Not Sure What to Do on Taxes??

Aren't taxes fun :)

We always prepare the form both ways, jointly and seperately and send in the one that costs less in taxes.

It sounds like you did freelance work. You were paid by the job. It sounds like the other person did not send the paperwork to make you an employee. There are actually many people that receive pay this way totally legal no problem. You should be issued 1099.

have fun,

Debra

C. - It costs little or nothing to consult over these basic issues so you can maximuze your tax filing.Even H&R Block might be worth a trip. A quick consult with a tax professional can give you this information immediately. In my experience as a divorce lawyer, I have not seen many situations that a joint filing is NOT the way to go. Go now befroe they get swamped with the approaching deadline. J. D.

It depends on whether he paid you cash, or if he paid you like a contractor, which is where he would pay you, and you would pay your own taxes. In that case, he will send you a 1099 instead of a W-2. You will need to file together. It is confusing, but when you file as "married filing separately", then you HAVE to include your spouse's income, and then your spouse has to include yours. Typically, you get LESS of a refund that way. There are huge misconceptions about how that works, but if you go to IRS.gov you will see that I am correct about how it works. If you made less than $2000, you are not required to file it. If you want more advice about this, you can email me personally at ____@____.com and I will tell you what I know.

I am a self employed mom. Did my own taxes last year and paid too much. Found a great tax guy that saved me lots of money on deducting things for my self-employment. It's really not that much to have someone do your taxes and you could end up saving and avoiding an audit. And yes your employer should send you a form.

I work as a contract employee also- depending on the nature of your employer, he should file a 1099, which will state your earnings. Some employers don't file the 1099s, but you're still responsible for paying the taxes on your earnings. Generally, you have to choose- you either file jointly with your husband or you file individual taxes- you don't do both (unless you were filing just business income taxes, etc., but it doesn't sound like that's your situation). TurboTax can walk you through having 1099 earnings, also. If your earnings aren't listed, there is a section for "other income" on the 1040s, so you can put in what you earned there. I've been a contract employee with multiple employers for about 3 years and we've always done our own taxes; it really isn't too tricky.

In my experience, your employer should supply you with a 1099 form - a form that is used for contract/sub-contract labor and that will be sent to the govt. as well. When I had received my 1099 form from my previous employer, it was always more beneficial for me to file jointly as opposed to 2 returns. I would suggest doing in both ways to see which is best for your situation. Good luck and hope that helps!

If you made over $1,000 but the company didn't take out any taxes you should receive a form 1099 by Jan 31. If you made less than $1,000 it's really up to you if you want to let the IRS know about it. My husband does a lot of on the side consulting and I never bother to report these miscellaneous earnings unless he gets a 1099.

I think TurboTax is still a good tool for your situation.

Good Luck!

Hi! If you made more than $600 from the business you were working for you should receive a Form 1099. I am almost certain 1099's have to be mailed by Feb 28th, but they might have the same Jan 31 deadline like W-2's. It has been a while since I worked in an accounting office...sorry. If you are married, then I would file a joint return and leave it at that. You would end up double filing if you filed joint and then individually.

When in doubt I would DEFINITELY have a professional do it. We always have ours done professionally.

God bless!!

Hi C. S. be on the safe side i would take it to a cpa. professional. Thanks

It sounds like your DH is suggesting to file Married Filing Seperate. I think you can do that in Turbo Tax. Taxes... what a pain! Best Wishes.

If you made more than $600, your employer has to send you a 1099 Misc form showing the amount you made, if less he does not have to report it.

Your employer should give you a 1099 - then you can file your taxes with your husband. Otherwise, the two of you need to file married filing separately or you will have to go back and do an amended return after you get the information from your former employer. All told, I'd recommend you ask for your 1099 and wait - then you can use turbotax. Otherwise I'd get an honest to goodness CPA (read, not H&R Block) to advise me.

S.

You will get a form from your employer. I don't remember what the number is, but they have to file with the govt. that they paid you without taking out taxes. Yes, file with your husband but do not file again. You can use Turbo Tax, it has a specific question that will pop up about your kind of job and you can fill in the info from the form your employer will send you.

Now that I've said all that...I am not a tax consultant, CPA, or anything of the like. I used to work at home and had the same kind of income to claim and this is what I learned.

As far as filing w/your husband...you will have to pay taxes on your income. If you file w/him it will come out of your return and you won't owe the govt. any money. If you file seperately you will have to pay taxes and he will get a return. I think it's better never to have to write that check!

i think you should file together, and like you have 2 kids, you may qualify for earn income credit. my husband and i work and even thou i didn't qualify for earn income credit, they still gave me some credit for my kids, i have 3 boy and i still gonna get a refund back...

file together, means you have to address your earnings too. we ran into that problem last year while my husband was deployed. hadn't had our son yet so we filed separate. and to the question of your w-2 your ex-employer should mention all earnings (except tips0 and the amount of taxes taken out. use turbo tax if you decide to file separate, its easy. truly. hope this helps =D

C., if you file as married filing jointly you can not then file again. You must decide which manner if advantageous for both of you. If there are no problems between you and your husband then file jointly. I assume that you worked straight and have to do my own taxes is, that you worked without any federal taxes withdrawn from your wages. Then again you might owe taxes, but not necessarily. It all depends on how much you made and any dependents, deductions and expenses. An ex IRS employee.

You've had a lot of responses and I don't really have anything new to add except that I love Turbo Tax. Unless your husband makes really good money, or you have a LOT of deductions, I have found it to be very user friendly and extremely efficient. If you are concerned, you may want to get the Turbo Tax Deluxe version. This should cover your situation and it's only about $30. I can't imagine that you will find a professional that will do it for that cheap, but who knows. It will walk you through everything and let you know if you should file separately (which is very rarely the better option). Also, if you used the online version in the past, it can pull up your info from last year's filing.

Good luck!

First any money you made as a contractor you have to report on your tax return. The limit is for the employer on whether they have to issue you a 1099 or not. If they don't send you one, you can request one or request they give you a statement of how much they paid you in 2007. It's probably better if you file jointly. Other readers are correct, you can not file with him jointly and then file your own.

In the state of texas if you are married you must file jointly, you and your husband can file together now then when your w-2 comes in ya'll can file an amendment to your refund. if you file with him then file alone you will red flag yourselves for an audit. I would recommend you wait for your w-2. by federal law all employers must mail out w-2's no later than Jan 31. you'll get the form soon.

I would suggest calling Hand R block to make sure it gets done right. ( or just go down there and explain your concerns I hear this year that there might be a second check seprate from taxes and it gives more to married couples, and so much per child.) however if you filled seprate you prolly could get earned income credit and if you have kids even more back but you would have to claim your kids. Whatever you do only one of you can file for your children. ( my friends ex filed for his daughter even though she lived with mom all year and in the end,and after a lot of phone calls it got straighted out)

C. - the person you worked for should supply you with a form showing how much you made - IF you made more than $600.00. then you would report the earnings as self-employment income - any expenses you had that are related to the job are deductible - like mileage. If it is a lot of money and you are not comfortable filing yourself perhaps you should get professional help

Your employer should send you a W2 form no matter how little you earned. File jointly with your husband.

C.: Yes, your ex-employer should send you a W-9 showing the amount of money you made (i think you are supposed to get that by end of January) - unless they aren't reporting you. If you haven't received it by end of January - you may want to give them a call and ask if they will be sending you one.
As far as how you should file - I don't know about all that. We take our information somewhere and get our taxes done for us. I file separate from my husband. But filing w/ your husband and then filing again - i don't think you can do that...
One year I took all of my W-9's and W-2's to this tax person - and she left out one of the W-9's and that wasn't included in my income - and sure enough - the employer reported that money and i got a letter from IRS and had to pay them... So, it is important to find out if the ex-employer is reporting the money and then you should as well. Hope it helps a little.

If you made more than $500 in 2007 your employer should send you a 1099. I believe they have until the end of January to send out the forms so I'd wait until the beginning of Feb. before starting your taxes.

Hi C.,

The law allows up to $600.00 of un reported contract labor wages. If you made under 600.00 you do not have to worry about reproting that income. However, if you did make over 600.00 the company that paid you should send you a 1099 that shows the total wages they paid out to you for 2007. You then can just add this with your husband's W2 wages if you are filing as married filing jointly. I usually run the numbers myself each year as married/jointly - vs - married/head of household and every time it has always been better for me to file as married filing jointly. Remember, any wages over 600.00 you will owe approximately, 25% of these wages to the IRS since they consider this income as self employment wages. So this will raise the total amount of taxes owed when completing you return. If you didn't make much more than 600.00 and If your husband withheld enough throughout the year on his it may be a wash. Don't worry to much about it. I would just wait and see if you receice a 1099 from the company you worked for. If you do not receive one from them then that means they did not report it and therefore you may not have to report it at all. I hope this helped you........

C. :)

Your ex employer should send you a 1099 form to file. If you file with your husband then by your self you risk the chance to get audited and for falsing information. Dont take the chance. Contact your ex employer and ask how to recieve your 1099 form

I know it is so confusing. I had this same problem with 2006 taxes. Luckily my mother works for a CPA firm. So she helped me work through the mess.

This would be my suggestion. First, your employer will send the paperwork you need. If they don't (I think they have to mail it by Jan. 31)then contact them. In regards to filing, I would not do as your husband suggested...all respect to him. You cannot file jointly on his return and then file a seperate return (If I am understanding correctly). It usually is best to file jointly. Typically every year I plug all the info into an online free tax estimator and see which scenario is better...whether filing jointly or seperatly produces the largest refund or the least tax owed. Perhaps you could try both scenarios on Turbo Tax if it allows you to do that.

Also, I am sure you have heard in the news lately about the tax rebates the government will be issuing based on 2007 taxes. You might want to do a little research on that end and see if that impacts how you file. Not sure it will, but still check it out.

Hope this has been helpful. Good luck!

The law does allow you up to $600. Anything above $600 you will have to claim. Wait and see if the company that your worked for sends you a 1099. I would also run your taxes to see which works out better for you and your husband. You do have two small children, so you should be eligible for EIC and even if you aren't you will still have them as deductions. You can't file on two tax returns-file with your husband and then your own. You can plug the numbers into Turbo tax and see how it works out for you-married filing jointly, married filing separately, head of household, etc. I use Turbo tax and I have my own business as well as my husband's income and it works out better for us to file married/jointly. Wait and see if you receive a 1099 and see what the total amount is before you worry about it. IF you still have questions, then talk to a CPA or you can even call H & R Block and ask them. They are great on giving advice even though they no longer do my taxes.

Good luck
M.

Hello C.,

Your best bet is to file together, you will receive a 1099 MISC and will need to take it to a CPA with your husband's W2s if you are not familiar with how to file your return.

I have a very trusted and capable CPA in Lewisvile, Carldene Green, Retherford Tax Service, that we have been using for many years. My husband is self employed and I work full time outside the home. She has always done a wonderful job for us and is very ethical. Her ph is ###-###-####. Please tell her I referred you. I promise you will be a happy customer.

If you were paid with a company check and had no taxes withheld, then the employer will be sending you a Form 1099 that should be used in your tax preparation. If combined, your household would make less than 80,000ish in 2007, you should definitely keep your earning together because that will allow for combined taxation vs double taxation. Employers have until Jan 31st to get 1099s prepared and mailed out, so if you haven't gotten anything by mid-Feb, contact them and make sure they have the correct address.

C.,
It's almost ALWAYS better to file married filing jointly when you're married!!!! Filing with hubbie, leaving out your income and then filing again on your own is illegal. That would be filing twice and IRS frowns on that. Your former employeer must by law have the 1099MISC or W2's in the mail by Jan. 31. If he only paid you in cash, he may not send out a 1099MISC depending on how much you made, since it appears he's calling it contract labor. I don't see why you couldn't file your taxes with TurboTax if you wish. Your income would go on Schedule C. I don't know if TurboTax has live help with their product, but if you need more help, I'd be happy to help as I can. I work for a tax prep firm (for the last 9 years) and know we're happy to help folks figure out their taxes to file themselves. It's not hard Honey. Hope that helps a little. Shalom, J.

The way you were hired is considered contract work. You get to write off miles and such(child care). I would file with your husband and get someone who knows what they are doing to help you. You can file by your self but may in return get less than you should. If you get help you will write off things you would not think you could. My dad does all that and I has hired for a little while that way. So it may cost you something to get help but it is worth it. Good Luck

Well, you should receive the 1099 form from your employer. Also, I checked into filing separately and with my husband, but when you have children there are credits that you do not get if you file separately. I always end up filing with him so that we get the most credits allowed. I also play on TurboTax to see which way is better. I wish you all the best. I hate tax time :)

The employer should see you a 1099 and you would still be able to use TurboTax. It will walk you right thru it. I say file joint if that is what you usually do. Good luck.

Okay they can send you a 1099 if you make less than $600, you do not have to file it though. They do not legal have to send you a 1099, it is your responsibility to know how much you made. You can call to find out from whoever you worked for, you do not have to have the 1099 form to file. You do need to get all you expense receipts together for you CPA. There are alot of deductions if you know which ones you are eligible for. And we have always filed together, you should get a deduction for filing jointly. Our CPA has always used his fee as a deduction too.

First, let me say that I am not a CPA or any kind of tax expert. If you were an independent contractor with your employer, then the employer should send you an I-9. If that happens, you must claim the income. If you did this work at home, there are different deductions you can take for having a home office/business. I know there is a lower limit such that if you earn under that amount, you do not have to file taxes on that income. I'm not sure what that limit is. From my understanding, unless you file a separate tax return for a business, you should not file jointly and then separately. Seems like that might be a red flag for an audit. Yikes! I would contact your former employer and specifically ask about getting the W-2 or I-9 (whichever applies). Then use software such as TurboTax or TaxCut to do your taxes. My husband and I used TaxCut last year for my home business (lots of awesome deductions!) & for our joint return. Hope this helps!

Hi C. :) , hope this helps.

1) you can't file jointly with your husband without your income and then file separately as well, you can only file once. If you file a joint return you must include your income or it quite possibly will come back to haunt you.

2) if you made over $600 you will receive a 1099 from your employer. I say 1099 vs. W-2 because it sounds like he paid you as a contract worker vs. an employee so that is probably what you will get. If you were an actual employee and just didnt have any income taxes taken out you will get a W-2. Did the employer take out payroll taxes? If so you will get a W-2, if not a 1099 and you will have to file it as self employment income and pay the payroll tax portion yourself.

3) There is no way to tell you whether to file jointly or separately without knowing specifics about your income, etc. You and your husband need to sit down, run the numbers both ways (legitimately) and see which one yields you the better refund.

4) I would call your employer and find out if and when he/she will be sending you your earnings statment and what form you can expect, then I would go down to H&R Block and ask their advice on how to proceed.

You will receive a form telling you what you were paid. Use turbo tax to see whether you should file jointly or separately. You would either file with him or by yourself, not both.

C.,
Not sure if you've had this question answered yet, but I am a stay at home mom who does tax work this time of year.

Here's a few basic tips:
If you made over $600 working for this employer, they are required by law to send you a 1099-Misc with your earnings on it. If you made more than $600, and they haven't sent it to you, contact them to make sure they do. If it was less than $600, you can file a Schedule C to indicate this income and your expenses.

Your options for filing your return are married filing jointly (your husband's W-2s and your income) or married filing separately (and you are not on your spouse's return at all!). For a vast majority of people, married filing jointly offers many more tax advantages.

If I can help any further, call me at ###-###-####.
S.

I would suggest to get someone to do them for you and that way they are rsposible for any mistakes.I ghave always done them with H&R Block.. They cover all the loose strings.

I always file joint with my husband. You should get a form from your employer.

If you made more than $600.00 your ex-employer is required to send you a 1099. If you did not make that much, they are not required to send you anything. You might call and ask if they plan to send a 1099. Also, are they going to claim the expense? Did you give them your social security number? If they are not going to claim the expense, you do not have to. But if they claim the expense, you better. As for filing with your husband, either you file with him or not. If you file at a later date, you will have to go back and change his income tax also. If he gets a refund, it could cause him to have to repay some or all of the refund. Turbo Tax is a very good tax program. The best and safest thing to do is to claim the income that you know you made. Pay the self-employment tax and forget it. That way you don't have to worry if you should get audited.
Good Luck,
A. M.

A little about me:
Married 34 years, 3 grown sons and 6 grandchildren (& 3 daughter-in-laws).

You can file joint with your husband. I worked as a piano teacher last year, and I was told to just use form 1040, and schedule C for my earnings. I would imagine something of that sort would apply to you. YOu should be able to use a tax program to do it, but if you have questions, it never hurts to find a tax person to help you with it. I know a good one, but she's out in Greenville...

Good luck

File jointly using Turbotax.

the first thing you will need to know.....is the employer reporting your income to the IRS? If not and you made under $400, then there is nothing to worry about. If not and you made over $400, then it is still not reported to the IRS and the decision is yours. If he reports to the IRS, yes, you technically will have to file. Generally for married couples both working, it is most advantageous to file jointly. If you made under $400,you will not owe taxes.

I just always call my CPA.

C.,

You need to file with him and include your income. More than likely it will not make a whole lot of difference. If you did not get a W-2 from that employer, you may receive a 1099 which is also having to do with income. You just need to use TurboTax, the other is too expensive unless you have a lot of outside expenses to try and maximize your credit. Do not file twice. Also, you get exemptions as being married therefore you should certainly not file by yourself. If you get no forms from the company you worked for, there is a place in Turbo Tax where it asks for additional income and you can put it in there. If you don't recall the exact amount, just estimate the best you can. Hope this is helpful.

S. Tamas

It sounds like you may have self employment taxes if the employer did not withhold taxes. They should send you a statement but if you know exactly what you made or have your last paystub you don't need the paperwork to get started. Depending on your living situation you probably need to file with a status of Married filling joint. Which means if you were to file a second time it's called amending. Which basically means your telling the IRS oops let me do that again. This can make a real mess and I don't recommend it. You can use turbo tax you will just need the more advanced version that includes forms for self employed (schedule SE)listed on the side of the box. Having someone else do it will cost a few hundred dollars.