If you are working as a freelancer or gig worker, you are certainly not alone. Millions of men and women are earning extra income driving for ride sharing services, designing websites for online entrepreneurs and writing for local businesses.

Some freelancers and gig workers have even said goodbye to their traditional careers, trading the security of a steady paycheck for the freedom and flexibility of gig work and freelance clients. But whether you are freelancing full time or just for extra cash, you need to keep careful records so come tax time, you can stay out of tax trouble.

Note: If you fall behind on filing your taxes, you’re not alone and we can help. Reach out to our tax resolution firm and we’ll help you file late tax returns and negotiate with the IRS if you owe back taxes. Get help from Ron Friedman, CPA.

Set Up a Separate Bank Account

Freelancers and gig workers play many roles but they all have one thing in common, they are also business owners.

Whether or not you have incorporated your business or formed a formal business, you do operate your own business. That means you need a separate bank account to collect your earnings and pay your expenses.

If you have not already done so, you should set up a separate bank account for your freelancing income. If you do have a formal business structure and an employer identification number (EIN), you can use that information to open the account. If not, you can simply open a second account to collect your payments and take care of any business-related expenses.

Print Reports from Payment Providers

Gig workers and freelancers are paid in many different ways, from direct payments from clients to automated clearinghouse (ACH) transfers to their bank accounts. These independent workers may also receive payment through third party apps like Paypal, Stripe and Payoneer, and keeping it all straight can be a real challenge.

Luckily many of the major payment providers make it easy to find out exactly how much their members received during a given time period. If you want to see where you stand, and how much tax you might owe, sign on and print out a payment report from every provider you receive income from.

You can fill out those reports with your own carefully kept records, including documentation of direct client payments and bank transfers. If you are unsure how much you have received via ACH, you can check with your bank or request a written report.

Signing up for a bookkeeping service or bookkeeping software can also help keep track of all your income and expenses.

Maintain Contact Information for Everyone You Have Worked For

During the course of a single year, freelancers and gig workers may work for dozens of individuals and companies, and they may receive payments from just as many sources. In a perfect world, everyone who hires those freelancers and gig workers would maintain their own records and send out 1099s for tax purposes, but that is far from guaranteed.

If you want to avoid unpleasant entanglements with the IRS, you need to keep your own records and check off each 1099 as it comes in. If you earned income from a client and do not receive a 1099, it is your responsibility to follow up and get the proper paperwork, so make your life easier and keep contact information from everyone you worked for, even if they were only a one-time client.

Keep a Running Tally with a Spreadsheet

It can be hard to track your income from freelance jobs and gig work, but a spreadsheet will make it easier. If you want to avoid underreporting your income and the tax penalties that could bring, set up a spreadsheet and record every dollar you earn from your freelancing and gig work efforts.

Keeping a running tally of your freelance and gig work income serves a number of different purposes. For one thing, it will help you determine the amount of your required quarterly income tax payments, so you do not overpay or underpay what you owe. Tallying your income as you go can also help you see how you are doing, making it easier to ramp up your freelancing and gig work efforts as you go.

Measure, Photograph and Document Your Home Office

As a freelancer or gig worker, you may be eligible for some generous income tax deductions, including a write-off for your home office. If you operate your freelancing business out of your home or find gig clients there, you may be able to deduct part of your utility bills, rent or mortgage and other applicable expenses.

Not just any space will do if you want to take the home office deduction, and proper documentation could be the difference between a valid deduction and a disallowed one. You must use your home office solely for your business, and it is important to keep careful records to avoid problems with the IRS.

That means measuring the space your home office occupies, so you can compare it to the total square footage of your home. It also means photographing the space, so you can show those images to the IRS if they question the deduction.

Scan Receipts to Make Tax Deductions Easier

You may also be eligible for additional tax deductions, including write-offs for office supplies, internet access and the like. But you will need to back up those deductions if the IRS comes calling, so make sure you have all those receipts on hand.

A shoebox full of paper receipts will not do, so make sure you scan or photograph those documents and keep them in a safe place. That could mean setting up a folder on your hard drive (with a backup plan in place), uploading the images to the cloud or a combination approach designed to safeguard records of your business-related purchases.

Life as a freelancer or gig worker can be wonderful, but keeping proper records is essential. From making tax planning easier and less stressful to saving you money, there are many advantages to keeping careful records.

If you do run into tax trouble, reach out to our tax resolution firm and we’ll schedule a free, no-obligation confidential consultation to explain your options in full to permanently resolve your tax problem. Get help from Ron Friedman, CPA.

Tax returns can be complicated and tricky to understand. Even for a professional, it can be surprisingly difficult to get every number and detail right.

Often, you only notice the mistakes when you take a casual look at your return days after you submit it online or drop it in the mailbox. Or worse, the IRS sends you a letter telling you something is off.

So, is there anything that you can do after your return is in?

Actually, there’s a lot that you can do. But if you don’t know where to start, it’s best to leave it to a professional. Our tax resolution specialists can navigate the IRS maze so that you have nothing to worry about. Get help from Ron Friedman, CPA. We help people who owe back taxes or have back tax debt. Call us today for a free case evaluation.

3 Major Types Of Mistakes

There are many red flags the IRS looks for on each tax return, but here are three common mistakes taxpayers make.

1: Not reporting all your income. No matter how much or little you make, report everything. In some way or another, unless you run a strictly cash business (another red flag), all of your income is reported to the IRS. W2, 1099 and other forms you receive are duplicated and sent in to the IRS. If your reported income doesn’t match theirs, that’s a red flag.

2:  Overstating business expenses. Depending on the type of job you have, there can be many legitimate expenses that your employer doesn’t reimburse you for. If you’re a business, you might be tempted to write off just a little extra. These might be genuine deductions. But don’t try to deduct something that’s not on the approved list and don’t claim deductions way outside the norm. Check with your tax professional and stay up to date with tax laws so you’re not padding your tax return with write offs.

3. Math errors. Whether you file electronically or still file paper forms, your information gets entered into a computer. And one thing computers are very good at is doing math. If things don’t add up, or there was an honest mistake in inputting the information, it can raise a red flag. A math error won’t necessarily get you an audit, but it will get attention you may not want. Make sure to double check your returns and have a qualified tax professional assist you and keep you out of tax trouble.

Filing an Amended Return – The 1040X

Individual income tax returns filed with the IRS can be amended up to three years after the due date of the original return by filing IRS Form 1040X.

On a 1040X form, the IRS only asks to be shown what was originally filed, what the corrected details are and the reason why you need to make changes. The form also includes a section where you get to change the personal exemptions that you’ve claimed on your tax return — just in case you make a mistake listing your dependents.

A few tips on filing your 1040X form

• For each year that you need to make corrections for, you need to use a separate 1040X form and mail it in, in its own envelope.
• Each form should have the return year mentioned at the top.
• On the back of the form, you need to explain the changes you’ve made and your reasons for them.
• Any schedules, forms or anything else that are affected by your change need to be sent in with the form.
• If the corrections made to your federal form affect your state taxes, you need to send in a corrected return for that as well.

However, we strongly suggest consulting a tax resolution professional to help with your amended return. They can often file multiple years of unfiled tax returns, help you settle for a fraction of what you owe, and at the very least save you a headache.

You Have 3 Years

Many tax filers only notice a mistake on a tax return only when they look at it preparing their taxes the following year. Mistakes may come to their attention in one of several ways. They may share something with their tax preparer that they may have neglected to mention in a previous year. The tax preparer, then, may notice the need for amendments to a previous year’s return, as well.

There is no set time period within which you must correct your return. You can do it any time you notice it. A general rule that the IRS follows, though, is to entertain corrections for 3 years after an original return is filed.

If Correcting Your Mistake Results In More Taxes Owed, You Should Still Amend Your Return

If your tax return contains a mistake that shortchanges the IRS in a more serious way, chances are good that the IRS will discover it. For instance, if you made money off a freelancing job that you didn’t file a 1099 form for, the IRS could find out and you could end up paying interest for a few years for the tax owed. If you catch it yourself, you’ll save on interest, at least.

If you know you’ll have outstanding tax debt and owe more than $10k to the IRS or state but can’t pay in full, contact our firm today. We help people find tax relief and sometimes settle their tax debt for a fraction of what’s owed Get help from Ron Friedman, CPA.