Filing Taxes as a Subcontractor

May 4, 2018

As a subcontractor, filing taxes is simply more difficult than the average person’s. So what does this mean when you are filing your taxes? What documentation will you need?

Doing your taxes isn’t impossible, but the more organized you are throughout the year, the easier it will be come tax time. Let’s look at the documentation you’ll need when filing your taxes, as well as any other important things you need to know when filing taxes as a subcontractor.

Document Your Income

The most important documentation you’ll need for filing your taxes is a record of your income. As a subcontractor this will probably be in the form of a 1099, since you are self employed. If you did work for multiple companies over the course of the year, you’ll need to have all of your 1099s available.

Keep Perfect Records

The more accurate your records are, the better off you’ll be. As a good practice, we tell all of our subcontractor tax prep clients to keep a bin for each year and get into the habit of putting taxes in these bins and in a digital format for backup.

Perfect records help in case you notice something on your 1099 seems off. You’ll have good records to compare it to and if you get audited you’ll have all the necessary information.

Document Your Expenses

In addition to your income, you’ll want a record of all of your business related expenses throughout the year. Without documentation of expenses you’ll pay taxes on money that is really a deduction. These types of expenses include gas to and from a job, tools, etc.

Good record keeping throughout the year is the easiest way to keep track of expenses, but there are programs and apps that can help, such as QuickBooks or MileIQ. These services will track your expenses and generate a report for you at tax time.

Get Help When You Need It

If all of this sounds too overwhelming, or your record keeping has been laxidasical over the last year, you may want to reach out for help. By working with a CPA you can rest a little easier knowing someone has got your back, and can help you navigate the paperwork you need.

It’s worth mentioning that while you may be concerned about cost, professional help will more than pay for itself in tax savirgngs if you don’t know what you are doing.

If you are in need of subcontractor tax prep help, call us at Relate CPA today. We have years of experience and can help take some of the stress off of you this tax season. We can help you organize your income and expense documents and file your taxes to give you peace of mind. Call us today to get started!