Any tax experts on here???

louisvillekid

louisvillekid

EOG Dedicated
I've never technically worked for "myself" full time for any length. I've done side jobs at times, or carried me through in-between jobs. But i've always received either a W2 or a 1099 when i work.

So, here's the question(s): If I worked for myself and I add up all my "income", and then either itemized or took standard deduction, and then had/knew what my TAXABLE income was , and then i look in the IRS tax chart booklet/PDF, find my filing status , and find the tax owed for my taxable income - is that all i would owe? Like if the chart showed $4850 - do i only owe that amount?
Or....do i also owe FICA taxes? And if so, how would i pay those to the gov?
Does the amount on the IRS chart for tax owed on taxable income include any possible FICA taxes?

Another hypothetical. Say I'm "retired" early, like age 50 - and i live off of just the dividends from various stocks, ETF's & CEF's. and interest from CD's. And my income from all of that is only around 25k a yr.
Would i just claim 25k as income, then take standard deduction(or itemize if it's works out to be more), locate what my tax owed would be for the taxable income amount, and only pay that to the IRS?
Or, would i also be on the hook for FICA taxes too?

TIA
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
A very confusing question louisville, I'll help with the latter question - you dont pay fica on non earned income like dividends, interest, yes you would add up/report that income and then use either the standard deduction or itemize to determine taxes owed - which in the case of $25K would likely be nothing since dividends on stocks held long term are taxed at the zero level(or 5%) at lower income levels.
 
P

Patrick McIrish

OCCams raZOR
Versus if Kamala gets in, we will be nothing but taxes here.

Louisville, I'd recommend paying a professional over anything that might be posted here.
 
louisvillekid

louisvillekid

EOG Dedicated
mr merlin said:
If he's "poor" paying someone to do his taxes is nutty, plenty of free/cheap tax software out there.
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I've used the free H&R block tax program for yrs. Anytime i try to itemize though it will say i need to upgrade to the pay for premium. But i never have enough itemized deductions that add up to more than the standard deduction. So i always end up doing the simple free tax filing.
 
louisvillekid

louisvillekid

EOG Dedicated
mr merlin said:
A very confusing question louisville, I'll help with the latter question - you dont pay fica on non earned income like dividends, interest, yes you would add up/report that income and then use either the standard deduction or itemize to determine taxes owed - which in the case of $25K would likely be nothing since dividends on stocks held long term are taxed at the zero level(or 5%) at lower income levels.
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I guess the first question was basically, if i worked for myself, and after i add up my earnings, then subtract deductions and/or the standard deduction, to get my taxable income amount. When i look at the IRS tax chart for my filing status and my taxable income - do i pay just that amount to the IRS and that's it? Or, do i pay that amount, AND have to figure up FICA taxes and pay those too? Is the amount listed in the IRS tax chart not include FICA taxes?
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
louisvillekid said:
I guess the first question was basically, if i worked for myself, and after i add up my earnings, then subtract deductions and/or the standard deduction, to get my taxable income amount. When i look at the IRS tax chart for my filing status and my taxable income - do i pay just that amount to the IRS and that's it? Or, do i pay that amount, AND have to figure up FICA taxes and pay those too? Is the amount listed in the IRS tax chart not include FICA taxes?
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if you're working for yourself are you paying yourself and reporting it as such?

When you say "look at the chart and pay the amount" that's a little vague, that's not quite the way it works, you fill out your 1040 and go from there.

The last question is that the federal taxes owed on the chart represents federal taxes only - it does not consider fica, which if you're paying yourself should be deducted as you go. I'm not sure you're aware of it but if you are an employer you might have to pay the employer part of fica as well, which would basically double it.
 
louisvillekid

louisvillekid

EOG Dedicated
mr merlin said:
if you're working for yourself are you paying yourself and reporting it as such?

When you say "look at the chart and pay the amount" that's a little vague, that's not quite the way it works, you fill out your 1040 and go from there.

The last question is that the federal taxes owed on the chart represents federal taxes only - it does not consider fica, which if you're paying yourself should be deducted as you go. I'm not sure you're aware of it but if you are an employer you might have to pay the employer part of fica as well, which would basically double it.
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Yeh, i've read about the double FICA taxes if self-employed.

The chart i was referring to was the IRS chart that has the tax for taxable income. It's like 20 pages. Breaks it down into like blocks of 5k, and then in lines for each $100
An example would be like if taxable income was between 30,000 30,050 the tax owed for a single filer is $3,404, and if you earned between 30,950 31,000 then the tax owed is $3,518
About every $100 increment will be about another $100 or so more in taxes.
That's the chart i was referring to.

All my working life i've mostly worked for someone, aka a company/corporation. And my paycheck will show the FICA taxes, as well as state, county, any local, any deductions for insurance, dental, 401k, etc.

But I was wondering how if, I , worked for myself - doing like lawncare and/or handyman stuff - and i add up all my income from people that paid me in traceable income, like checks - and then i deduct all my expenses - to get a taxable income amount - and i enter that on a 1040 - then look at the IRS taxable income chart/booklet - and find how much i would owe.
That's where i was wondering if that taxable amount included the FICA.
Because i've never noticed in the past when i fill out a 1040 any line about FICA taxes. It's about deductions, credits, etc, but nothing about FICA.

So...that's where i was curious as to how i would figure the FICA tax amount up, and how or where i would send the money.

Because, like i said, when i've always worked for someone, it's already taken out of my check. And when i fill out my taxes every yr for a 1040(i use the free online tax preparer from HR Block) i never see it ask for amount withheld for FICA taxes - only asks for amounts of gross, and any FEd tax withheld, and maybe any 401k or healthcare deductions. But i don't notice or recall ever entering the FICA taxes withheld.
 
mr merlin

mr merlin

EOG Master
louisvillekid said:
Yeh, i've read about the double FICA taxes if self-employed.

The chart i was referring to was the IRS chart that has the tax for taxable income. It's like 20 pages. Breaks it down into like blocks of 5k, and then in lines for each $100
An example would be like if taxable income was between 30,000 30,050 the tax owed for a single filer is $3,404, and if you earned between 30,950 31,000 then the tax owed is $3,518
About every $100 increment will be about another $100 or so more in taxes.
That's the chart i was referring to.

All my working life i've mostly worked for someone, aka a company/corporation. And my paycheck will show the FICA taxes, as well as state, county, any local, any deductions for insurance, dental, 401k, etc.

But I was wondering how if, I , worked for myself - doing like lawncare and/or handyman stuff - and i add up all my income from people that paid me in traceable income, like checks - and then i deduct all my expenses - to get a taxable income amount - and i enter that on a 1040 - then look at the IRS taxable income chart/booklet - and find how much i would owe.
That's where i was wondering if that taxable amount included the FICA.
Because i've never noticed in the past when i fill out a 1040 any line about FICA taxes. It's about deductions, credits, etc, but nothing about FICA.

So...that's where i was curious as to how i would figure the FICA tax amount up, and how or where i would send the money.

Because, like i said, when i've always worked for someone, it's already taken out of my check. And when i fill out my taxes every yr for a 1040(i use the free online tax preparer from HR Block) i never see it ask for amount withheld for FICA taxes - only asks for amounts of gross, and any FEd tax withheld, and maybe any 401k or healthcare deductions. But i don't notice or recall ever entering the FICA taxes withheld.
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Fica taxes are never entered on tax forms because they are not deductible, offsettable or effected by tax laws such as those concerning capital gains, etc.

Checks are not traceable income, only report income where the paying party reported your income to the IRS, Relax.
 
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