It’s tax time! For some this season brings a sense of joy and for some (read: entrepreneurs) the tax season can be super daunting. Last week I attended a fun breakfast sponsored by Turbo Tax and they shared some awesome tips for Freelancers/Bloggers/Entrepreneurs that I am so excited to share with you today! I learned a TON and since this is my first half year working for myself I was happy to get a crash course and ask all the questions I needed.
7 Easy Tax Tips For Entrepreneurs & Bloggers
- Separate business and personal: When you are self employed it can be super easy to blur the lines of what you spend for business and personal. The panel advised that when you are doing business specific meetings/trips/purchases make sure you keep a log of it separately by either entering the expenses in quickbooks or scanning receipts so you have them ready for tax time.
- Prioritize paying yourselves first: This one was a lightbulb moment for me. The panelists recommended always keeping your business payments in an entirely different account and paying yourself from there. Also instead of looking at your finances from a month to month view, look at it from a 12 month outlook. Figure out what you are expected to earn and work from there.
- Pay Taxes Quarterly: It makes a huge difference breaking the payment up into chunks vs. paying all at once in April.
- Write offs are not “free”: Somehow the word write off has been associated with free, but it’s actually not. You are actually just getting a 30% discount on the items that you purchase.
- Check in monthly: Take the time to have a “Money party” every single month where you do a full check up on your expenses and purchases. You could even make it fun with adult beverages! 🙂 The point of this is to make taking care of your finances monthly not only a fun event but one that you can look forward to and stay consistent with every month.
- Look at “treats” differently: Another way to think about how you use your money is to shift from a focus of treating yourself with things vs. treating yourself by focusing on saving for a rainy day fund or paying off a credit card.
- What to do about 1099s?: When the payment is over $600 or more bloggers/freelancers should get the 1099 in the mail its required by company. Even if you don’t receive one you should claim all money paid out.
Turbo Tax Self Employed
Turbo Tax has got you covered when it comes to handling the daunting task of preparing your taxes. The Turbo Tax Self Employed tool–It’s the first and only integrated tax preparation solution designed for self-employed people and includes these benefits:
- SmartLook: Provides access to live TurboTax experts and CPAs or Enrolled Agents who specialize in self-employment taxes and can offer personalized, real-time answers to your tax questions via one-way video – at no additional cost.
- ExpenseFinder: Finds deductible business expenses you may not know you can claim
- Subscription to QuickBooks Self Employed for year-round expense tracking at no extra cost until the next tax season.
You can check out the tool here!
What are some more posts to check out before you go?
How To Thrive While Stuck At Home (Free Checklist Printable)
10 Ways To Stay Productive When You Work At Home
5 Easy Ways To Use Fitness To Become A Better Entrepreneur
How are you feeling about tax time? Is it a stressful experience or an easy one?
Hi! I’m Nellie. I am an entrepreneur, a busy mama of 3 and a wife to my high school sweetheart. I have been sharing content for over 12 years about how to cook easy recipes, workout tips and free printables that make life a little bit easier. I have been featured in places like Yahoo, Buzzfeed, What To Expect, Mediavine, Niche Pursuits, HuffPost, BabyCenter, Mom 2.0, Mommy Nearest, Parade, Care.com, and more!
Get comfortable and be sure to come hang out with me on social. Don’t forget to grab your free fitness journal before you go!
Terri
Wednesday 15th of February 2017
I absolutely hate tax time. I ALWAys owe money since I work for myself. I had no idea that you only get 30% of write-offs. Knowing will definitely make me look at business spending differently.
Tamara
Monday 13th of February 2017
It's like you said - it can be daunting for us. Not fun. For Cassidy, it's lucrative and for me, it's not. So we meet somewhere in the middle. I find that I'm doing better and better financially, but that still hurts around April 15th. GREAT tips!
kita bryant
Monday 13th of February 2017
I don't like it because I no longer get a check anymore I gotta pay out stuff. They say that's good though when you have to pay out but I still miss my tax money lol. Great tips!
Janine Huldie
Monday 13th of February 2017
I will say that I try my best each month to keep my records of income and expenses. I have spreadsheets for each and as soon as I get paid for something or conversely pay for something business related, I make sure to add it to my spreadsheets. From there I have monthly and even annual tallies. I also do get 1099s from a few different companies, so I have to make sure I account for these, as well. Thank you though for sharing a few more tips, as every little bit helps where this is concerned.
Leslie
Monday 13th of February 2017
Ugh. I'm dreading tax time this year. These are some great tips. Thanks for sharing!