My husbands job does not take taxes out...he is a self contractor.?

Question

How do we go about doing our taxes? What are we able to deduct? Gas, food, clothing, housing, etc.? He drives around for a company. He has to pay for his own gas?
What exactly do we need to do? any suggestions will help?

Answer 1

He can almost certainly take mileage, and probably a number of other expenses (not food and housing, and probably not clothes unless they are uniforms with a logo).

Your best bet would be to see a CPA (NOT somebody like H&R Block) for this year to find out what he can deduct and what records he needs to keep.

He'll be paying normal income taxes, plus self-employment tax which is 15.3% of his net (for social security and medicare). He'll file a schedule C and SE along with 1040.

Answer 2

First off, has he made any estimated tax payments? If not, you might have a problem. Does he have records of these expenses? If not, he may have a problem.

You can deduct, Schedule C, gas, travel, rent for an office, mileage, utilities, etc.. Clothing, NO. All your "housing," NO. Make sure you have good records.

With self employed people there is another tax that they forget about. You must pay 15.3% on top of your federal and state taxes. A W-2 employee pays social security and medicare. The employer matches this amount. Since there is no employer, the self employed person pays both parts.

Good luck - get Turbo Tax to help you do this. Don't do H&R Block

Answer 3

you need to keep a record of work related expenses such as gas, car repair, etc. He has to pay self employment tax which is double the amount taken out in medicare/social security taken out by employers. I think it is about 15.3%. This should be paid quarterly during the year. You will have to pay regular income tax and your own social security tax (that is the main thing in being an contractor rather than an employee). You will have to use for 1040 to enter total self employment income. You will be able to deduct one half of the self employement tax from you gross income to figure you total income tax. It is best to go to a tax preparer and pay attention to what they do so that you will be able to do it next year on your own and save money. Most important MAKE SURE that you make estimated tax payments during the year or you may get penalized if you owe more than 500 hundred in self employment tax at the end of the year.

Answer 4

www.irs.gov Get the instructions for form SE. It should tell you what you can and can not deduct. I had an ex that was self-contracted and if I remember correctly it was 50% gas OR mileage. There is a way to do housing cost too or partial IF it was used as teh business place as well. With this you really are better off having a professional do them though. Just gather EVERy reciept you have and take them with you.