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I am an Independent Contractor with Plexus Worldwide, direct sales company. Do I need to have a small business license in order to claim tax write-offs; cell bill, etc..?

Write-offs such as office space, cell phone bill, office supplies, etc... Or can I still make these claims with no business license?

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I am an Independent Contractor with Plexus Worldwide, direct sales company. Do I need to have a small business license in order to claim tax write-offs; cell bill, etc..?

You don't need a business license for IRS purposes.  If you are self-employed in any capacity, you owe tax on your net income after expenses.  

Licensing would be a state law item and the benefits of having one or the problems of not having one would depend on the laws of your state.

I am an Independent Contractor with Plexus Worldwide, direct sales company. Do I need to have a small business license in order to claim tax write-offs; cell bill, etc..?

Here is some general info for you

If you have Self Employment income you have to file a schedule C in your personal 1040 return. You may get a 1099Misc for some of your income but you need  report all your income.  So you need to keep your own good records.

Here is some reading material……

IRS information on Self Employment….
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Employed/Self-Employed-Individuals-Tax-Center"...>

Pulication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p334.pdf</a>

Publication 535 Business Expenses
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf">http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/p535.pdf</a>

Self Employment tax (Scheduled SE) is generated if a person has $400 or more of net profit from self-employment on Schedule C.  You pay 15.3% for SE tax on 92.35% of your Net Profit greater than $400.  The 15.3% self employed SE Tax is to pay both the employer part and employee part of Social Security and Medicare.  So you get social security credit for it when you retire.  You do get to take off the 50% ER portion of the SE tax as an adjustment on line 27 of the 1040.  The SE tax is already included in your tax due or reduced your refund.  It is on the 1040 line 57.  The SE tax is in addition to your regular income tax on the net profit.

There is also QuickBooks Self Employment bundle you can check out which includes one Turbo Tax Home & Business return....
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed">http://quickbooks.intuit.com/self-employed</a>


PAYING QUARTERLY ESTIMATES
You must make quarterly estimated tax payments for the current tax year (or next year) if both of the following apply:
- 1. You expect to owe at least $1,000 in tax for the current tax year, after subtracting your withholding and credits.
 
- 2. You expect your withholding and credits to be less than the smaller of:
    90% of the tax to be shown on your current year’s tax return, or
  100% of the tax shown on your prior year’s tax return. (Your prior year tax return must cover all 12 months.)
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