When it comes to taxes, are you deducting everything you can?
Bryn wasn’t.
Bryn Mooth is an independent journalist and copywriter at Writes4Food. (Some CFC-ers probably know her as the former editor of HOW Magazine.) We’ve been following Bryn’s journey since she went out on her own last year, and recently, we talked about taxes.
In the first meeting with her accountant, Bryn had a big surprise:
She had a percentage in mind that she imagined paying Uncle Sam, but the actual number, “was significantly higher than I expected… I knew that I needed to account for self-employment tax and social security; what I didn’t realize is that, as an independent contractor … I need to pay my income tax quarterly… When I was employed by someone else, it was sort of off my radar…”
Having to pay a much bigger percentage than she expected was a “rude awakening” for Bryn. Fortunately, she had built up a financial cushion before becoming self-employed. This cushion was a huge relief.
Now, Bryn has a different mindset. Read about what she's planning to do going forward here on the Marketing Mix Blog.
And for guidance when it comes to taxes, we adore June Walker, tax advisor for the self-employed. Read her guest posts here on the Creative Freelancer Blog and check out here books, Self-employed Tax Solutions + Five Easy Steps, and her free resources.
A great tax guide that will help any freelancer in their tax issues is http://www.freelancetaxation.com .