Hi,
I am trying to figure out how to arrive at the tax numbers for my 1099 contract:

Starting end of 2009, I have been residing in the US on L2 visa.
A few months ago, I had taken up a position as a 1099 contractor. Semi monthly pay basis.
Meanwhile, my husband would have a W2 (I would be shown as dependent)

My questions:
1) Am I eligible for any deductions in this case?
2) Are there any benefits in our case if we do a joint filing?
2) How much tax should I be expecting to pay if I had made about 16k in total?
3) If we go back to our home country (before 2011), would this affect my taxation?
4) Am I supposed to do the interim tax filing for 1099s - by Sep 15?

Any help is really, really appreciated!

1099-misc (nonemployee compensation) income: You will report your income and business related expenses on schedule C or C-EZ (Form 1040). Then you put net income (or loss) on line 12 of Form 1040. This income is subject to SE tax at 15.3% (this is shown on line 57 of Form 1040). Even though schedule C treats you as a self employed, which may not be correct for you, this is how you must report this income.
With 1099-misc you will end up paying about 7.2% more taxes as compared to W-2 employee. The benefit is that with 1099-misc you can deduct your business related expenses on schedule C or C-EZ whereas a W-2 employee you can deduct it only as itemized deduction subject to 2% AGI limit. Your U.S. Tax Return: Tax Filing by Self Employed Sole Proprietor or Independent Contractor (http://taxipay.blogspot.com/2008/04/tax-filing-by-self-employed-sole.html)

1. You can deduct your business related expenses on schedule C.
2. Normally it is better tax-wise to file joint return.
2. On 1099-misc income you will pay SE tax of 15.3%. Federal and state income tax will depend upon your total combined income on joint return.
3. For 2010 tax return you returning back in 2011 will not make any difference.
4. You are talking about estimated tax payment. If you did not pay any tax in 2009, you need to worry about this.

Thank you for a quick and clear response :)
So it's 15.3% as SE tax plus State and Fed tax (on our joint income).

I have a couple of follow up qs. Though:

Federal and state income tax will depend upon your total combined income on joint return.
How does this work if the spouses work in different states, but have a common base permanent location? I relocated for this job (only for week days), so was wondering what tax rate I should put in for a joint filing - my work state or his?
#2. I did not work during 2009 in US, so guess estimated payments don't affect me.

Thank You again!