Cindy Wood
Active member
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2021
- Messages
- 45
thankyou so much for your support
Although I have never done freelance work as such, I am curious about this statement because I don't understand what you mean about the tax situation.I would love to do this but it's extremely difficult to be freelance in the US with the tax situation.
I'm in the US. I'm talking about being a freelancer/contract employee, not owning your own business.Although I have never done freelance work as such, I am curious about this statement because I don't understand what you mean about the tax situation.
I have had my own business several times, and each time it was not a shop or something like that, but rather something I did on my own and then either sold or it was a service I provided, which is similar to freelance work, perhaps.
In each case I simply got a business license and then filed income tax for my business and it was very simple. The only thing you need to do other than that is file tax payments quarterly if you make enough that this is required.
It's actually pretty simple if you just set it up as an owner-operated business, and I see no reason that freelance work couldn't be set up the same way. The people who pay you for your freelance work, if they are businesses themselves, will file a form with the gov. to report your earnings from them if they pay you over a certain amount for the year. Otherwise, you just keep track and report it yourself.
It does look to be quite complicated there, as I see you have to file self-employment taxes in addition to your primary tax return, and do the deductions dance. I think being a sole proprietor is fairly complicated just about everywhere - I hired an accountant, and pay him quarterly to keep me in line here in Portugal. Happily, in this tiny economy, that costs me around 70$ per quarter! One of the issues with freelancing platforms is that you are often paid only by a username, so don't have the employer's details to file. A substantial number of my freelance competitors on Fiverr are based in the US, so it must be possible!I'm in the US. I'm talking about being a freelancer/contract employee, not owning your own business.
I don't know that it is any different from having one's own owner-operator business if those are the things required. I paid self employment taxes which were no big deal to do, and filing a quarterly payment is easy too because you simply base it on what you earned last year, and then pay more or get some back according to what you made this year.It does look to be quite complicated there, as I see you have to file self-employment taxes in addition to your primary tax return, and do the deductions dance. I think being a sole proprietor is fairly complicated just about everywhere - I hired an accountant, and pay him quarterly to keep me in line here in Portugal. Happily, in this tiny economy, that costs me around 70$ per quarter! One of the issues with freelancing platforms is that you are often paid only by a username, so don't have the employer's details to file. A substantial number of my freelance competitors on Fiverr are based in the US, so it must be possible!