Description
Easy-to-understand guide to taxes for artists, freelancers, and all self-employed individuals
Equal parts empathetic and practical, Taxes for Humans is a handbook for tackling the tax-season-scaries, written specifically for people who are self-employed. Provides essential tax education for those pushed to the back of the financial line in America, including women, queer people, and BIPOC folks, this book provides the practical tools people need to understand their taxes, conquer their fear of finances, bulk up on tax benefits, and end the tax season stronger, smarter, and more tax-savvy than ever—without sacrificing their sanity.
With accessibility in mind, this book is structured into an easy–to-follow framework:
- The Mindset: Address limiting beliefs and make the case for tax empowerment
- The Education: Start from the ground-level, without shame or jargon, and lay a foundation of tax knowledge
- The Organization: Build the systems that will get you organized and keep you organized
- The Level-up: Take up space by using next-level skills like planning and tax-smart accounts to grow your wealth (and power)
- The Fix: Mend a broken tax situation (audits, disappearing spouses, back-taxes, and escaping the tax-debt spiral)
- The Bigger Picture: Connect your personal wellbeing with the wellbeing of the communities you love
Taxes for Humans is an essential read for all freelancers, creatives, and self-employed people seeking to understand, take control of, and reduce stress surrounding their tax.
Table of Contents
Preface xi
Acknowledgments xv
About the Author xvii
Part I Introduction 1
Chapter 1 My Story, and Your Mindset to Make It Work 3
Part II The Tax Education You Never Got 15
Chapter 2 Tax Basics 17
Chapter 3 The Schedule C: Congratulations, You’re a Business 53
Chapter 4 Business Expenses 73
Part III THE ORGANIZATION: THE Three SYSTEMS YOU NEED (to Stop Wasting Time on the Wrong Things) 103
Chapter 5 Receipt Tracking 105
Chapter 6 Tax Documentation 109
Chapter 7 Bookkeeping 113
Part IV Doing Your Taxes 139
Chapter 8 Understanding Your Tax Return: the Actual Document 141
Chapter 9 How to Do Your Taxes: the Input 153
Chapter 10 Tax Triage: When to Diy Your Taxes Vs. When To Call in a Pro 209
Chapter 11 How to Review Your Tax Return 221
Part V The Level-up: Smarter Taxes to Get You More Money 241
Chapter 12 What’s a Tax Entity, and Do I Need One? 243
Chapter 13 Level Up Your Wealth 261
Chapter 14 Save Like a Millionaire (tax-advantaged Accounts) 265
Chapter 15 Finding Hidden Money (aka Tax Planning) 293
Part VI The Fix: Oh Shit! (how to Fix Things) 303
Chapter 16 Oops! Filing An Amended Return 305
Chapter 17 What if I Can’t Pay My Tax Bill? 311
Chapter 18 Back Taxes: Better Than Death Or Heartbreak (they’re Fixable) 319
Chapter 19 Audits: a Great Way to Lose Weight (why, How, and What to Do About Them) 325
Chapter 20 Holy Matrimony Or Holy Shit: What to Do If You Accidentally Marry a Con Artist 343
Part VII The Bigger Picture: How to Shift the Culture for Good 353
Chapter 21 Tax Equity 101 357
Chapter 22 Talking About Taxes: Avoid Manipulation 363
Chapter 23 The Shortest Path to $600 Billion/year? Fund the Irs 369
Index 375
