yourself for eventual audit. The more you do, the more likely an audit.
― i don't believe in zimmerman (Hurting 2), Thursday, 19 April 2012 16:54 (twelve years ago) link
I'm starting to feel like a broken record here, but it doesn't really work that way.
― sarahell, Thursday, 19 April 2012 16:55 (twelve years ago) link
Even after my voluminous questionable deductions, I still wound up owing Illinois thousands of dollars every year I was a waiter in Chicago. In the 3 years I worked at restaurant, I never received a single paycheck above $0 b/c every cent of my $4/hr went to taxes. Imputed tips keep everyone honest and they make the tax bill bite you in the ass. Should have paid quarterly, but after 4/16, I re-entered my fantasy land.
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Thursday, 19 April 2012 17:55 (twelve years ago) link
jesus
― BIG HOOS aka the steendriver, Thursday, 19 April 2012 18:41 (twelve years ago) link
a possibly elitist (on my part!) question: can any of y'all afford a good accountant?!?
― a big fat fucking fat guy in a barrel what could be better? (Eisbaer), Thursday, 19 April 2012 18:42 (twelve years ago) link
Good accountants aren't necessarily that expensive. It depends on what you want him to do with your finances.
― Exile in lolville (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Thursday, 19 April 2012 18:43 (twelve years ago) link
alfred OTM ... my accountant is def more expensive than TurboTax and probably H&R Block/Jackson Hewitt, and even though i have a LOL tax law degree i've still had him do my taxes these past four years.
― a big fat fucking fat guy in a barrel what could be better? (Eisbaer), Thursday, 19 April 2012 18:44 (twelve years ago) link
but the accountant i use isn't break-the-bank expensive. it isn't as if i go to one of the Big4 to do my taxes.
― a big fat fucking fat guy in a barrel what could be better? (Eisbaer), Thursday, 19 April 2012 18:46 (twelve years ago) link
Am I wrong to think that an accountant isn't going to do give me an advantage in doing my very simple taxes, which consist of wage income only and no reason to think I have unused itemized deductions?
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Thursday, 19 April 2012 20:59 (twelve years ago) link
I just use taxact every year. Takes me about 30 min and I'm done.
― Jeff, Thursday, 19 April 2012 21:21 (twelve years ago) link
I use Taxslayer.com. It's easy and cheap and when it seems to do due diligence to ferret out deductions.
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Thursday, 19 April 2012 21:49 (twelve years ago) link
je55e: in that circumstance -- where all you have are W2s and maybe an odd 1099 from a bank or a mutual fund company -- then no, going to an accountant is probably a waste of money & you should just use TurboTax or TaxAct for yer returns.]
however, there were a number of people in this thread who indicated that they were freelancers/self-employed or had tip income. in that case, i think that such people should definitely consider finding a good accountant.
― a big fat fucking fat guy in a barrel what could be better? (Eisbaer), Thursday, 19 April 2012 21:50 (twelve years ago) link
OK. Just wondering if I was missing out on some super secret loopholes or something.
The only good thing about my student loans being in repayment is that I can deduct payments on interest. Wish I could deduct payments on the principal.
― People aren't for comparing, they are for loving. (Je55e), Thursday, 19 April 2012 21:55 (twelve years ago) link
Yeah I'll have that comfort for a long time to come.
― Jeff, Thursday, 19 April 2012 21:57 (twelve years ago) link
Freelancers, don't forget your quarterly estimates today.
― Irwin Dante's Towering Inferno (WmC), Saturday, 15 September 2012 16:58 (eleven years ago) link
aaaaaaaaagggghhhhh, so THAT'S what happens when I don't have any business expenses. Jaysus!
― The Complete Afterbirth of the Cool (WilliamC), Tuesday, 26 March 2013 22:02 (eleven years ago) link
Surely you have some - didn't you use your phone/computer? Paper? Internet connection?
― Jaq, Tuesday, 26 March 2013 22:38 (eleven years ago) link
Yeah, those usual items were there, but I didn't buy any business equipment or do any business related travel. My quarterly payments were a bit lower than usual and my income was up just a bit. It's not a monster-sized tax hit, but it was noticeable -- especially since I usually applied my refund to my quarterly estimated payments, which covered 1.5 of them. This April I have to pay a few hundred for 2012 AND make the first 2013 quarterly payment in full.
― The Complete Afterbirth of the Cool (WilliamC), Tuesday, 26 March 2013 22:58 (eleven years ago) link
do you have an IRA?
― sarahell, Wednesday, 27 March 2013 01:07 (eleven years ago) link
No...I need one.
― The Complete Afterbirth of the Cool (WilliamC), Wednesday, 27 March 2013 01:08 (eleven years ago) link
Never too late, they say.
you have until April 15th to start and contribute to a regular IRA, though you could always do a SEP-IRA, which has higher contribution limits, and if you file an extension you have until the extended date to contribute for tax year 2012.
― sarahell, Wednesday, 27 March 2013 02:17 (eleven years ago) link
I LOVE HOW THIS THREAD TITLE IS IN ALL CAPS AS THOUGH TO CALM AND SOOTH YOU THROUGH THIS DIFFICULT TIME
― how's life, Wednesday, 27 March 2013 10:28 (eleven years ago) link
ha what a world!
― caek, Friday, 14 February 2014 04:36 (ten years ago) link
i am literally filling in a form
i had to read a multipage table until i found my "tax", which i then copied to line 15