How to Take a Vacation When You Work for Yourself
Self-employed? Taking vacations is essential, and easy to pull off if you plan ahead, communicate, and stand your ground.
Tax season is unavoidable, especially when it comes in quarters for freelancers. While most employees slip effortlessly through April 15th without even looking at a government form, freelancers have to take the bull by the horns and get filing every quarter! If this is your first freelance quarterly tax season, you might go through a variety of emotions you had no idea existed. To help you prepare, we’ve outlined some key ‘feelings’ you might experience. Put those green visors on and get reading!
Too Cool For School
You might think you’ll be fine without doing any prep-work, but don’t get too chilled out. If you don’t keep track of your expenses, paychecks, and W2s then you’ll end up pulling an all-nighter crunching numbers and stuffing your face with energy bars. Use a program to keep track of your money throughout the year, and then chill out and enjoy April like a boss.
Sweet Relief
Tracking down all of your documents and freelance tax forms can be exhausting. Which is why it feels great when your Fiverr Workspace Chief Operator sends you all of your documents in a neat bundle. Then, all you have to do is send them to your tax professional so they can do the rest of the work. Easy! Taxes don’t have to be a nightmare when you work with a dream company!
Whack-a-mole
The end of January will bring with it a waterfall of W2s and freelance/contractor tax forms from all of the companies you freelance’d for. It might start to feel overwhelming, but don’t freak out! If you’re filing your own taxes, just whack each one into Turbo Tax like they’re small, furry moles! If you’re using a tax professional, then just forward the documents to their offices and head to a real arcade for the day!
Drunk On Power
Finally, you have control over your own money. When you work for yourself, you don’t have to worry about your boss taking the tax out of your paycheck before it’s even hit your bank account. The power you’ll have over your own money, combined with the cool desktop folders you’ll create for ‘tax’ stuff, will make you feel like a super-human adult. While this is all very exciting, remember, with great power comes great responsibility; be a real superhero, and file your taxes honestly.
Utter Confusion
Just because you’re a freelancer now, doesn’t mean you’re completely on your own. There’s a vast network of personal tax professionals out there waiting to help you, as well as chain companies like H&R Block to sort through all of your receipts. Let’s be honest, you’ve spent the last year working for yourself, networking, and building a client base, so you don’t have the energy to stare at Turbo Tax for four days. Well, you don’t have to. Gather up those freelance tax documents and hire another freelancer to file them for you. Everybody wins!
