#self-employment
Learn about self-employment taxes, LLC owner compensation, and freelancer financial management
Self-employed owners can deduct the business-use share of a cell phone and home internet — not 100% — and this guide shows three defensible ways to set that percentage, why the first home landline is never deductible, and where the amounts land on Schedule C.
From 1 January 2026 Vietnam no longer collects the business license fee (lệ phí môn bài) and no longer requires its annual declaration, saving companies VND 2–3 million and household businesses up to VND 1 million a year — but arrears for 2025 and earlier remain collectible, and VAT, income tax and e-invoicing obligations are unchanged.
In 2026 the Social Security retirement earnings test withholds $1 of benefits for every $2 earned above $24,480 before full retirement age, and $1 for every $3 above $65,160 in the year you reach FRA. Wages and net self-employment profit count; pensions, IRA withdrawals, dividends, and rental income do not — and withheld benefits are credited back through a higher monthly check at FRA.
Family child care providers get two tax breaks most home businesses cannot claim. The daycare exception to the exclusive-use rule prorates rent, utilities, insurance and depreciation by a time-space percentage, and IRS standard meal rates ($1.66 breakfast, $3.15 lunch or dinner, $0.93 snack for the 2025 tax year) replace grocery receipts. This guide shows how to compute the space and time fractions (including setup, cleanup, cooking and paperwork hours), which expenses the percentage applies to, how to net CACFP reimbursements against food costs on Schedule C, and the one attendance-and-meal log that substantiates both deductions.
A bookkeeping system for freelance translators and interpreters that tracks per-word, hourly, and project income separately, reconciles agency statements from gross invoice to net deposit, records foreign-currency receipts at documented exchange rates per IRS rules, and measures effective hourly rates — with a chart of accounts and monthly close checklist.
The Czech paušální režim bundles income tax, pension, and health insurance into one monthly payment — CZK 9,162, CZK 16,745, or CZK 27,139 in 2026. This guide covers how the 75% activity-composition test assigns your band, the retroactive Band I reduction from July 2026, the 12 January entry deadline, and the records OSVČ should keep even without an annual return.
In 2026, the 0% federal long-term capital gains rate applies up to $49,450 of taxable income for single filers and $98,900 for joint filers. This guide shows small business owners how to forecast taxable income, size a year-end gain harvest with the stacking rule, and avoid the basis, holding-period, and estimated-tax mistakes that turn a 0% plan into a tax bill.
The 2026 IRS business mileage rate is 72.5 cents January–June and 76 cents July–December. This guide compares the standard mileage and actual expense methods, explains the year-one lock-in rules and five-vehicle fleet restriction, and details the five-element log an audit requires.
For tax years starting in 2026, OBBBA makes the 20% qualified business income deduction permanent, widens the married-joint phase-in range to $394,600–$544,600, and adds a $400 minimum for taxpayers with more than $1,000 of QBI — so a $1,500 profit yields $400 instead of $300.
Under IRS Publication 463 and Section 274(d), a business mileage deduction requires a contemporaneous log recording the date, destination, miles, and business purpose of every trip — the Cohan rule cannot rescue inadequate records. Here is how to build a log that survives an audit at the 2026 rate of 72.5 cents per mile.
South African freelancers pay provisional tax in two IRP6 installments — 31 August and 28/29 February — by estimating full-year taxable income themselves; missing a deadline or estimating below 90% of actual income triggers a 10% late-payment penalty, a 20% underestimation penalty, and interest from the effective date.
A booth renter is a separate business, not a salon employee — rent is a Schedule C expense, client payments arrive with nothing withheld, and 15.3% self-employment tax plus quarterly 1040-ES estimates are the renter's alone. This guide covers the IRS control tests, which 1099s and W-9s each side owes, and the account structure that keeps a chair rental defensible in an audit.
