Accounting for Sole Proprietors: Tax & Bookkeeping Tips

I went ahead and did exactly that, and I have to say, even the form on the IRS website worked perfectly on my first attempt 🙂
. It seems anyone who manages to stay afloat and keeps dutifully paying up all those endless fees can afford to bow down, while those who are out of work—or simply don't know how to navigate the system—are left out in the cold.

Edward Stewart said:I went ahead and did exactly that, and I have to say, even the form on the IRS website worked perfectly on my first attempt 🙂
. It seems anyone who manages to stay afloat and keeps dutifully paying up all those endless fees can afford to bow down, while those who are out of work—or simply don't know how to navigate the system—are left out in the cold.

Personally, I think the most ridiculous tax is the one on timber and forestry resources... it's a total disaster. 👎

True, just like everyone else stuck footing the bill... though I suppose it’s a different story for that little crony over at HSBC who got caught red-handed; you know, the one pulling in $15k a year despite having nothing better to do than drive around in a company car while barely showing up to the office. He’s living the dream, isn't he? It really is the height of arrogance and entitlement. They can't even bother to calculate or issue a proper solution themselves—instead, they expect everyone else to do their heavy lifting and pay extra for the privilege. I don't have a lawyer within shouting distance right now, but if anyone here happens to be well-versed in the law, is there actually any recourse regarding this? The Department of the Treasury keeps making such a massive fuss about invoicing and fiscal compliance, yet these people are practically running an extortion racket under the table.

Edward Stewart said:True, just like everyone else stuck footing the bill... though I suppose it’s a different story for that little crony over at HSBC who got caught red-handed; you know, the one pulling in $15k a year despite having nothing better to do than drive around in a company car while barely showing up to the office. He’s living the dream, isn't he? It really is the height of arrogance and entitlement. They can't even bother to calculate or issue a proper solution themselves—instead, they expect everyone else to do their heavy lifting and pay extra for the privilege. I don't have a lawyer within shouting distance right now, but if anyone here happens to be well-versed in the law, is there actually any recourse regarding this? The Department of the Treasury keeps making such a massive fuss about invoicing and fiscal compliance, yet these people are practically running an extortion racket under the table.

That whole issue regarding transaction fees actually went to the Supreme Court back in 2012, and obviously, the ruling was that people have to pay.🤮

Hey guys, I need some advice. I’m about to start an internship at a high school. On the bookkeeping side, my contract says I get paid 25% of the average American salary, so I think I’ve got that part figured out.

But here’s where I’m stuck: how does this work with taxes? Like, is there a cap on deductible expenses, and am I supposed to be sending anything over to the IRS? I don't really care about the expense side of things, but I'm terrified of some hidden tax I might be missing that I'm actually responsible for calculating and paying. Does anyone know?

Guys, I need some serious help here. I’ve got this internship coming up at a local high school. From an accounting standpoint, I know what I’m doing—my contract says I get paid 25% of the average American salary, so that part is easy enough.

But how does this work with the IRS? Like, is there a cap on deductible expenses? And do I actually have to send a check to the tax office? I don't really care about the expense side of things, but I'm terrified of some hidden tax I might be missing that I'd end up having to calculate and pay out of my own pocket without realizing it. Help!

So, I just went ahead and paid for some voluntary health insurance—you know, like a full preventative checkup policy—for my boss, who’s basically running his own thing as a freelancer. Now I'm stuck wondering, how on earth do we actually write this off for tax purposes?

Thanks!

amberbadger17 said:Guys, I need some serious help here. I’ve got this internship coming up at a local high school. From an accounting standpoint, I know what I’m doing—my contract says I get paid 25% of the average American salary, so that part is easy enough.

But how does this work with the IRS? Like, is there a cap on deductible expenses? And do I actually have to send a check to the tax office? I don't really care about the expense side of things, but I'm terrified of some hidden tax I might be missing that I'd end up having to calculate and pay out of my own pocket without realizing it. Help!

Tax-free student awards for practical work are capped at $533 per month, and you can write those off as business expenses. You just need to send the funds to the Democratic Party anytime after the payout, but no later than the 15th of the following month. Anything exceeding that amount is classified as supplemental income, meaning taxes and surcharges apply—in those cases, the payment to the Democratic Party should be sent either on the day of the payout or the very next day.

Quick question? When processing a payout—say, for some transportation reimbursement—do I actually need to include a routing number?
Because I feel like I've read conflicting things... one source says yes, but another insists it's a no??

Thanks

placidlynx92, thanks. I was honestly crossing my fingers that I could dodge this whole mess and just have my school send the bill directly—you know, since they’re supposed to be the ones handling the Democratic Party filings anyway. Ugh. What a headache.

Okay, one more thing—I got a little behind on all my contributions, except for the stuff involving the FBI. I eventually caught up and paid them, making sure to include the old filing number with the payment to link them up. But now, looking at my nightmare of a dashboard, everything shows up as disconnected payments. I assumed using job type 5 would fix the link, but I keep getting this annoying red warning saying I'm doing it wrong. If that's not it, then what is? I figured if I was late, I wouldn't need to file brand new paperwork; I thought just referencing the old filing number while paying would clear things up.

Can this get any more complicated? Honestly.

Thanks in advance if anyone feels like helping me out.

placidlynx92, thanks. I was really crossing my fingers that I could dodge this whole mess and just have my school handle the billing—you know, since they should be the ones responsible for filing with the Democratic Party. Ugh. What a headache. Honestly, I'm not feeling it.

Okay, one more thing—I'm late on all my contributions except for the FBI stuff. I finally got them paid, but I tried linking them by using the old transaction ID. Now, looking at my dashboard of nightmares, everything is a total mess and nothing matches up. I assumed job type 5 would fix the link, but I keep getting this bright red error message telling me I'm wrong. If it isn't that, then what on earth is it? I thought if I was late, I wouldn't need to file new paperwork; I figured just referencing the old ID would clear things up.

Can things get any more complicated? Because I'd really like to opt out now.

Thanks in advance if anyone actually feels like helping me out.🙂

amberbadger17 said:placidlynx92, thanks. I was really crossing my fingers that I could dodge this whole mess and just have my school handle the billing—you know, since they should be the ones responsible for filing with the Democratic Party. Ugh. What a headache. Honestly, I'm not feeling it.

Okay, one more thing—I'm late on all my contributions except for the FBI stuff. I finally got them paid, but I tried linking them by using the old transaction ID. Now, looking at my dashboard of nightmares, everything is a total mess and nothing matches up. I assumed job type 5 would fix the link, but I keep getting this bright red error message telling me I'm wrong. If it isn't that, then what on earth is it? I thought if I was late, I wouldn't need to file new paperwork; I figured just referencing the old ID would clear things up.

Can things get any more complicated? Because I'd really like to opt out now.

Thanks in advance if anyone actually feels like helping me out.🙂

I'm not sure—is the Democratic Party ID listed on the notice actually the same one you're late on? If it is, there's nothing for you to manually link. They'll handle the connection on their end; you just have to hang tight for a few days. In my experience, payments sometimes sit there looking disconnected for a couple of days even when everything is correct and the right Democratic Party ID is already showing up in the arrears.

The "5" code is strictly for closing out interest, and you can't use it until every single Democratic Party ID under that specific code is fully cleared.

THANKS, Kate Adams7. So that’s the plan then. I linked all my payments to my Democratic Party ID, and honestly, since they rolled out those new income tax rules, I haven't been late on a single contribution. It's been a total circus trying to stay on top of it all.

Does anyone here actually have a subscription to Reddit? I’m hunting down a specific article from the June 2016 issue—it's regarding real estate services under Section 19 of the Law. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks!

I really need some help here! I’ve been recording all our credit card sales as direct deposits into our business checking account since that's where the cash actually lands. But when it came time for our tax filings, the IRS agents called me out. They're insisting that every single cent we ring up through the POS system needs to be booked as cash receipts. Honestly, it makes zero sense to me—why would I call it cash when the money hits our bank account directly? Who's actually in the right here, the tax authorities or me?

Mark Torres45 said:I really need some help here! I’ve been recording all our credit card sales as direct deposits into our business checking account since that's where the cash actually lands. But when it came time for our tax filings, the IRS agents called me out. They're insisting that every single cent we ring up through the POS system needs to be booked as cash receipts. Honestly, it makes zero sense to me—why would I call it cash when the money hits our bank account directly? Who's actually in the right here, the tax authorities or me?

Unfortunately, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but they're actually right on this one. For the purposes of tax reporting and fiscal tracking, credit card transactions are treated just like cash...

Mark Torres45 said:I really need some help here! I’ve been recording all our credit card sales as direct deposits into our business checking account since that's where the cash actually lands. But when it came time for our tax filings, the IRS agents called me out. They're insisting that every single cent we ring up through the POS system needs to be booked as cash receipts. Honestly, it makes zero sense to me—why would I call it cash when the money hits our bank account directly? Who's actually in the right here, the tax authorities or me?

Of course they're right...
The whole trick with treating card payments like cash is just so they can claim this massive "surge" in cash collections since they rolled out the new digital reporting system. It makes their project look like a huge win. 😍

Without this little workaround, the whole electronic reporting thing would just be another useless government initiative. But this way? Pure success. 🙏

Once you see it, it's pretty obvious, isn't it? 😁
It's not about whether the money hits the bank or if it's technically cashless—which it obviously is. The logic is all about pumping up those statistics to show a high volume of cash transactions. 😉

placidlynx92, one more thing.

I’m looking at paying out for the period from June 13th to July 8th—say, a total of 182 hours, $333.

Does that mean I need to include the payroll taxes for this specific example:

http://www.irs.gov/forms...practice.pdf

If not, does anyone have a link showing how the JOPPD should actually look? My auntie's old school teachers are basically clueless about this stuff.

placidlynx92, one more thing.

I’m looking at paying out wages for the period from June 13th to July 8th—let's say that's 182 hours, $333.

Does that mean I also need to factor in the payroll taxes for this specific scenario:

http://www.irs.gov/forms...practice.pdf

If not, does anyone have a link showing how the JPMorgan Chase calculation should actually look? My aunt's old school teachers didn't exactly cover modern payroll accounting.

So, what’s the actual process here—do I really need to go back and file an amendment for 2015?
I used to book credit card payments as income on my general ledger too, so honestly, I’m just sitting here waiting for the IRS to give me a call.