Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Hi there. I’m a (sporadic) freelancer (writer) in CA. I don’t earn much money but seem to pay a lot (proportionately) in income tax. We file as “Married filing jointly” and I’d love some advice on tips to reduce my tax burden. Last year we filed our returns using turbo tax and I didn’t know that I should have been paying tax quarterly (I have no idea how much I might earn over the year as some months I work and others I don’t) so I had a penalty to pay.

I’ve just started working for a new start up who are paying me by check but haven’t asked me to fill in any tax forms. Do you know what forms I should fill out or how I can pay my quarterly income tax? Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!
Many thanks.

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

If you are being treated as an independent contractor by your new employer and are going to receive a 1099 at year end (which seems apparent if they have not asked you to complete a W-4), you should give them a W-9 and then file estimateds yourself. For federal income tax, you file quarterly on Form 1040 ES. It appears that the CA form is 540 ES (perhaps a CA resident will confirm).

https://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/fw9.pdf

https://www.irs.gov/forms-pubs/form-...or-individuals

https://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/faq/ivr/208.shtml

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Thank you. I just submitted a w-9 to them. I’ll look through those links you sent me.

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Most Americans will deduct exclusive use of home office costs, depreciation on fixed asset (such as a computer) travel & possibly health insurance. Are you keeping track of all of your business expenses?

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Yes I don’t have too many as I work from home although I need to buy a new Mac book.

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Do you dedicate a portion of your home to your work, if so you can deduct a commensurate percentage of your lighting and heating costs; do you use a dedicated phone line (f not, track business calls on your bill); do you buy paper for your printer or other office supplies; have you bought a filing cabinet; do you buy postage; give business gifts; take a colleague for a meal; tally mileage driving to a business meeting; purchase a new dictionary or subscribe to business-related publications; pay dues to a professional association -- there are a zillion things you can track and write off as a self-employed worker.

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

Thank you. I’ll make sure I keep track of it and research what else I can expense.

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

See if you have a local small business development center/council/organisation. If they're anything like the one near me they will spend an hour or two going through what you need to know about keeping accounts, paying taxes and answering your questions, at no cost to you.

The equivalent of these guys Maine Small Business Advising & Training | Maine SBDC

Re: Tax advice - freelance writer
 

There are a couple of ways you can deduct the cost but a rough guide is that you can deduct 1/3 of the depreciation per year for 3 years.