I just turned 18 and am unsure how/when I am supposed to go about filing taxes as a freelance artist. Is it mandatory no matter the amount you make or might I fit under some exemption? I just do it on the side to pay for flights and stuff but I want to make sure I’m doing everything properly so nothing comes back to bite me in the butt. Any advice is appreciated!
Do I have to file taxes as a 18 year old freelance artist?
byu/Mae_borowski- intax
Posted by Mae_borowski-
2 Comments
As a self-employed person in the United States you must file when you earn $400 or more in one calendar year.
So in theory if you are under the standard deduction which is $15,750, then you do not owe federal income taxes however due to the sheer fact that you are your own employer you will owe Medicare and Social Security taxes.
When you are your own employer you have to pay for both parts when somebody works for an employer and they get a W-2 then the employer pays for part of their Medicare and Social Security tax which is roughly 7.5.
Meaning if you made less than $15,750, you won’t have to owe federal taxes but you were still going to owe Medicare and Social Security taxes on anything that you make over $400 which is a little under 15%.
And if your business made more than the standard deduction then you would owe federal taxes as well.
But please Google Schedule C and how to fill that out and also take a look at all options for business expenses and see what applies to you.
As a new business owner you need to do a couple things number one get organized number two keep records of everything and number three consider opening up a business account so you can have record of everything you are required to keep all your records for each year you file business taxes for up to seven years.
So if you’re thinking about this long-term think about how you want to do that long-term and then also look into the first year of filing a business because they’re could be certain things that if you choose to do that this way now you’ll be locked into it.
I think you’ll be fine as long as you do your due diligence and make sure to keep everything separate especially expenses for the business going forward.
When you keep it separate it’s easier to track.