I am regestered self employed and am filling up my 1st tax return form.a pal of mine recently told me not to bother as I would probably end up owing the tax man .what should I do?

If you are self employed, taking cash for work, then yes, you will have to pay tax. It isn't like someone is deducting it for you. You can be honest and report your income, or you can be dishonest and not report it.

Tick

If you are self employed, taking cash for work, then yes, you will have to pay tax. It isnt like someone is deducting it for you. You can be honest and report your income, or you can be dishonest and not report it.

tick

I sub contract for a company but am registered as self employed ,so pay 20% every week.

Just to be in the safe side, you should submit your tax return, report everything. Who knows, you may get money back !

Tick

If you are sub contracting, especially, if you are having taxes withheld, then the company WILL be reporting your income via a 1099. This means the IRS will be aware of the income and, if you don't file a return, will make note of the fact. It's a very easy matter for the IRS to match your SSN reported via a 1099 with their list of submitted returns. This is a routine check they do.

So the likelihood of them going after you is pretty high. You should be doing quarterly estimates to make sure you are not underwithheld.

If you are sub contracting, especially, if you are having taxes withheld, then the company WILL be reporting your income via a 1099. This means the IRS will be aware of the income and, if you don't file a return, will make note of the fact. Its a very easy matter for the IRS to match your SSN reported via a 1099 with their list of submitted returns. This is a routine check they do.

So the likelihood of them going after you is pretty high. You should be doing quarterly estimates to make sure you are not underwithheld.

Thanks for the heads up,what's a 1099

1099 is used to report income and calculate taxes owed to the federal government of the United States.

i am regestered self employed and am filling up my 1st tax return form. .what should i do?Hello k:

You should fill out the form completely and honestly ALL the way to the end... Because the END is where you find out if you owe money or not. Without going all the way to the end, you're not going to KNOW whether you owe or not. In my view, it's not a good idea to run your business, or even your personal life, based on guesswork.

The good news is, unless you make a LOT of money, you probably don't owe taxes at all.

excon

i sub contract for a company but am registered as self employed ,so pay 20% every week.Hello again, k:

WHO are you registered with, WHO do you pay 20% to each week, how do you calculate it, and what form do you use to send it in?

Finally, are we talking about the United States?

excon

Hello again, k:

I'm going to end it on this note. It's clear that you don't understand this part of your business. That's OK, you don't have to. What you have to be good at is exactly what you ARE good at, and that's EARING the money in the first place.

As an entrepreneur, what you have to be GOOD at is hiring people to DO what you don't know how to DO. Taxes are apparently one of those things...

Fortunately, there are people who SPECIALIZE in these sorts of things, and I think you should get one. They're called CPA's. You can find one in your phone book, or even online. They don't charge very much, and most times they pay for themselves by saving you bunches of money, AND keeping you out of jail.

Later, dude.

excon

Income is reported to the IRS (assuming you are in the US) generally via two forms. Either a W2 for slaried employees or a 1099 for independent contractors. While its possible to have your client (the company that pays you) withhold money for taxes, generally its not done that way. The independent contractor files his own estimated taxes on a quarterly basis.

If you were not aware of what a 1099 is, then you are very unschooled as to how this works and you NEED to educate yourself fast. Its vwery possible you are being taken advantage of by your employer.

Please let us know the detail;s of this job and how it works so we can advise.

I am in london,england,I am a newley gas safe registered engineer and work for a company as self employed and pay 20%cis tax per week, and was told I can claim work related expences in April.your right about not being schooled in the matter!

OK, you need to speak to a solicitor or the equivalent of a CPA to understand how this works in the UK.

Please adjust your profile to indicate your are in the UK so people don't waste their time asnwering your questions with answers that don't pertain to you.