Cindy4
Employee Tax Expert

Business & farm

Be sure to use your profit vs. your total income for the estimated taxes due

 

The deduction for half of the self-employment tax and the standard deduction come into play after your adjusted gross income is calculated using your self-employment income and any other income you have.  The same for the QBI, which you could qualify for as an individual contractor if you're not a specified service trade or business.   For expenses that reduce the profit for your business use things like advertising, vehicle expenses, insurance, office expense, supplies and materials, equipment rental, etc.  There is no exhaustive list, but you can use anything directly related to generating the income.

 

The home office deduction is used for an area dedicated solely to business use.  You can use the simplified method based on square footage, or actual expenses.  Square footage still comes into play for the actual expenses method, but the difference is that with the simplified method you don't have to track and enter all of your rent, utilities, insurance, etc., you just get $5 per square foot up to a maximum of 300 sq ft.

 

The marginal tax bracket can be tricky to calculate, but since you make payments through the year you can adjust as you go based on profit.  One way to start out is use what you know you've made so far and the time it took to make it and multiply it out based on the remaining time left in the year.  If you overpay your estimated taxes, you can get a refund or have it applied to the next year.

 

Hope this helps!

Cindy

 

 

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