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March 05, 2008

Bend over for tax time!

I made just over $7000 last year, which puts me in the millionaire's circle for people who can almost afford to starve to death in style. Given that I made an annual income that would just barely allow me to make my rent in a residential hotel in Topeka, shouldn't the feds be giving me a tax break? Instead of charging me almost $1000 simply because I'm self-employed?

"Freeze! Let go of those bootstraps, missie, niiiiice and easy. Nobody's pulling herself up on my watch."

I gotta think I've made a mistake somewhere on the four forms I had to fill out. Sigh.

Posted by didofoot at March 5, 2008 02:42 PM

Comments

dude! 2 things.
1. 2 years ago my job thru San Jose was titled self-employment for some reason and i had to pay buckets on taxes. lame.
2. this year i made a little over 8K (sweet!) not self-employed and am getting $500 back which is TWICE what i paid in taxes.

conclusion: self-employment sucks.

Posted by: michele at March 5, 2008 08:01 PM

You are really screwed if you end up with a 1099 form, though I believe most of your obligation is for Social Security and Medicare. In theory, you can compensate by deducting work expenses, like the purchase of a computer, but that can get into a shady area, especially when "office" and "pantry" can be synonymous in your house.

Posted by: sean at March 5, 2008 08:07 PM

Yeah, I can't deduct home office expenses because sometimes we eat in here. Curse us! Why can't we eat in front of the TV every night like normal Americans, instead of just four times a week?

I did deduct a $40 tape recorder I bought to do interviews with.

I got three 1099s, but I'm not sure why that makes it worse. Email me if you have details on this, you're putting the fear of fed into me.

Posted by: didofoot at March 5, 2008 08:35 PM

1099s are just for telling you about additional income from which tax (like social security and medicare) have not been withheld. They're not inherently scary, except insofar as they hold the prospect of increased tax liability and no possibility of refund.

Posted by: MoltenBoron at March 5, 2008 08:58 PM

I got fucked over too because of the self-employment thing. Plus, I somehow ended up owing $900 when I did my own and then somebody smart did it and got me into refund territory. I'm never doing my own taxes again.

Posted by: jason at March 9, 2008 02:16 PM

based on the limited information you provided, there's no way you can owe $1000; even with self-employed income. There are tons of free income tax preparation places (usually in public libraries) that provide their services to low-income individuals -- you should also be entitled to the $600 tax rebate once you file. I highly recommend trying them, or if you want, you can send me more info and I'll help you figure it out.

Posted by: marina at March 9, 2008 09:35 PM

Hi Kris,
Danny mentioned your tax dilemma... you may want to try out TurboTax Freedom Edition - free for taxpayers who made $30K or less...
http://turbotax.intuit.com/taxfreedom/

Yes, I work for Intuit and I use TurboTax. :)

Posted by: claudine_sf at March 10, 2008 10:38 AM

wow, thanks you fellows. they've also got free help at the women's building so I might go there. I always wanted an excuse to go in anyway.

Posted by: didofoot at March 10, 2008 10:52 AM

my mom has a pseudo turbotax for last year's taxes which you are also welcome to borrow and install on your computer. you just input things and then it does all the work for you.

Posted by: michele at March 10, 2008 04:32 PM

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