Calling all freelancers!!!

[Mr. Rugen]

If you wish to share any knowledge to one considering taking the plunge please PM me, I would love to talk about business stuff like taxes, receipts and invoices.

[Bureau Chief]

Get yourself a good CPA to do your taxes. They can save you a fortune! Mine got me deductions I never knew about.

[east coast producer]

I freelanced for a years (six?) as a print reporter and newscast producer. For me, it's always been really simple. I had a great relationship built over those 6 years with my editor at the paper -- and my broadcast freelance work was for a former station I worked at.

I submitted my invoices that I drafted in Word whenever I got around to it -- Usually every other week. Just a simple header with my name, address, phone and social. Underneath, I pasted the dates and headlines for newspaper stories; for broadcast, the dates, show time and newscast title. I put a price next to each and summed it up at the bottom.

Both were very expeditious in payment. The paper even did direct deposit for me. I always got paid from both within a week or so.

Regarding taxes, as you know, you're supposed to submit your estimated taxes quarterly. Well, I never quite did that -- instead, just waited to April. Not exactly the proper thing to do since you could be liable for nominal penalties for that depending on the circumstances and how much you earned.

Both companies that I freelanced for had me fill out some IRS form to prove I'm an American and all that good stuff, but they did not withold.

From IRS: http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=110413,00.html

Intuit.com has software to do your quarterly taxes for you.

Obviously, as the above poster said, there are plenty of deductions when you're self-employed as a freelancer. Since I was based from home, mileage to and from work locations was deductible and other costs, like perhaps Internet, computers, etc. may be as well. From what I *hear, taking the "home office deduction" increases your liklihood for an audit, so perhaps if you're not making 10's of thousands from freelance work, just skip it. I never claimed it. I didn't want the hassle of all the math.

Of course, I'm not a tax professional. I don't even play one on tv. In fact, I'm not on tv at all.

[ December 06, 2006, 09:18 AM: Message edited by: eastcoast producer ]

[1under]

Get paid in cash or trade that way no one is the wiser

[Bill-1]

Get everything in writing. This year has been a tough one for me. I've been screwed twice. I used to do everything with a smile and a handshake. Never again. Everyone signs a deal memo.