I have been working as an Independent Contractor for my employer as of 9/11/08. I didn’t have a paycheck by the 9/15 so I will be paying my income from 9/11 on by the 01/15/09 quarterly pay date for small businesses. By the end of the year I will have earned about ,400 from this job. The only deduction I have is about for transportation.

I also held another job earlier in the year from which I earned about 0. Social Security and Medicare were witheld, but not income tax. Altogether I will have earned under the ,200 limit for the entire year of 2008.

What I am unsure of is if I still need to pay income tax. My quarterly earnings are such that I would have earned a taxable amount had I earned that much every quarter, so I am confused about that.

Also, how much of the 15.3% SS&M do I need to pay? I’ve seen literature talking about how half of Social Security and Medicare is usually paid by employers, half of it can be deducted from net earnings…it’s all very very confusing to me.

If anyone can give me an answer, or clarify this that’d be great. I’m not in the market for consultants (I already know some.)

From September 2008 to the end of the year, I made exactly 21 in babysitting income. I have no idea at this time if the mother of the child I watch is going to claim him, but after much research I think I must file as an independent contractor. I do the work in my home. The only thing she tells me to do is when to work and what to give him for food.

Question #1. Do I claim the money I earned in December even though I was not paid in December for that money?

Question #2. What are legal deductions I can take and is it worth it? I take him to storytime and Kidz Klub- so could I count that as a driving expense? Also, I must pay for all his food, and the first couple months his diapers/wipes. Are these deductible?

In regards to the ebay business, I sell items I find at the thrift store, in my home (already have from long ago) or things that are given to me by family members. I do this as a hobby. I made around 0.

Question #3. Do I count this as income?

Question #4. I kept very accurate records of what I earned, how much I paid for each item, what it sold for,- all boiling down to profit and loss. How do I report this, and would it be a seperate Schedule C from babysitting?

Question #5. What is deductible? My trips to the post office, paper to print packing slips, my time on the internet to post/list/respond, shipping materials, my trips to the thrift store?

We want to be able to get the most back as possible (as does everyone). We qualify for the EIC credit even with my income from babysitting/eBay. Would it be wise to show a loss?
Question #6. Can I claim part of my rent as an expense since I work out of my home? What about my car payment for either since I partly use it for business?

Lastly, where do I find information about moving expenses and what’s claimable?

This year I’m working as an independent contractor and I’ll be given a 1099 for tax purposes. I’m an umpire for an amateur baseball association. I am absolutely required to have internet access and a cell phone.

I did not have a personal cell phone before I started with this association. Can I deduct the full cost of a cell phone if it is used only for business purposes?

I already have a personal computer and internet access at my house. However, now that it is required for a job, can I deduct the cost of the internet service? What if I buy a new computer, is that deductible as long as I keep the old computer for my personal use?

Note: I do not intend to take the home office deduction because I do not have any one particular area of my house that is designated for business use only.

Hi there. I am going through Turbo Tax and am getting more confused. I had three jobs last year: two with standard W2′s and one with 1099 Misc income as I am an Independent contractor for them. I have a good amount of business expenses related to the 1099 income (k out of 12,500 income) Do I need to fill out a schedule C? I don’t have an LLC or anything of that nature. Not sure where to put these deductions. I originally put them with personal but maybe they should go directly with the business income? They keep asking me what basis. Cash, actual, etc. I am out of my league here! Sorry if this seems confusing; I remember why I hated accounting in college. thanks to anyone in advance!

I have a "real" job and make a yearly salary…which I receive a W-2 for. BUT, I am also hired as an independent contractor from the same company to perform services not related to my job. I’ve been performing these services for other companies as well, but just so happens this service is above and beyond (separate) from my regular "job".

I understand I can itemize my deductions for the 1099-MISC portion of my taxes. BUT, does that mean that the deductions also have to be put toward the W-2, or do standard deductions still apply to the W-2 portion? I have many deductions this year due to many business related expenses to grow the independant contractor side of being "self employed"….but dont know if thats going to make up for the amount of income on the W-2 as well. I am planning on using TurboTax and have hears that is great software that answers many questions, but was just curious.

My husband has been with the same employer for 15 years. They started with over 50 employees and today they are down to just the owner and my husband. My husband has been managing the business and working and getting a set salary. The owner does not want to shut down the business but the overhead is getting high (the rent was raised 5 times higher at Jan 2009 which really hurt). The owner does not want to loose my husband and has offered to give him work and 1099 him, This would mean eliminating insurance, WC, and the high rent. He will lease my husband a company truck (for a month) and refer the work to my husband and pay him has an independent contractor. My husband’s employer gave him extra money to get a business licences. His job currently does not provide any sort of life/health/retirement benefits just a salary. I carry the health coverage and we have a retirement set up privately.

Besides the tax (increased SS and Medicare deductions) is there anything else that is bad about being an independent contractor compared to the previous salary position he had.

Local jobs are hard to come by and we have a disabled child and hate to move. The only other option is a job that is salaried which would mean my husband traveling 3-4 days a week out of town, which would be stressful.
The work has been steady, just the overhead is high. It is the oldest business of its kind in our city and they have alot of repeat customers Ovehead went from 4k a month to 13k and for having one employee 13k a month is alot to pay. They still have average 15k month in profit, but after 13k overhead does not leave enough with 4k it was fine.
One person in our city bought up most of the prime downtown and that is when the rent raised. It took 4 months to get a slightly smaller place but it was still higher rent. The owner also stated that if the situation changed, he would bring him in as a partner or re-instate the salary. I have no reason to not believe the owner. Several times there were smaller financial issues with the company and the owner always paid the employees and did not draw his own salary.

I earned about 0 from various employers for extra gigs this year. I have not received 1099′s from them and I’m ready to do my taxes. Where/how do I report this income?
Also, I have a regular singing gig with an agency. The others I work as an independent contractor. In using Turbo Tax, do I use myself and my address as my business name and business address or just include it in my deductions as a performer?

My husband is a catastrophe claims adjuster and gets paid commission as an independent contractor. I understand business deductions, etc.. for him. Our 19 year old son (who is NOT a full time student and NOT a dependent) is working with my husband. How is the best way to pay him without getting all of us in trouble with taxes? We are providing room and board for him but need to pay him for his time as well. Would it be better for him to pay rent and buy his own food so he has deductions as an independent contractor also? I’m really confused and concerned about doing this the right way. Any help or suggestions will be greatly

is being held until I agree to sign a waiver releasing my employer his obligation to pay my state, federal, and payroll taxes. In other words allowing him to change my status to independent contractor. I’m not willing to do that because he hasn’t even come close to paying me my full salary. I was hired with as an employee to a small business with an offer letter in January for which I have the documentation. My paychecks, since being hired in January, reflected a tax deduction, but none were ever paid to the government. Now, in order to receive my final paycheck he is demanding I sign a waiver and is only willing to pay me 10 of the 19 days owed. Obviously this is illegal on many levels so what do I do to expedite the process?

I am an independent contractor for a ballet company. I also work part-time for a regular W-2 filing job. When filling out the vehicle expense section of Schedule C I do not understand what the difference is between business miles and commuting miles. Are commuting miles those between my W-2 job and home while business miles are those between the ballet company and home? So confused.