get a credit card just for your IC expenses
Posted By: JoV on 2006-06-09
In Reply to: Records for working as an IC? - Question?
it will keep all your expenses in one place and you won't need to keep receipts, just the credit card statements. Other than that, track mileage, though to be frank most people will just claim an average mileage and then create a mileage journal if audited. Also if you will take the home office deduction, you can claim percentage of heating, etc. but easy enough to do that. Might be worth your while to consult with a CPA if you take the IC job, and then the first year that you do your taxes. He can explain everything you need and then you can take it from there. Just one or two more forms to fill out, nothing earth-shattering.
Complete Discussion Below:  marks the location of current message within thread
The messages you are viewing
are archived/old.
To view latest messages and participate in discussions, select
the boards given in left menu
Other related messages found in our database
Oddly enough, if I don't use my bank card as a credit card in the billing cycle, I get charged fo
x
No credit card is a good credit card.
Just kidding. I'd suggest not using credit cards to pay debts. It'll only dig you in deeper. Look into a signature loan or putting a lien against a vehicle or house. Lower interest rate, pay off sooner.
Debit card. They've got the credit card logo on them, so they
can be used anywhere a credit card can be used.
Credit card? I'm not sure either.
NM
How do you rent a car without credit card?
I only use my debit card now. However, how do you rent a rental car without a credit card?
Credit Card Consulidation
These offers for credit consolidation sound good until you read the fine print. Basically, you are taking out a loan for the amount of your debt. If you miss a payment or even are one day late, you can end up with huge, huge interest charges added to your bill. I thik a lot of people go bankrupt falling for this scam.
A credit card separates
personal purchases from business purchases and simplifies bookkeeping. No need to keep multiple receipts, just credit card bills. You need to HOLD money in 2006 to pay tax bill FOR 2006 when due in April 2007. At that time, the IRS will send you a notice that your underpayment is too great and they would like you to file quarterly. Then, as said, you only have to pay 100% of what you paid for 2006, divided into 4 quarterly payments, across 2007 in order not to get a fine, even if you make lots more or lots less. Come April 15, you settle up the difference again.
Oh, not this discussion again. I haven't had a credit card
account in over 10 years now, and I do just fine. That includes reserving hotel rooms and rental cars, buying plane tickets. I live on a cash basis within my means. Nobody needs a credit card.
In addition to your credit card receipt you should
get a printout of your payment and if they don't offer it, ask for it. Be sure to check right away that they are showing you paid and if you have a receipt your payment was put in the system, which should eliminate this issue in the future.
Billing an insurance company will give the insurance company a good laugh and will probably create further problems.
New credit card interest rates (sm)
Wondering if those of us on this board have noticed that credit card companies will be increasing their interest rates along with the minimum payment due soon. How will this affect some people who can barely make the minimum payments now. Any insight greatly appreciated.
Purchase date on credit card
x
is it safe to apply for a credit card
over the internet? I hesitate to give out social security number and personal things on the net. Is it okay or not? Thanks
Credit card/income question. sm
I got an offer from Capital One for a personal credit card. Credit not great, but I figured they checked it before sending offer since I have a business card and they check with CRA every month.
Anyway, they declined it. They said I didn't make too much. Said they would not put denial on credit report. Want to find out how do they know how much or little I made since that information is not reported. Do they go by FICO score? Just wondering if anyone else had this problem.
Had this problem before, and worked for a credit card company too
I also had problems with travelocity, which ultimately was routed back to hotels.com, where I booked it for one date, they reserved it for a different date, and I ended up having to pay for both dates, PLUS a HUGE fee. I challenged them on it, but nothing ended up happening, other than me biting my tongue and paying it.
HOWEVER, since you were told that they would credit the amount, you need to talk to Hotels.com first. Make a concentrated effort to speak to supervisor after supervisor until they give you an apology and credit it. ALSO (and, if they refuse to give you the remaining credit), call your credit card company and explain the situation. They can do a few different things here. They can, and probably will remove the over-the-limit fee for you, if you explain the situation, as long as you don't have a long over-the-limit history. Don't let them tell you that they can't remove it, just keep going up the chain of command until someone does. All CSRs in that situation are able to remove the charge, and if they don't, ask for their manager (they will just put you through to a phone queue where the people have higher capacity to remove stuff like that). The second thing that they can, and will do, is, if hotels.com won't do it, you can dispute the charge, explain what happened, and it will be removed while they research it. Most of the time, they remove it and you never hear about it again, other than to tell you that it's been taken care of. If they decide it was a valid charge, which they won't, they will add it back to your credit card balance after getting hotels.com to prove that they provided the necessary service.
Make sure you contact your credit card company, even if hotels.com refunds your money, at least to get the over-the-limit fee waived. I would still dispute the charge, and that way, it is covered if they say they are going to refund it and don't. If you dispute it, and they end up refunding your money, just alert the credit card company, and it will be a wash. Good luck! 
call credit card people immediately
and dispute charge (the back of your bill should give you the procedure on this) WRITE down everything you have done for the record. Yes, you absolutely must contact someone who knows something at hotel.com and be sure you contact the Atty General of your state and the state where hotel.com is headquartered, not to mention the BBB. Hotel.com has just got a load of bad publicity - don't forget to point that out to them. They also need to reimburse you for any charges incurred.
Be sure to keep a paper trail...emails will work. Good luck to you.
Do not close credit card accts with 0 balance
I get offered and have used no interest credit cards for years. They are usually no interest for 1-1/2 years. When it is time for them to start charging interest, I roll them over into another no interest card. I have never closed an acct, just cut up the cards and forget about them. My FICO score is excellent, as is my credit. I get offers for no interest cards at least once a week so it obviously hasn't hurt me.
could it have to do with the class action law suit, my credit card company did that once...
they sent me a check of some money they supposedly owed me because someone filed a class action suit regarding their not posting monies received the same day and therefore charging people late fees, etc. I got like $3.46 for something or other.
perhaps it was a class action suit that was filed, and then of course MQ would have to go back and pay any monies due to everyone regarding the line-count discrepency issue.
maybe I am way-off, but if it is on the QT, that could be why. once they pay you off, they are no longer liable, right?.
anyone else have any ideas?
Looking for best credit card, visa,mastercard or amercian express
need to consolidate some bills,
They hand your credit card #'s when processing orders - why not mail?
It is common knowledge inmates work by processing internet and catalog orders. They hand credit card numbers every day. How can you even trust to place an order anymore, not knowing who is actually processing your order? It is surprising what inmates are allowed to do. Some live better than us behind bars!
Call the credit card companies and ask them to lower your rate. sm
Tell them you are having trouble and you need a lower rate. I would try that first on your own. I have done it and went from 14.9% to 4.9% on my credit cards. I can now pay them more monthly than they ask for and I am on my way out of credit card debt.
Consolidation companies, some, charge a fee and it goes on your credit report as "write off or bad creditor". If you have no success with the cc companies yourself, than try a consumer company to help you.
Good luck to you!
I renew my subscription to Norton each year it is due by credit card through them on the internet.
If I change computers how do I get that back into the new computer as I dont have a disc or anything I just do it over the internet. I have the original disc that I purchase 2 years ago but have since upgraded over the internet as I said.
Indian call centre credit card 'scam' exposed
RE: Symantec (Antivirus) customers credit card information being sold.
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/03/20/call_centre_credit_card_fraud/
Charge what the credit card companies charge when they don't get paid on time!!!!
great website for credit and credit cards, interest rates
great website
Has anyone used a credit counseling service to consolidate credit cards?
What was your experience? Was it worth it? Which ones are credible?
I used to send a card and gift card to my direct supervisor, but that's it. sm
She was the only one who knew me as more than an employee number, and the only one I had any respect for.
CREDIT, everyone is living on credit, and from what I see
with a rather, 'might as well, we have no future' kind of attitude.
our credit cards are maxed out, we are buying gas, food (which I swore I would never do, how stupid - all that interest for food, yuck!), paying bills, and we would not have survived without them. now they are maxed out, and we are not making one bit more than we were.
glad things must be going so well for you, but look around in your own neighborhood.
the gap is closing between rich and poor. like it is in somalia, for example.
call us doomsdayers, but I call it protecting our own interests.
why is it the only people who are supposed to care about themselves are the rich?
Has anyone disconnected the internal sound card and replace with another sound card?
I am having problems with my sound on one of my computers. Several different ExText program have been on it so I don't think it is the program and the sound is just now as clear as on my other computer. Has anyone switched (disconnected the internal sound care and replaced) to a new sound card? Did it make a difference.
Everyone on this board is so knowledgeable, I really appreciate you. You have helped me many times.
I have no expenses except to buy my
computer, desk and chair, which after time becomes a wash and are nominal expenses. All my references are online paid for by the company (all Stedman electronic word books, my free personal subscription to Monthly Prescribing Reference, etc.)
Maybe you can cut your expenses? sm
If you are using telephones for dictation, maybe switch to handheld units? Or use a TASP to save money on calls? Use the Internet more to cut down on expenses. Hope this helps. If you can, keep your clients. They are hard to come by nowadays.
Remember that's $40 before all expenses. nm
x
Medical expenses
January, 2000 - DH tore rotator cuff, needed MRI/arthrogram, followed by rotator cuff repair.
January, 2001 - I had foot surgery in podiatrist's office.
January, 2002 - DH had cervical MRI/myelogram, followed by anterior cervical diskectomy with fusion, two levels.
January, 2003 - DH had knee MRI, followed by arthroscopy.
January, 2004 - I had LASIK surgery.
OMYGOSH, it's almost January again! 
Why not just add it to your business expenses? nm
x
You can still deduct your MT expenses if your and IC - sm
regardless of taking the standard deduction. Your write offs for MT are on the Schedule C (not B). My husband and I take the standard deduction as we don't have enough on our Sch. B; then I write off all my IC deductions and report my income on the Sch. C.; putting the bottom line (income minus IC write-offs) on the 1040 line 12. So I am not quite clear on what you are talking about but I know how I do it is how most of us (if not all) do our deductions. You may want to do an amended return.
Tax Deductible Expenses
We ran a business for years from our home. As far as I know, you can take the base rate of your telephone bill as an expense (which includes FCC taxes) and any long distance calls related directly to the business. As for Home Owners Insurance, you can take 7% of the insurance because you use 7% of your home for your business. Also, anything related to the business such as equipment, paper, tapes or special software programs can be taken as well. If you have to travel to deliver the finished reports, I believe the rate is 28 cents a mile. If you travel, you can also deduct any maintenance on your vehicle. Hope this helps.
Taxes, Expenses
I would have internet anyway; now I get to write it off. I would have long distance anyway; now I get to write it off. Everyone pays taxes and insurance, it is just a matter of who is doing the bookkeeping. Walmart STARTS at $8/hour and then when they pay all that same stuff they are really making $5- $6. You can write off ALL your health insurance, a portion of your utilities and the area you work in, computer, software, and other supplies.....save on gas (this is HUGE right now), work clothes, make up, day care, and and and. There's always more than one way to view something.
Also, are these figures before tax/expenses or after? sm
Some ICs might be quoting their pay before taxes and expense deductions, which isn't their ACTUAL pay for the year. If someone has their own accounts and says they bring in $50K per year, that's possible, but probably not the amount they receive free and clear.
I find it hard to believe anyone makes that much free and clear unless they are working 12 hours a day, every day, and pulling in a significantly high per-line rate. I'm not saying it can't be done, but I base this opinion on the fact that I make a very good line rate, type over 100 wpm for easy accounts I've had for years, and still don't bring in that kind of money free and clear. I come close with my gross income, but after taxes and expenses, it's only about 65% of that! And I work 9-10 hours a day with only one week of vacation per year.
Come to think of it, that's pretty sad when I see it on paper. LOL I'm going to go look for a new line of work now.
What is the cost of your living expenses? sm
I would really like to know this as mine seem high. My cost for the bare minimum, not including insurance, medical costs or entertainment, is about $1,800.00 per month.
Is that high to most people? TIA.
$350 a month for my share of expenses.
z
Poll: Earnings vs Expenses
1. What are your monthly earnings -- just you (no spousal income) -- doesn't matter how many jobs....monthly earnings?
2. Do you work more than one job?
3. What is your base line rate? If you have more than 1 job, list all base rates.
4. Now what is the minimum bring-home pay you need to survive each month? This is your housing, energy, transportation, insurances, food -- what you have to have to make it.
5. What's the difference? Are you in the hole? Got surplus? Breaking even?
My answers:
1. About $3100 each month.
2. One job.
3. $0.095 cpl plus some incentive bonus each month.
4. $2287 gets everything paid. Savings and pocket money not included in that figure.
5. Surplus but not much. Trying to save as much as possible and have a few greenbacks in my wallet each week.
Was told could deduct pet expenses. sm.
If it is a dog and is over 50 pounds, you can claim its food, vet bills, pet insurance, vaccinations all that as long as your business is run from your home. It applies as a guard dog. It does not matter which breed the dog is either. This is the state of Missouri, not sure about other states.
I am gonna try it as we shelled out alot of money over a period of time for a dog that was poisoned. Luckily, he lived.
WORK-AT-HOME EXPENSES JUST AS MUCH - sm
as if I were working outside the home, if not more. The only thing I would spend money on an outside job would be the $4.00 daily bus fare. I have more than enough clothes for work, no problem there, maybe lunch or can brown-bag. The company pays the office space, light, electricity, internet, cable, AIR CONDITIONING in summer (imp.)
On the other hand, even as an employee, I am not reimbursed for my high-speed, HIGH-COST cable/DSL/telephone I need to make these few cents a line, electric costs, lights, AC BILL JUMPS WHEN SITTING AT PC ALL DAY IN SUMMER, buy my own office supplies, books, references.
Just another mind sc---ing they give you by telling you it's cheaper to work at home. (I have no kids). 
6 months of expenses "tucked/socked" away? No way. sm
I am the owner of a small transcription company. We have 50 transcriptionists. We invoice $150,000 per month. Our payroll, taxes, manager salaries, postage, bank fees, overhead, etc run approximately $140,000 per month. That means that we should have $840,000 tucked away somewhere. No way. We depend on our customers to pay. Our employees are paid on time and paid a decent rate. Our bills are paid. To say that someone needs 6 months of expenses put away is unrealistic and naive. Where did I attend school? For undergrad, University of Michigan, for graduate school, Northwestern University, with a master's degree in Business Management and a Bach degree in Finance. The rule of thumb is to have one payroll worth of cash on hand or a line of credit available equal to that amount.
It's really annoying that people can toss out comments like that, stating them as if they were fact, without any basis of fact. Most companies do not have close to a million dollars lying around. If they do, it is foolish.
I also took home office expenses as an employee, but --
You can only get any good out of it if you are also a homeowner with a lot of mortgage interest or have a lot of medical expenses, etc., that would make it higher than the standard deduction.
deducting home office expenses -
For the home office expense - You would measure the amount of space you actually use to work (your desk area) and figure the percentage of that square footage to your total square footage. Then you would use that percentage of your utilities costs, etc., to count on your taxes.
I got into this because it paid more money and I didn't have daycare expenses.
I have more time for a social life now that I work at home. I go to lunch or coffee with family and friends. I used to run errands on my lunch half-hour at my old job and either pay my bills or balance my checkbook on my breaks. I know all the other parents at the school now, so we get together on weekends or chitchat at the school. When I used to work outside the home, I was so exhausted from dealing with crabby people all day long that I just wanted to isolate myself at home on evenings and weekends. Now that I work at home, I actually seek out friends to keep from getting isolated.
You could take him to small claims to get expenses and pain and suffering.
:+
Need help with calculating expenses for bid on large account. At the moment I do not know *sm*
how many lines they dictate per day/week. I am going to call the person who sent me the bid forms and ask. I do not have my own call-in system and would be using a TASP. Can someone tell me that currently uses a TASP how to go about figuring my costs in so that I do not under bid. I know that each dictator and the type of report is going to vary but on an average what would you say? Bottom line is I need to know how many cents per line I need to charge to cover the call-in system and my other expenses. Another thing they listed in the bid is that the vendor is to provide all other supplies including plain paper to complete each assignment. The hospital will provide any special letterhead, envelopes, etc. How do you provide the paper and probably the toner if you are doing this remotely? Would there be any other expenses that would fall under other supplies that you can think of other than toner and paper? How much toner and paper do I provide or should I ask the hospital what they use on a weekly basis? I would assume I have the right to ask questions as to how much paper, toner, how many lines they do each day or week on average. I want this account very much but I do not want to have to pay a cheap line rate and I need to make this worth my while. Thank you very much for you help.
One thing also - keep all your receipts of any business related expenses
I have a folder and everytime I buy anything related to work whether it be a pen, a printer ribbon, a book, a keyboard, etc. I put in that folder. Those things add up and they are all deductible which comes off of your gross. This is in addition to the home use of your office. A statutory IC is a great way to go because you don't have to pay the entire social security but you are still IC and can utilize the business deductions. If you pay your own health insurance and it is in your name that is also deductible. Keep good records...this is the most important I have learned being an IC. Also you will probably have to file quarterly if you make over a certain amount. If you don't you will be penalized by IRS and have to pay the penalty fee with your April 15th filing. And also remember to figure your state taxes for the year. However it does depend on your personal situation and if you file jointly with your husband that may change things. Good luck.
Personally I think IC is great but unless you have some really good deductions you can end up paying a lot in taxes . If you have to pay your own social security at 15% and you were taxed at 20% rate for federal and let's say 6% for state you would be paying 41% of your income in taxes which is no fun. But you only pay on your net income and not your gross so it sort of comes out in the wash.
home office expenses are still deductible if you are an employee - nm
x
My cost of living expenses monthly is $2200/month
I'm self employed, so I'm killed in taxes AND I live in NY...but I wouldn't have it any other way
I LOVE NEW YORK!!!!
|
