Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.
This time of year many folks seem to have questions about where different business expenses go on your annual income taxes, or if the even have to file. Generally, you should get your answers from people in the know–that means directly from the IRS.
Non-official websites and forums are not a good place to get answers. You’ll never know if the person supplying the info actually has a good understanding of the laws or if they just talk a good game if you don’t go to the source.
In that vein, I offer a few official IRS website links that I have found very helpful for filing income taxes as a Sole Proprietorship (info on business structures).
|
Do I Need to File a Tax Return? and Do I Need to Report a small income (or loss) from my sales? If you had net earnings from self-employment of at least $400 or need to file income taxes for any other reason (like a day job or filing jointly with a spouse) you generally need to file & report all income. For details from the IRS on when you need to file: Do I Need to File a Tax Return? Recordkeeping Info from the IRS Sole proprietorships report income and expenses on the Schedule C and submit it with their 1040 to the IRS (and to the state where required–not all states have income taxes, some states have business income taxes when there is no state income taxes for individuals so it’s best to find out what your state rules are from your own state). Form 1040, Schedule C, PDF file This is the IRS’s instructions for the Schedule C: Instructions for the 1040 Schedule C The instructions for the Schedule C skip a few line numbers leaving you without much needed info–it seems to be because the information is too complex to be included in the document. In my search for more information I have founds answers to many of the instruction’s missing line numbers in the IRS documents further down the page, but before you get to the details of filling out the Schedule C you should understand a bit about the IRS’s Estimated Taxes often referred to as Quarterly Taxes. Estimated Quarterly Taxes At the bottom of this page (below the Schedule C help links), there are more IRS help links for filing Quarterly Estimated Taxes if it turns out you need to pay quarterly. Links below open in a new window or tab depending on your browser settings. I list both PDF files and HTML pages when I can:
|
Need more help? See the middle of this blog post for how to contact the IRS by phone or find an IRS office in your area where you can speak with someone in person:
IRS Help Contact Links
This post is copyrighted–you do not have permission to repost this content elsewhere but you are welcome to link to it if you’d like to share the information.
Visit our Etsy shop: GoTo
