OT: Quarterly Taxes

[JustInTime]

Anyone have experience filing quarterly taxes? Looking for software recommendations or tips filing by myself, level of difficulty, etc. Is it worth using a tax service? If so, what are the costs?

[comet52]

Anyone have experience filing quarterly taxes? Looking for software recommendations or tips filing by myself, level of difficulty, etc. Is it worth using a tax service? If so, what are the costs?

I used to track everything I did in a spreadsheet and use it to estimate my quarterly payments.  Then file them manually with a 1040ES.  You don't have to be perfect- since you are estimating there is leeway. You just don't want to massively underpay because it can lead to penalties.

For eoy filing I used various programs but my tax situation was always relatively simple.  If yours is complicated or you hate doing taxes you could go with a pro, but either way, detailed record keeping is a must.

I tried various programs and settled on one called TaxAct.  Later I went to FreeTaxUSA which is kinda low end but it does handle 1099 employment.  Some of them don't or require a higher cost version to do it so if you go with software make sure it covers self employment.  Some of the programs can help you do quarterlies if you prefer that.  I liked doing my own tracking to see where I was at, but probably you could find tax software to do something similar, just depends on what level of it you'd have to buy.

The best deductions I got were mileage, hotels and per diem--do that for meals instead of actual- it's typically better unless you spend big for food and eliminates the hassle of saving and tracking restaurant receipts.  Independents can't use it for hotels, only meals.  Mileage and per diem are federal rates, hotels were actual cost.

This stuff applies because I did extensive overnight travel but even if you don't, track your business mileage because it's a good deductible at the federal rate.   And the FICA portion of self employment tax (the 15% sock to your nuts on every dollar earned) is only figured on your net not your gross so find every edge you can... legally that is .  Learning the tax rules for independents and your specific occupation can help in that regard.  Good luck!

[StickierBuns]

Good advice from comet above ^

[JustInTime]

@comet52 Gracias! Excellent info. Looks like I have a couple options to choose from.