Tax Filing Tips

Without knowing anything about the type of work involved, it’s a little more difficult to give an answer.

First, presumably, you’re working and being paid as an individual and not working through a company. Second, I assume you’re not going to receive a Form W-2 at year-end from the individual who is paying you. If both of those assumptions are correct, then, you would be considered self-employed. I am not getting into the issue of whether you should be properly classified as an employee or as an independent contractor, as that issue has its own intricacies. By nature of the fact that the person paying you says he/she will not claim any write-off on his/her taxes, it sounds like you’re not being treated as an employee (as treating you as an employee would involve its own paperwork). In that case, you would report any money you received (and any corresponding expenses you pay in order to generate that income) on Schedule C on your individual income tax return, subject to income tax. Also, you should expect any money you receive to be subject to self-employment tax, unless your net earnings from self-employment for the year were less than $400. You do not have to say who paid you. I wish you the best in your endeavors!

Be sure to itemize any donations of clothing and household items that you made to charities throughout the year, as non- cash donations over $500 require you to file form 8283 with your return. Non-cash donations up to $500 do not need special documentation with the filing of your return.

An IRA deduction can save you from $650 to $2,574 depending on your filing status and tax bracket on your federal tax return.
If you are under 50 you can put up to $5,500, Over 50 you can put up to $6,500.

Employers can contribute up to a quarter of the salaries that each employee earns (25%)up to an annual maximum limit. For 2017, that maximum will be $54,000, up $1,000 from its 2016 level. That's the first rise in the SEP IRA limit since 2015,
For self-employed. the 25% refers to the self-employed worker's "net earnings" from the business. The net result of the math is that the 25% limitation on "net earnings" works out to 20% of your adjusted profit after the self-employment tax adjustment in a Simplified Employee's Pension Plan. Self- employed individuals can even take the deduction on their 2016 tax return and fund the pension plan as late as six months from April 18, 2016 if they file for an extension to file their return.

The American Opportunity Credit can save taxpayers as much as $2,500 per student with $1,000 of the credit being a refundable credit above and beyond the money paid.

If you receive tips as a self-employed person, you should report these tips as income on Schedule C

If you received $20 or more in cash and charge tips in a month from any one job and did not report all of those tips to your employer, you must report the social security and Medicare taxes on the unreported tips as additional tax on your return.
To report these taxes, use Form 4137, Social Security and Medicare Tax on Unreported Tip Income, to figure these taxes.
The unreported tips must be included as Wages on Form 1040, Line 7.

If your employer does not give you any other way to report your tips, you can use Form 4070, Employee's Report of Tips to Employer. Fill in the information asked for on the form, sign and date the form, and give it to your employer.
Give your report for each month to your employer by the 10th of the next month. If the 10th falls on a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday, give your employer the report by the next day that is not a Saturday, Sunday, or legal holiday.

If you're total tips for any 1 month from any one job are less than $20, do not report the tips for that month to that employer.
Tips of less than $20 are not reportable to the employer and not subject to FICA tax But are subject to income tax.