“What’s this?” I yelled, scattering receipts every whichway off my desk. It was April 15th of my first year in business. I looked at the screen again. I owed a HUGE amount to the IRS. At first I was sure it was a glitch in the new tax software I’d bought. But it wasn’t. I’d just been KO’d by a one-two punch by the IRS—the self-employment tax and the quarterly estimated tax payments.
I went in search of information. Why was the SE tax so high? What was a SE tax? And why did I have to pay estimated taxes up front if I was self-employed? Continue reading →