McAnally's (The Community Pub) > Author Craft

Practical aspects of professional writing. TAXES

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gravesbane:
I know what you mean about the self-employment tax. I've been self-employed for almost 14 years.

I hadn't thought about writing articles for the trades, but that is a good idea.

KevinEvans:
We lump in our writing in with our other incomes.

Any income from a publisher over a set amount ($600.00 I think) demands a 1099 from the publisher be sent to you. We added the received moneys in and then took the deductions for our writing expenses for the year.

Allowable deductions include convention expenses (travel, lodging, convention fees, etc.) also business expenses such as writing tools, (laptops) and communication costs (phone calls and net fees) even depreciation on a vehicle that 60% or more the mileage is used for supporting the writing.

The most important thing is to keep very good records, and make them organized. The more you claim the more likely an audit by the IRS is.
Hope that helps,
Kevin





--- Quote from: gravesbane on May 27, 2008, 01:07:52 PM ---How do you write off expenses in year one of writing when you won't see any income till years two? What if you can't get the thing published at all? Any comments from you all will be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

--- End quote ---

Cathy Clamp:
Since I just got done sending in my taxes for this year, here are the categories of deductions my (very conservative) CPA is happy to include on my Schedule C:

Postage/FedEx/UPS
Printing Expenses (for pre-ARC manuscripts to reviewers)
Book copies (that I have to buy myself when the free books from the publisher are gone)
Misc./Gifts (for agent/editor holiday tokens, gift baskets, donations to causes)
Website maintenance/design
Print ads
Promo goodies
Office supplies/software/equipment
Dues & Subscriptions (trade magazines, organization memberships)
Professional Fees (Agent, entertainment attorney, accountant)
Meals & Entertainment (conference dinners, lunch meetings with other writers, etc.)
Book Conference Fees (just the dues. Other stuff goes other places)
Hotel/Valet (for conferences or book signing tours)
Travel (for . . . well everything. I think it's up to 42 cents a mile for car travel.)

Hope that helps organize your thoughts on what sort of receipts to keep track of. :)

gravesbane:
Yes it does thanks.

Richelle Mead:
I was able to deduct stuff before I was published.  Conferences in particular qualify as you educating yourself for a potential career, and the travel expenses go along with those.  I think there were some other things...seriously talk to a tax professional.  I think you'll be surprised at what you can do, even not published.  And once you are published, yeah...the deductions are crazy.  I was astonished at how much I was able to write off this last year.  The downside, sadly, is that being self-employed means having to pay Social Security twice as part of the self-employment tax. :(  Being published will also mean paying quarterly taxes on your own since the publisher doesn't deduct them.  Seriously...talking to a tax person.  Good luck!

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