Just A Reminder For Those Of You That Actually Pay Taxes :)
 

4th Quarter taxes are due here in the US on Tuesday Jan 18th - 3 days later than normal because the 15th falls on a Saturday & the 17th is Martin Luther King Day.

I just wrote up the paperwork so that I can go & get the bank check cut on Tuesday...I really hate the IRS :D

Re: Just A Reminder For Those Of You That Actually Pay Taxes :)
 

the small businesses built this country and we get the shat. I hate taxes and the IRS. they take alot of my money!|pissleft|

I say I hate them, but a wise man once told me back in the day when I got my 1st big sponsor check - I think it was for $2k - I was complaining that I had to pay taxes on it (about $700 at the time) He asked me if I'd rather have $1300 after taxes or have nothing at all.

I thought about it & said I'd rather have the $1300.

Ever since that day, I don't see the number on the check, I see a % of that number :D

That's just like the people who won't play Lotto because taxes on a big win will consume about 40-45% of it. So what! That's several free million you didn't have before when you were working swing shift in the 120 degree machine room of a paper mill you stupid schmuck.

What we're we talking about? Oh, taxes. Yes - taxes. Love them.

I just love paying the self employment taxes on top of all my other taxes, NOT.

I also just love paying my account all the money he charges me to take care of this complex big paperwork mess that we are forced to maintain. |skull|

I figure with all the taxes that I pay both when I earn my money and when I spend my money about half my money goes to some government.

Ditto... we always pay our taxes.. and in fact over pay them... so that we get a nice little return at the end of each financial year :)

death and taxes.... :D

DD

I was reading (forgot where) on how many billions of dollars are spent by businesses on accountants, lawyers and tax releated employees and software, just mind boggeling.

All in order to just keep up with the IRS's redtape and figure out the loopholes so you dont get fucked.

I wish they would just have a national sales tax, would be so much easier.

Every quarter, the IRS sends me 2 32 page booklets detailing the paperwork reduction act.

When I finally got them to stop sending them for one corporation, they somehow got the address of one of my LLCs.

Efficiency in the government.

I you have to pay taxes it also means you have earned the money also, mmmmmmmm i dont know if i say it right, but in holland we say, if you have to pay 10.000 of taxes it means you earned 20.000 so dont complain..........i always complain about taxes .lolololol.|violin|

We say that over here too :-)

But I must admit the Nederlands hammers you hard on that 50%! WOW! for some it is 60% no? In the 70's here in the US it was at 90% for some tax brackets, those days are gone now thank god. :-)

in holland taxes are hugeeeeee thieves, i was in the 60% rule so hell i was fighting taxes anyway i can, now its 52% they lower it, without my net bizz we are already in the 52% taxes.......i couldnt understand that i had to give from every dollar i earned 60 procent to taxes........i will never understand that, even in the 52%.......i work for it and they get more then me freaken greedy thiefs|pissed| |angry|

I'm not looking forward to doing my year end. Lots of deductions this year, but yet again, I didn't keep up with everything on a monthly basis. Doh!

I am worried about the Tax Time thing bigtime.

This will be the first time I've made a lot where they will actually be wanting some $$$ that I won't want to let go of (But I will, of course, because taxes are just life).

Last year, I hardly had to pay sh*t.


This year, when I get all the forms, I know I'm going to be paying out the ass. What to expect? I have no idea.

This quarterly thing, I guess I am going to have to start doing that. Last year I just waited until the end of the year because I didn't make hardly anything.

Now I won't have a choice.

How bad does it suck to pay quarterly? Is it better to do that or just pay them one lump sum at the end of the year?

I actually do mine monthly just because it is easier for my to keep up with. I don't actually write checks anymore as I do it online.
https://www.eftpssouth.com/Eftps/

Florida doesn't have a state income tax so it may be different for those living in states that do.

i pay them once a year, keep it in your own account and make a little interest,

another reason: you might pay them all year long and then the last quarter have some huge major unexpected expenses where you will need that money then instead of coming out of pocket with more or borrowing and then waiting to get your deductions after filing

Ugh...taxes...hate em...but I suppose it's a necessary evil :(

A word of caution to those that wait and pay taxes annually...or it that anally? lol...couldn't help it...old accountant joke!

Speaking of which...as an accountant in a previous life...

Under certain circumstances...like paying less than was due during the year...waiting til year end filing to 'catch up'. If you're doing this year after year...you 'may' end up facing stiff penalties :( This is why a lot of self employed folks pay quarterly estimated taxes as it reduces the possibility of getting caught by surprise at year end...AND keeps the tax man happy.

There are some great software programs out these days to do your taxes. I use the same program for both personal and corporate taxes...only takes a few hours to do both. And in the 10+ years I've been using the program, have never had any accuracy problems.

Also, if you sign up for automatic renewal...every year...new cds arrive in the mail near tax time. Ya pop the cd into the puter...gather your documents...and a few hours later...you're done! File electronically...if ya have a refund coming...a couple weeks later, it's deposited directly to your account. If you owe money...ouch...sorry...the tax man reaches out of your puter...grabs you by the neck...and SHAKES what he wants out of ya! lol

Anyway...with the software available these days...'most' folks can do their own taxes. With good software, It's actually a relatively simple step by step question and answer process :)

I honestly don't mind paying income taxes. I get a lot out of that - Interstate highways, national parks, a strong defense, unjustified wars, inaugural balls for George W. - it all evens out in the end. I HATE paying self-employment social security. I have always hated FICA/MICA or whateverthefuck acronym we're using this week. I recognize that we can't just stop paying into this totally broken system that was supposed to only be a stop-gap measure; but that doesn't mean I can't resent the hell out of it.

|angry|

If I had healthcare, I might be a wee bit less peeved. Go ahead, call me a socialilst. And then feel free to kiss my red-tinged ass.

A business deal can only be called a business deal, if you can convince the tax office that it wasn´t a business deal. (Henry Ford, if I´m right)

The first year I really made any money in this business, I ended up writing a $24,000 tax check when April rolled around. The penalties were only around $300, but I started paying quarterly after that because it causes less psychological damage.

I could be mistaken, but here in the US, if you don't pay quarterly, thus sending the gov't NO money until tax day, they fine you because you are supposed to pay in as much as you did the previous year.

For whatever reason, I'm always short on my quarterly estimates |jester| and I get fined a couple bucks every year because of this :(

If you solely own an unincorporated business then you are required to pay income taxes each quarter.

I'm not an accountant, and I don't play one on TV, but, my understanding is:

if you owed taxes last year, you need to pay estimated tax equal to or greater than 90% of your tax amount in the prior year to avoid penalties. Playing Catchup on Jan 15 to try to avoid penalties usually doesn't work -- been there, done that.

Well, not quite. It still depends on your tax debt the year before. And, you can file estimated taxes based on the way the money came in. So, if you receive a lot of money in one quarter, you can pay based on that. There's nothing that says you cannot pay monthly or every other month. I just prefer not to give the Govt a 0% loan on my money. I have better uses for the money.

If you are incorporated, you can write yourself an annual salary check, and pay taxes once per year. (This is rather unmanageable :) )

However, the best advice I can give:

If you are doing ANYTHING where you are earning money in the adult industry, especially if it is your sole income source, get a damn good accountant! The benefits for having an S-Corp (or some other tax structure) far outweigh the few $$ you'll spend on a good accountant.

Find one that is comfortable with Quickbooks, buy yourself a copy of Quickbooks. Tell them up front that you work in the Adult Website business -- don't try and sneak past them. Some people have an aversion to the adult industry.

Quickbooks is pretty easy, it can be imported right into their tax preparation software and your tax forms filled out. I can tell you, there are no less than 40 forms that have to be filed every year for one of my corporations, and there is no way I could remember or keep up with it or know which ones to file.

Every quarter, I send my quickbooks files, every October (this time in November) we review the numbers, look at the projections, figure out what purchases that can be made to reduce the tax burden. Thank you George Bush for that extra-special rapid depreciation on new equipment! While I don't think it will help the economy, it did help me get some equipment I had been putting off.

Overall, based on the phone call in November, I believe I reduced my April tax burden by about 70%. I didn't go into debt, I just accelerated a few purchases I was going to make anyhow.

At this point, you can't do much with 2004's income/taxes -- other than slap money in an IRA if you haven't and take the tax break (unless you do a Roth).

Yes, you can do your own taxes, but, tax planning is pretty complex. And as I found this year, it saved me a heap of money just by altering the timing of things I was going to do.

I work for my corporation and pay myself a monthly salary and I'm required to make a monthly 941 deposit. (actually I may only be required to do this quarterly, not sure)

in the netherlands we pay taxes ones a year and yep i do my own taxes shit, i cry every year again because for several years i pay already alot of money, but like i said if you have to pay you earn them but it doesnt mean i am happy with it.....where is that damn crying smilie|violin|

you could take draw, and issue a quarterly check -- that's how my accountant has it set up for me.

I do both - I get a weekly paycheck and I take money as it's in there - I think my accountant calls them "distributions" I have a % of the distribution & put it in a seperate account & send that off to the IRS every quarter. It's usually less than what my accountant estimates I'm supposed to be sending it so I do get fined a little bit, but not much.

And I'll be loading up my pension plan until March 15th so that my bill will be minimal come April 15th :D

So what is the difference between taking a salary and taking a draw?

Re: Just A Reminder For Those Of You That Actually Pay Taxes :)
 

Me too. Everytime I pay quarterly taxes, I feel like I'm being robbed.

I think that since I am a corporation, I have to have employees (which is just The Bitch & myself) & thus, we have to take a salary.

It's monthly I also have a corporation and pay myself as an employee. I use a nice little company called PayCycle (http://www.paycycle.com - $39.95 to handle your payroll including direct deposit) to handle all my payments and tax documents etc, then every quarter I review it with my accountant and they tell me what I missed.

Right now we are getting everything together so we can get the year end taxes done with are due March 15th.

Seems like I am always paying taxes. Federal, State and then Unemployment taxes.

Keep in mind the type of corporation you are in as well. If you are an S-Corp then you have to pay taxes on all the money in the acct at the end of the year. I learned from my dad that the best way is to take a huge dividend at the end of the year and you pay less in taxes on that dividend. It was like 15% as opposed to 25+%.

I think, and an accountant should be consulted:

To be a corporation (in Florida and Maryland), you can file with 1 person holding all 4 offices. This is called a Close Corporation. Most states don't allow that and require two officers for the 4 positions.

Because you are a corporation doesn't mean that you have to have two employees. Board members are not necessarily employees. You might need two employees to do certain things like get group Health Insurance. The benefit to paying two employees is that your wife is also earning Social Security, although, you are paying the SelfEmployment penalty twice. This can be a great source of arguments.

If you are a Sole Proprietorship, Partnership or S Corporation, money that you take from the company that is not a payroll check is usually considered draw. The IRS doesn't really state you can do this for a corporation, but, an S corporation isn't really the same as a C Corporation. Since an S corporation flows through to your personal account, that 'draw' is profit anyhow.

Taking money as salary, then taking distributions/dividends is another way to take money out of the company. Dividends are taxed at 15% (depending on a number of factors) rather than the potential 39.6%. This of course assumes that there isn't a better tax-protected use of that money.

If you have a corporation and you don't have a Simple IRA or other qualified plan, do it. I think you can throw $10k into the Simple IRA this year plus the employer match. Paperwork needs to be filed prior to Oct 1st.

Even if you put the money in a few index funds or spdr trackers, with time on your side you should average >12% tax free.

I'm a S Corporation.

A draw sounds like what I knew as taking stock dividends which my account said is one of those things that may set off a red flag with IRS like taking a home office deduction. I'm making a whole lot more money now then the last time I asked him about it so I'm not sure if he would still say the same thing.

I have been told that it is a good thing to have my business pay some of my utilities and stuff like that since my office is one room of the house and I'm there all day at work. Best I can tell my office needs its yard cut and trimmed ever other week not to mention it needs nice all those other annoying monthly maintenance things like a cleaning service, electric, water, cable, etc.

Not sure about other states but in Florida we have to pay property taxes on the value of the business the same time of year as we have to pay all our other property taxes.

I disagree with the draw = profit part.

For example let's say your scorp made a profit of 100k in 2004 but lets say you you have a total of 150k in draws in 2004

The tax burden is on the profit the scorp made not the amount you draw out of it. You will pay taxes on the 100K not the amount you drew. If you had taken no draws you will still pay taxes on the proffit. 100K

Cheers,
BV

if a company has $150k profit, you take $50k in draw, is that $50k not part of the profit?

If at the end of the year the net balance in the bank is $0, and you took $150k out in draw, didn't that $150k flow through to your tax return as profit?

Perhaps I'm missing the part where draw != profit.

At the end of the year your balance is never 0 as there should be other monies in that account that are not profit. Such as the start up money, monies owed to creditors, etc etc.

The balance in my business account on Dec 31st showed ZERO on my papers. The balance was of course not zero i at the bank, because some stuff wasn't yet deposited or cleared or whatnot, but when I did my paperwork & saw that I had X amount of money left over, I just took a "distribution" for that exact amount & stated fresh for 2005.

I do this every year & my accountant loves me for it :)

As far as overdrawing, jsut don't do it. I take distributions once or twice a month & base it on what's int he account after I've paid my bills & whatnot. So if I have Y amount in there, I'll take out Y - Salary (so there's money in there on Pay Day) and nothing more.

I agree that's (above) good advice but sometimes overdrawing happens. maybe even just by a tiny bit.
The point I was trying to make though is that the amount you draw is not what you pay taxes on. You don't have to draw anything if you don't want and let it ride, but the taxes still need to be figured & paid and that figure is not based on what you draw out.

I guess the simple solution would be to not overdraw a large amount, especially near the end of the year :D

I think a lot of this applies to big companies with tons of employees & whatnot.


Which gives me an idea for another thread..........

That's the beauty of an S Corp.

The corporation shows 0 profit for federal taxes at year end.

All 'profit' is distributed to corporate share holders (me) via a K-1 form for tax purposes. I then pay taxes on those profits at whatever my personal tax rate is...the corporation pays none. This avoids the double taxation issue of owning/being a corporation.

The downside is I personally have to pay taxes on those corporate profits...even if I don't draw them out of the corporation. The profits only flow to me on paper in that respect.

That's not to say you can't draw out those profits, but you pay taxes on that money either way.