Taxes

Articles on Money Q&A about taxes and how they affect and interact with your family’s personal finances.

The Role of Form 1099 in Options Trading Taxation: What You Need to Know

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How to Claim an Income Tax Refund

Exploring the reams of options trading isn’t just about picking smart choices for your investments; it also means knowing how taxes work.  One big aspect of taxes in options trading is Form 1099. The goal is to help you see why Form 1099 is important and how it enables you to calculate tax on options trading. Here’s an article to help you understand the basics of Form 1099 step by step. Form 1099: A Simple Breakdown Form 1099 is a tax document that records different types of investment income, including the revenue generated from options trading. Brokerage firms issue this document at the close of each tax year, summarizing your trading activities and providing insights into gains, losses, and other … Read more

Taxes Working From Home – 3 Important Considerations During COVID-19

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How You Can Save on Taxes

As millions of taxpayers prepare to file their 2020 taxes, a question that many telecommuting employees, independent contractors, and freelancers are wondering is: which of my remote work expenses can I write off on my taxes, and how much? Here’s what you need to know about taxes working from home. Taxes Working From Home The answer varies widely, depending on your employment classification, expenses incurred during the pandemic, whether your employer reimbursed you for remote work-related expenses, and which state you live in. To help you understand what your tax situation might look like this year, here are three of the most important things to know before filing your 2020 taxes: Employees vs. Independent Contractors The Tax Cuts and Jobs … Read more

bSolo Review – The Smart Tax Assistant for Solo Entrepreneurs

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Working at home on your own schedule can be both a tremendously fulfilling and frustrating experience for novice and seasoned solo entrepreneurs alike. Whether you’re a freelancer for multiple companies or running your own business, juggling multiple sources of income, accounting for countless expense categories, and figuring out your estimated quarterly tax payments can be a headache. Fortunately, there’s a new software program designed to change all that, and that’s bSolo. Launched in July 2018, bSolo is made just for solo entrepreneurs, or “soloists”, who want to simplify their tax payments and streamline their business operations. Specifically, bSolo specializes in quarterly tax payment planning, which is often a source of confusion for many entrepreneurs who don’t know whether they’re overestimating … Read more

5 Things About Deducting Health-Related Expenses If You’re Self-Employed

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Health insurance and medical expenses are complicated. Having to navigate your own taxes, deducting health expenses, and own health insurance premiums without much external help can be a nightmare if you’re disorganized. Fortunately, the IRS offers many advantages for self-employed folks when it comes to paying for your own health policies instead of having an employer subsidize these expenses for you. While the federal government is currently debating how to overhaul both the U.S. tax code and health insurance legalities, here are the most recent guidelines on deducting health expenses for self-employed individuals. Deducting Health Expenses  Who Qualifies for the Health Insurance Premium Deduction?  Thanks to the Small Business Jobs Act, self-employed individuals could be eligible for a tax deduction … Read more

How to Start Filing Quarterly Taxes as a Freelancer

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Taxes are complicated for just about anyone. But, for contracted workers, freelancers, and self-employed individuals, filing quarterly taxes can be downright nightmarish. While it helps that income taxes are changing, and the standard deduction is increasing for 2018, there are still multiple hurdles to filing and paying taxes each year. If you or your accountant realize you might need to start making quarterly payments, also known as “estimated payments”, on your taxes due to income not being withheld, then here are a few crucial things to know beforehand. Filing Quarterly Taxes as a Freelancer Do you Have to Submit Quarterly Payments? To determine whether you need to pay estimated taxes quarterly to the IRS, Publication 505–specifically, Figure 2-A on page … Read more

Taxes Are Changing – Find Out How You Can Save on Your Income Taxes

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How You Can Save on Taxes

With a stroke of a pen, the president signed the new tax reform law into existence. The law, which is formally known as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, takes effect on January 1, 2018. The act will mean millions of businesses and consumers will see their taxes change for the 2018 filing cycle. The law is widely known to reduce the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Many individual income brackets change as well. So how can you save on your taxes for next year? How You Can Save on Taxes Standard Deduction Taxpayers have the option of either itemizing their taxes or taking the standard deduction. The standard deduction is the first few thousand dollars … Read more