> So I need to gather up receipts for the time I've been 1099 then. I'll > probably take all this to H&R block and just not deal with it. I'm
Personally, I'd stay away from H&R Block. They charge per form that has to be filed and the people there, while qualified, are generally part-time and not year-round CPAs who have intimate knowledge of the finer points of the tax code. Find a decent independent CPA or tax firm and spend the extra time with them to do it right. Form a relationship with them and meet quarterly to review where you are and estimate your tax burden and make adjustments as you go through the year. You'll probably save a lot of money in the long run. As for expenses, the last time I went down that hole I was told that you can deduct a percentage of your rent/mortgage in proportion to the total square footage of the home used for the business, but only if that area of the home is used ONLY for the business. For example, if your home office also doubles as an entertainment room for the kids on the weekends, then it may be disqualified. The rules and advice I got in that area were fuzzy, so talk to a CPA. As for expenses, track them and keep receipts. Usually you will need to deduct expenses in the tax year the purchase was made. For some items, such as computers and other relatively expensive fixed assets, your accountant may suggest using a depreciation schedule to spread the cost out over a number of years (i.e. you buy a computer in 2010 and deduct 20% of its cost on your 2010 return, another 20% on the 2011 return, and so on for five years). Usually this would be set up in the tax year it was purchased, so if you bought a computer 3 years ago and now only use it for your business, you may be out of luck to deduct its use as an expense. Again, I'm not a CPA and this isn't tax advice. Talk to someone qualified. :) -Justin ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| Order the Adobe Coldfusion Anthology now! http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Coldfusion-Anthology/dp/1430272155/?tag=houseoffusion Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/message.cfm/messageid:333616 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/cf-community/unsubscribe.cfm
