1099 Job Experts, Please Chime In.

I don't write everything off. For example, my office is not dedicated space, nor is my computer. I've written off software (like Acrobat or an upgrade of Office) that is used for work. I pay estimated taxes quarterly through our state's program and the ETFS system the IRS allows. I consulted our CPA about the taxes (almost half of my earnings get set aside for taxes - you pay both sides of SSI, for example) and deductions.

A free online program that I recommend is FreshBooks.com. It really helped me do better with my invoices and reports.

My husband and I are both 1099's. Its tricky and your questions depend on how much you make. I make little compared to my husband. I don't deduct anything and at tax time, I send my 1099 and receipts to my CPA and they do everything for me...costs an arm and a leg, but worth it. Now, my hubby makes 6+ figures. Back in 2004 - 2006 he got screwed by a CPA because he was filed wrong and we are STILL trying to fix it. He has to send in $ quarterly to the IRS and its tricky to get the figures right. So I would say the smartest thing for you to do is to see an accountant/CPA and get REFERRALS from people you know so you don't get a bozo like we did. Good luck.

My husband goes from W-2 to 1099 on a regular basis. The downsides are that for the kind of work he does, he gets paid by the "job" so if work is slow, there is less $ coming in and because it's not at all steady, it's very hard to predict his income. But if the money is gravy on top of your wife's salary and benefits, that might not be an issue.

Honestly, you're supposed to pay your estimated taxes quarterly but we never do. If you're married and filing jointly and your wife has taxes deducted every payroll, the IRS seems to not care if you settle up your share at year end, as long as your taxable income isn't huge. My husband is a terrible record keeper. His mileage is always an estimate and his 1099s and actual deposits never reconcile at year end. His cell phone is easy, it's just a portion of our monthly basic cell phone bill. Ditto the home phone as we need the land line for him to send and receive taxes. He deducts office supplies, computer hardware and repair, and because he works out of our house, 1/6 of our mortgage payments, taxes and utilities (his "office" space is one of the 6 rooms in our house). He does not deduct meals because he doesn't take clients out.

We have an accountant who does our taxes. He works with a lot of 1099 clients and his take on things is that if you get audited, then you get all your ducks in a row (put together a mileage log, etc.). My husband is honest with his deductions, just not meticulous so I know that everything he deducts for the business is valid and could be justified if need be. Mileage is probably the biggest pain - if I were on a 1099, I would buy a little mileage diary at Staples and track my daily mileage, but I'm anal like that. You can then keep a basic spreadsheet of everything else (there are lots of free templates on line) and just tally things up monthly and either pay estimated taxes throughout the year or, if your earnings are minimal and you normally get a refund from your wife's withholdings anyway, you can just reconcile it all at tax time.

There might be more questions than answers.

Would you be driving your own car? If so, you would be able to deduct miles. Call your insurance agent and see if your personal insurance will go up if you put more miles on your car.

Not EVERYTHING can be deducted. Your best bet is to talk to a tax accountant who can help you navigate the complicated tax system we have here.

With the 1099 you really got to stay on top of your stuff. Receipts. Mileage. Gas. Hours. The whole she-bang.

As a contractor (that's what I do right now - develop, design, build web pages for companies on a select basis) and get paid via 1099. I write a check to the IRS with each check I get. I do it because I don't like owing people money, especially the government.

There are sites out there that help you calculate what your taxes are. If you Quicken or TheMint - I believe those help you as well.

I hope I haven't muddied the waters for you. It's hard to decide, isn't it?

I don't understand what you mean by can you write off everything? No would be my offhand answer. It is kind of complicated but in the end you tend not to be in a better position than a regular worker.

One thing you may want to look into before you crunch final numbers is your car insurance. More likely than not it will go up because you will be using it for work and if you don't add that you will not be covered in an accident. This is on the assumption that you will be using your own vehicle to drive.

My husband worked as an I.T. contractor for many years. The only way it makes sense is 1) It's a good deal of money 2) It might lead to employment or other opportunities 3) It's all that is available and you need the money. Compared to being an employee, it kinda sucks. No paid anything and you have to pay your own health insurance. He was recently converted to an employee when he was a contractor for 2 years. So much better. Same salary but about 10k in benefits. Hope that helps. What field are you looking to work in?

Are you asking for tax reasons? I paid my taxes quarterly. I put away money for them. You get to write off everything!!
Unfortunately I have been at a lose for 3 years (real estate), but that still works out to my tax advantage. A good accountant wouldnt hurt to have either.
What are you planning on doing?
Hope this helps!

Hubby's a 1099 employee for 8 years now. We're tired of it, to be honest. You have to be extremely regimented in putting aside your taxes from each paycheck and if your salary goes up and down each month (as my husband's does), you need to make sure you're estimating properly or you get a huge surprise come April. The nice perks are that you can write off a home office and a portion of your electric, phone, home maintenance, etc. I believe it's 10%. My husband's in sales so he can also write off a certain amount for gifts/entertainment. And of course for you, your automobile. (My husband's company provides a gas card/truck, thank God for that. Our accountant has pointed out to us that really my husband isn't technically a 1099, then; yes, we know ... his employer just doesn't want to pay employee taxes). And yes, you will be paying for the portion of taxes that an employer would be paying and you'll also pay double Social Security.

Anyway, we definitely don't do our taxes ourselves, either. You will probably need to hire a tax person.

Depends on what you are trying to write off. When you are a 1099 independent contractor, basically the IRS views you as having your own small business. So anything that is business related to that job would be a write off. Like advertising, supplies, if you drive your own car, mileage, etc. The best thing to do would be to pay in estimated taxes each quarter

you don't "write off" everything. you only get a percentage of it. I would check with a cpa or bookkeeper for the list of things you can claim. They may have it on line too. Not sure. You can pay in your taxes from that job quarterly. Don't wait til the end of the year and file and then all your wifes money she would get back has to pay your taxes. A cpa or bookkeeper can figure out approx. what you would need to pay quarterly. And you don't have to pay one quarter if you don't have it. Its up to you. Good Luck. If you've never done a "contract labor" job, its hard to keep out that tax money. When they they take it out of your check, you never see it. Its an adjustment.

If your wife is going to continue to work then have more taxes taken out of her pay, or you can pay quarterly (estimate) toward the next year. This will help you to not have to pay as much at the end of the year (as long as you file jointly). You might be able to write off some of your vehicle expenses, but not everything.
My husband works a lot of 1099 jobs and having that extra money is nice.

I have had staff in my child care center that were contract laborors. They were permanent substitutes. They took classes and were added to a list of approved substitutes that every child care provider in my county was given. Each one charged the same amount, to get the list we had to sign a contract to pay them $X.XX so that they would not be taken advantage of, they had to be paid daily even if they were coming back the next day, they were to be given all information then too.

It worked out so well. I was able to just write a check, much better than trying to do payroll each week.

It was suggested that the girls/ladies open small business accounts and each and every item they bought for the purpose of the business and each and every paycheck was deposited through that account.

The bank gave my friend a booklet and it had slips where she could pay her taxes by the quarter or the month. I think she got the option when she opened the account. They were labeled and ready to fill in and mail in.

When my friend in Branson gave me a car we called around and talked to several drivers for the local car dealerships about going and driving it to me. It was a pretty nice set up. I hope she takes the job, I imagine it will be low stress since most of the time she'd be with nice company...herself.