What Can I Claim on My Taxes If I Am an Independent Contractor

About the author: Tina Orem is NerdWallet`s authority on taxes and small businesses. His work has been published in various local and national media. Read more You can claim your office space as a tax deduction. If you rent an office, the money spent on rent can be deducted. Home offices can be claimed as tax deductions if you have a separate room that is only used for business. In these circumstances, you can deduct a portion of your mortgage interest, utilities, repairs, insurance and amortization. You can deduct phone and Internet expenses by having separate business accounts or by deducting the portion of your Internet and phone bill that is used for business purposes. These payments are not considered wages or salaries for tax purposes because the seller does not deduct taxes. This means that no federal income tax, No Social Security tax, or no medicare tax is deducted before you receive the money. However, be careful how you decide to receive payment – some services, such as PayPal, may charge a fee. So wait, where is the trigger? While you only had to pay double the self-employment tax, you can now deduct half of that amount of tax from your net income.

So while you`ll have to pay taxes to be your own boss, the IRS views those extra costs as a business expense. In addition, the self-employment tax is calculated on 92.35% of your net income and not on your gross business income. If you classify an employee as an independent contractor and do not have a reasonable basis to do so, you may be liable for tax on that employee`s payroll (the relief provisions explained below do not apply). For more information, see Section 3509 of the Internal Revenue Code. It`s a good idea to talk to your accountant before claiming these tax deductions. They will be able to catch all those that are missing and tell you which ones do not apply to you. For about 1099 contractors, vehicle costs can be a valuable source of deductions. If your car or truck is in the name of your company and is used 100% for commercial purposes, it is fully deductible. If you continue to earn income as an independent contractor in 2017, you may be required to file estimated quarterly tax payments.

The first payment is due on April 18, 2017 (see IRS Form 1040-ES for the form, spreadsheet, and address to which you must send the form; You must send it separately from your tax return). Quarterly payments are also due no later than June 15, September 15 and January 15. If you suffer a loss caused by theft, vandalism, natural disaster, car accident, etc. You can deduct the dollar amount from the loss of more than $100. If you have the misfortune of suffering more than one loss in a tax year, you can deduct $100 from the dollar amount of each loss minus the funds received from your insurance policy. Once you have this amount in dollars, subtract the amount from what is 10% of your AGI. If there is a balance, you can deduct this value. Deductions reduce your taxable income for the year. Independent entrepreneurs claim them as business expenses on their taxes. Depending on the type of business you own, your deductible expenses may include, “Depreciation for independent contractors is the icing on the freelancers` cake,” we`re now telling us. What you can deduct: A portion of your mortgage or rent; property taxes; the cost of utilities, repairs and maintenance; and similar expenses. As a general rule, this deduction is only available to the self-employed; Employees generally cannot take advantage of the home office deduction.

Almost all business conversations cannot be deducted for tax purposes. However, you may be able to get a tax deduction for some of the entertainment if, for example, food is included in the price of an entertainment ticket. You will need a detailed list of what is included in the ticket price as proof of deduction. The IRS will not intervene to correct your return if you do not claim a deduction for which you are eligible. It is in your interest to be aware of the points that you can write off like the cost of doing business. Your deductions should include all necessary and ordinary expenses related to your work. While there are many tax benefits to being an independent contractor, here are our suggestions as the top 10 potential depreciation for independent contractors. Question: I quit my job in early 2016 and then worked part-time in consulting for my former company. I was paid a few thousand dollars as an independent contractor. What tax forms do I need to file and what can I deduct? Whether you claim the home office deduction, you can deduct the business portion of your telephone, fax and Internet expenses.

The key is to deduct only expenses that are directly related to your business. For example, you can deduct Internet-related costs related to running a website for your business. Some people don`t like to pay insurance premiums because they perceive them as a waste of money if they never have to make a claim. The corporate insurance tax deduction can help mitigate this aversion. Taxpayers have the option to deduct state and local income taxes or state and local general sales taxes from federal income tax. You can tell the IRS to pay your tax refund directly into an IRA by filling out IRS Form 8888 when you file your taxes. It is important to note that tax laws are constantly changing and these provisions can be changed or expanded at any time before 2025. A review of the most common taxes and deductions for the self-employed is necessary to keep you informed of any changes needed to your estimated quarterly tax payments. Independent contractors can deduct the cost of a home office if they use part of their home regularly and exclusively for an independent business. For more information, see the IRS Home Office Deduction Fact Sheet and Publication 587 Professional Use of Your Home. If you qualify, you have two options to take the deduction: You can use the simplified option, which allows you to deduct $5 for each square foot of your deductible home (up to a maximum depreciation of $1,500).

Or you can use the regular method, which is based on your actual expenses and deducts a portion of your mortgage interest or rent, utilities, property taxes, home insurance, and other expenses based on the percentage of your home you use for your work. For example, if your home office represents one-fifth of the size of your home, you can deduct 20% of those expenses. You can also deduct the total cost of some direct expenses for your home office. B for example the cost of maintaining and repairing this part of your home. For more information, see IRS Form 8829 Expenses for the Professional Use of Your Home. Even if you don`t take advantage of the home office deduction, you can deduct the cost of a phone you use for labor, fax, and internet expenses. However, you want to make sure that you only claim expenses that are directly related to your 1099 contract work. So, if you only have one phone, you usually take the estimated percentage of time you spend using the phone for work. However, if you have a second phone line that you use exclusively for business, you can deduct 100% of that phone bill. The same rule applies to your Internet bill. Independent contractor status can apply regardless of the structure of your business. You may be considered an independent contractor if you operate as a sole proprietor, form a limited liability company or ONE LLC, or adopt a business structure.

As long as you are not classified as an employee, you can be considered an independent contractor. For tax purposes, the IRS treats independent contractors as self-employed. This means that you are subject to different tax payment and registration rules than employees. You can offer your employees up to $5,000 in care services for your loved ones. If your spouse is your employee, that $5,000 can be used to care for your own children. These services are excluded from the salary, so they are deductible for you as an independent contractor. Care benefits are tax-free for the employee, even if the employee is your spouse. .