How do I to claim deductions for self-employment business expenses incurred in China on my 2009 tax filing, specifically Internet fees I paid to Chinese service provider in Chinese Yuan?

Hello,

Got a quick question. Are expenses incurred by a small business startup compound on a personal standard deduction? My scenario is below:

-I’m employed (not self-employment, at an actual company) and rent an apartment
-Say I incur ,000 in small business expense this year for a SIDE business.

Is this ,000 write off in conjunction with the standard deduction (of around 5k for single)? So, in other words, can my income be claimed to be 15k lower? If my startup costs incur ,000 is there a reason for me to NOT do the standard deduction? It seems awfully stupid that standard deductions exist, as I would’ve kept my own money instead of spending it on all this crap…

….are they talking about Income BEFORE deductions/taxes paid…

or are they talking about the bottom line on your 1040!????

say for example you have 0,000 in income on a self employment business…..but have 0,000 in expenses….is your "income" that they are talking about, the 0,000…or ,000????????

I have read that those with "incomes" over 0,000 are more likely to be audited….but what income are they talking about….gross…or net….after all expenses/deductions, etc??
I believe (I don’t have it here with me) but our AGI on our 1040 after everything was about ,000.

We have self employment, but we also both have full time jobs. Our losses on our self employment each year is almost always because of depreciation! if we didn’t have to add that in, we’d make a little!!!

I am a 1099 worker (I am pretty sure I am an employee, but that is a different saga altogether) who has been working for this company for over two years and has always paid her "self-employment" taxes. For two years in a row I have used TurboTax and shelled out a hefty sum to get the "Business Suite" editions. And, my tax bill has never been less than ,600 for a ,000-,000 gross annual income. However, some of my coworkers (who make more than I do per year) use tax preparers who somehow are using the same deductions I claim (auto, medical expenses, school, etc) and yet their tax bills are somewhere around 0 for a larger annual gross income than mine. I am wondering how in the world this is possible, and if it is possible for me to use a tax preparer to somehow amend my last two years’ returns and get my money back.
Please, only people who actually know about this stuff and not just people guessing or being bored and making smart alecky comments. Much appreciated!
As for you, with the "canned response" which is prefaced with a needlessly abbrasive and insulting opener, I am pretty certain I will get fired if I do the SS-8. And seeing that I only make K a year, I don’t really have the time and resources to be unemployed while I go through lawsuits and whatever else. The job market, especially here, sucks and I have not been able to get a new job after aggressively trying for six months. So you can take your canned response and shove it.

I am an independent contractor as I work for Arbonne International selling cosmetics/skin care and am also a Real Estate Agent.

I file taxes jointly with my husband who gets a W-2.

I haven’t made more than 0 in 2007, so I won’t get a 1099 to file. However, I would like to claim my deductions of mileage, business meals, advertising, office supplies.

Do I claim these on a schedule C?

Will I flag an audit if I have a large income loss due to business expenses but no income?

I am using Turbo Tax and it is showing that I enter this as self-employment on schedule c, is this correct?

My wife and I are filing jointly. I work in a ‘traditional’ employment scenario – w2, salary, etc. She a musican with a mix of self employment, 1099, and W2 work. As such, she can deduct a musical instrument purchase, expensing it all in one year under section 179. This deduction will exceed her earnings. By filing jointly do we get to apply the deduction to our COMBINED income? My job is unrelated to the music business, though I do help her run her business. I’m hoping that this ‘large’ purchase will offset our combined income and tax liability.

Thanks for reading!