Author Topic: Taxes...  (Read 2146 times)

EUOL

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Taxes...
« on: April 03, 2007, 11:38:32 PM »
...for a writer suck big time.  Self employment tax.  It's a killer. 

Just had to rant for a bit.  The truth is, however, it's a little bit fun to poke around and discover all the deductions you can get when you're self-employed.  However, deductions don't really save you all that much, I've found.  12k of deductions has saved me about 2k on taxes, I think.
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The Lost One

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Re: Taxes...
« Reply #1 on: April 04, 2007, 05:51:33 AM »
It's true that tax deduction only save a little on taxes because they only reduce taxable income, thus only indirectly reducing the tax by an individual tax rate. Thus, if anyone tries to talk you into doing something because of a tax deduction, think hard about it. It usually isn't a good idea to do something just to get a tax deduction.

Credits are much better because a tax credit reduces the tax dollar for dollar and some of refundable (meaning you get the money even if you didn't owe any taxes). This is why my kids are a tax blessing, I get a tax credit for them. Honestly, I've have gotten thousands of dollars in refundable credits from Uncle Sam because of my kids. It's too bad that I have to spend several thousand more to raise my kids. Again, doing things just for tax reasons is not a good idea. But if you are going to have a kid, it is a huge tax break to have them born in December rather than January, advice that my wife and I did not follow with our last kid.
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Re: Taxes...
« Reply #2 on: April 06, 2007, 12:44:45 AM »
My mom is self employed. She's an artist, and always has been.
I want to be a publisher at Tor Fantasy when I grow up.

YAY

vadia

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Re: Taxes...
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2007, 01:25:41 AM »
It's true that tax deduction only save a little on taxes because they only reduce taxable income, thus only indirectly reducing the tax by an individual tax rate. Thus, if anyone tries to talk you into doing something because of a tax deduction, think hard about it. It usually isn't a good idea to do something just to get a tax deduction.

Clothes or other items that one has grown out of, donations when one has to get rid of it is one of the few actions that really have a positive net effect on tax deductions. 
You're not using it, and you probably won't.  You're going to get rid of it anyway -- take the tax deduction.