Taxes? but no business?

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aim high

aim high

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My family usually goes through an accountant for taxes but i want to do it myself this year with turbo tax or something. what would i do for my affiliate earnings? i was told that i could write off a bunch of things like a new hard drive as a business expense, but i'm not an established/registered business. how would i go about doing that?
 


I know in Canada/Australia as long as you're operating as a Sole Proprietor (Canada) or a Sole Trader (Australia) you can operate under your own name without registering the business name.

So when I do my taxes next July, I can operate as Hannah McIntyre, and not have a registered business but still declare expenses.

But yeah, don't have a clue what it's like for the USA.
 
exactly. your accountant is one of your biggest allies. definitely not something to skimp on.
 
I paid for an accountant last year and he saved me a load of money. He helped me setup a solo 401k and I was able to put a bunch of money in there and deduct it from my taxes.

This year though my income went way down and I'm just going to use last year's tax return as a template to do it myself.

If you made $50k or less, I think it is easiest to just fill out the schedule B (I think that is the business one?) and deduct all your expenses on your own.

If you are still paying a bunch of taxes, you should definitely start putting money into retirement accounts (ira, roth ira, sep, solo 401k, etc..)

If you have lots and lots of money coming in 200k+ I think (not totally sure) it's best to set up some sort of corp.

(I'm not a tax professional or financial planner, see an accountant or other professional, blah, blah.)
 
Just call up some local accountants in your area. Most of the time they will offer a free consultation.
 
Listen to me now...

Get an accountant.

Trust me... when you screw up trying to save a few bucks and 2 years later uncle sam comes a knocking looking for an extra 20k immediately. It aint freaking pretty.
 
Hannah is right for Canada. I do not need to register a biz in order to expense a bunch of shit. I can expense a room in my house (office), all computer stuff and peripherals, advertising (obviously), 1 vehicle + gas (minimal though as this is obviously a home biz that doesn't require travelleing).

Not sure about the States whether you need to register a biz in order to enjoy the tax benefits.
 
Spliffic said:
Hannah is right for Canada. I do not need to register a biz in order to expense a bunch of shit. I can expense a room in my house (office), all computer stuff and peripherals, advertising (obviously), 1 vehicle + gas (minimal though as this is obviously a home biz that doesn't require travelleing).

Not sure about the States whether you need to register a biz in order to enjoy the tax benefits.
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yeah im not registered either. how do you prove expenses? receipts? would credit card statements be enough proof? could i write off 180 dollars worth of wendys and tacobell as an expense? :D haha. (serious)
 
Tax inspectors just LOVE people who do their own accounts.

Either you don't claim back most of the stuff you could,
or you end up claiming the wrong stuff back and they sting you in an audit.

If you're making any kind of proper money, get an accountant.
 
amateursurgeon said:
Tax inspectors just LOVE people who do their own accounts.

Either you don't claim back most of the stuff you could,
or you end up claiming the wrong stuff back and they sting you in an audit.

If you're making any kind of proper money, get an accountant.
Click to expand...

i wouldn't say "proper". probably just 3-4k in affiliate revenue.
 
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