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Please reply 100-150 words each for these two posts:
1) Josh Hickman
Taxes For Freelancers
It is very interesting that this is the topic this week as I was having this same conversation with a customer who came into my work yesterday. She was a freelance architecture photographer and I told her that I was interested in pursuing editorial styling and photography. Her first advice to me regaurded taxes as she told me to always save 20% of each of my paychecks because of how heavily I would be taxed if I decided to pursue a freelance career.
As a freelancer you pay 4 times per year as there are 4 different quarters for freelance workers. Therefore as a freelancer you are responsible for keeping up with this calendar, knowing, and paying taxes when they are due within each quarter of the year. This is something I would like to do more research on as I currently do not completley understand this topic.
Also I have heard that there is barley any work during the beginning and end of each year. This makes a lot of since because companies are not pushing any product after christmas time as consumers are not quite as active. Therefore they do not need advertisements for any product which leaves freelance stylists without income until a bit later in the following year. Freelance workers should be responsible and prepare for this time in advance by saving money for this two to four month period within the year.
Getting help on your taxes from a professional is something that I will probably always do when it comes to tax season and is something that I would deffinetly recomend. Personally I get very stressed out when it is time to do my taxes since I am not great with numbers and I honestly dont understand what a lot of the boxes are actually asking for. Getting help with your taxes from a professional is a great way to accurately do your taxes and is the best way to get the most out of your tax return.
Personal vs business expenses are also very important when working freelance. My mom is a freelance real estate agent and she always stressed the importance of this to me as I plan to pursue a freelance career. She said that it is important to accurately keep track of how much you are using your phone and car for business vs personal time so that you can file this when it comes to tax season.
2) Hannah Stevens
A large majority of stylists are independent contractors and while this comes with a lot of freedom, it also comes with a lot of responsibility. The freedom allows stylists to choose the jobs they want rather than being assigned to them by an agency. The responsibility comes with the documents that must be accounted for. Contract agreements, pull letters, pull lists, invoices, and vouchers are all important documents that stylists must keep. These essential business documents must be kept in a safe place that can be revisited and not misplaced. It takes a lot of organization skills and time management, especially when it comes time to fill your taxes.
Filing taxes as an independent contractor can be difficult because you must keep track of your own expenses rather than having another entity keep track of your pay like in a regular corporate job. A self-employed stylist has the state, local, and federal tax responsibilities that come with running a business. The essential financial record that they need to keep when it comes time to file taxes includes gross receipts, expenses, travel expenses, and assets. Independent contractors are treated as self-employed individuals by the IRS, which essentially means that they are expected of a different set of tax payments and filing rules than employees. Adding to the difficulty that independent contractors face. On top of that, they must keep track of all of their deductibles, in order to save money. Since independent contractors aren’t getting a consistent paycheck from an employer they must make sure to save money. When taxes are due, they are expected to pay all the money they owe in taxes out of pocket. Independent contractors should also keep in mind the value of retirement planning. In a lot of jobs, the company pays for the employee to have a 401K, a retirement savings plan. However, because independent contractors don’t work for a company, they should make sure to invest money in their retirement.
Smart asset recommends working with a financial advisor dependent on the amount of income that a person is bringing in from their freelance work to make sure they are doing everything correctly. They also emphasize the importance of keeping a good record-keeping system. That way it is easy to revisit documents when they are needed. There are advantages and disadvantages to any job and type of business model but it is important to keep in mind that independent contractor work requires an organized and meticulous person.
Source: https://smartasset.com/taxes/independent-contractor-taxes
Thanks so much!!
