#self-employment-tax
Self-Employment Tax
Self-employment tax rules, calculations, and strategies for business owners
Print-on-Demand Bookkeeping: COGS, Royalties, and Sales Tax by Platform
Print-on-demand sellers run two different businesses — integration channels (Etsy + Printify) with real COGS, and marketplace channels (Redbubble, Amazon Merch) with none. This guide covers how to reconcile 1099-K gross figures, avoid double-counting platform fees, handle marketplace-facilitator sales tax, and structure a per-channel chart of accounts to track margins that range from 20% to 70%.
Booth Rental vs. Commission: A Barbershop Bookkeeping Guide
Booth rental makes a barber a self-employed tenant filing Schedule C with quarterly estimates and 15.3% self-employment tax; commission makes them a W-2 employee. Weekly booth rent averages $220–$225, commission splits center on 60/40, and the 2026 1099-NEC threshold rises to $2,000 — here's how the bookkeeping differs and where misclassification penalties start.
Why Your DoorDash 1099 Might Not Show Up This Year — and Why You Still Owe Taxes on Every Mile
The 1099-NEC threshold is now $2,000, so many part-time DoorDash, Instacart, and Grubhub drivers won't receive a form for 2026 — but the IRS still taxes net self-employment earnings above $400. How multi-app delivery drivers can capture the dead miles apps don't report (often 30% or more of total driving), choose between the standard mileage and actual expense methods, and set aside 25–30% of each payout for quarterly taxes.
Freelance Ghostwriter Taxes: Schedule C, Self-Employment Tax, and Why the NDA Doesn't Matter
An NDA has zero effect on how ghostwriting income is taxed — it's ordinary Schedule C self-employment income. This guide covers the 15.3% self-employment tax, deductible expenses for writers, 2026 quarterly estimated payment deadlines, and how advances and royalties are taxed when received.
LLC vs. S-Corp vs. C-Corp: How to Choose (and Later Change) Your Business Structure
An LLC pays 15.3% self-employment tax on all profit; an S-Corp election (Form 2553) splits income into salary and distributions, typically saving $7,000+ once net profit clears $40,000–$60,000. Here's how all three structures compare — and how to switch later.
How Bookkeeping-Native Banks Like Found Automate Freelancer Tax Set-Asides — and Where They Fall Short
Freelancers owe 15.3% self-employment tax plus income tax with no automatic withholding, and skipping quarterly payments triggers IRS penalties around 7% annually. Bookkeeping-native banking apps like Found earmark 25–30% of every deposit automatically — here's what they solve, where their tax estimates break down, and why your books should live in a format you own.
Flipping Houses in 2026: Why the IRS Taxes Your Profit as Ordinary Income, Not Capital Gains
House flippers are almost always IRS "dealers," not investors — flip profits are ordinary income on Schedule C plus 15.3% self-employment tax, often a combined rate over 40% versus the 15–20% capital gains rate flippers expect. How the Winthrop factors decide dealer status, why rehab costs must be capitalized into COGS, and four strategies (including an S corp election) that reduce the hit.
Bookkeeping for Affiliate Income: Amazon Associates, LTK, and ShareASale
Amazon Associates pays roughly 60 days in arrears, ShareASale and Impact pay per merchant program rather than as a single payer, and the 2026 1099-NEC threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 — so most affiliate income now arrives with no tax form at all, making a monthly earned-basis reconciliation the only reliable way to track what you actually owe.
Discord Server Subscriptions and the 1099-K: Why Your Tax Form Shows More Than You Were Paid
Discord issues 1099-Ks through Stripe reporting gross subscriber payments, not your net payout after the ~10% platform fee, Stripe processing, and app-store cuts. Here's how server owners reconcile the gap on Schedule C, what the restored $20,000/200-transaction federal threshold means for 2026, and the self-employment tax that applies either way.
Freelance Designer Taxes: Schedule C, Retainers, and the IP Licensing Income Most Designers Miss
How freelance designers should handle taxes and bookkeeping — Schedule C reporting, the 15.3% self-employment tax, quarterly estimates, recognizing retainers as unearned revenue, and why royalties from licensing your own design work belong on Schedule C (not Schedule E) with a 1099-MISC, not a 1099-NEC.
Bookkeeping for House-Sitting Businesses: Per-Night Rates, Deposits, and Key Liability
House sitters typically charge $50–$150 per night for overnight stays and $250–$500 weekly, but a deposit collected before a sit begins is unearned revenue, not income, until the stay is completed or the cancellation window passes.
Bookkeeping for Legal Document Assistants: Bonds, Trust Funds, and Flat-Fee Revenue
California requires Legal Document Assistants to register with a county clerk, post a $25,000 surety bond, and pass one of four education-or-experience tests before charging clients — a licensing and revenue-recognition setup that trips up most first-time LDA owners' books.