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I earned about $5000 (in full, no taxes taken out) as a freelancer to my employer in New York City throughout the 2017 year. How much can I expect to owe in taxes? And when?
I work for a full time employer now and no longer this previous employer (above).
I'm still waiting for this form my boss said he would said by the end of the year to calculate how much I owe.
I earned about $5000 (in full, no taxes taken out) as a freelancer to my employer in New York City throughout the 2017 year. How much can I expect to owe in taxes? And when?
I work for a full time employer now and no longer this previous employer (above).
I'm still waiting for this form my boss said he would said by the end of the year to calculate how much I owe.
That depends on a few things... I'm assuming you haven't paid any taxes on this? You should calculate your expenses and deduct from what you earned. That should give you a rough idea of what you'll owe.
And, unfortunately no expenses given that I was a post production editor with everything I needed in the office.
What is a soft estimate of how much of my $5000 earnings I will be paying back to the government?
You'd have to pay local (NYC) tax, right? Plus NY state and federal, so even a soft est. would depend on your federal (and state, if it isn't a flat tax) bracket. And 6+% Social Security (it might be double that depending on how you're set up if you're self-employed - you'd have to supply the employer matching amount).
So just ballpark: don't get too attached to, say, 30-35% of that $5k.
And, unfortunately no expenses given that I was a post production editor with everything I needed in the office.
What is a soft estimate of how much of my $5000 earnings I will be paying back to the government?
You need to find something to write off because as an independent contractor, you're supposed to pay taxes roughly every so many months as you go along, so that right there means owing more as you are penalized for not doing that and paying a lump sum later. Whenever I've done side work as an independent contractor I've always had some expenses to offset the roughly $5,000 - 10,000 I earned. I also get paid in cash sometimes which is great since you don't have to declare that. I learned the hard way the first year, and owed almost $1,000, but that was AFTER I found something to write off. That's the key. Find anything to offset those earnings, otherwise you will be taxed on the full $5,000, as it will be treated as earnings. You have to look at it as your own business, so you're supposed to have earnings that you bring in and then expenses ("losses"). I can't say exactly what you should expect to pay in taxes because I don't know all of your other earnings and what you are doing. For example, if you are salaried, I would assume you take deductions? That all plays a role.
The other tricky thing is that the Trump tax bill has just passed, but your 2017 filings shouldn't be affected by that.
You'd have to pay local (NYC) tax, right? Plus NY state and federal, so even a soft est. would depend on your federal (and state, if it isn't a flat tax) bracket. And 6+% Social Security (it might be double that depending on how you're set up if you're self-employed - you'd have to supply the employer matching amount).
So just ballpark: don't get too attached to, say, 30-35% of that $5k.
I'd say even higher than that... Probably more like 40%, so at least $2,000, but again that's without knowing the other variables.
At the very least, you can write off carfare and lunch. Hopefully you paid for those on a card so you have a receipt. Also, the last I heard the highest possible tax was 41% so figure from there and hope it isn't that bad. You pay 100% of whatever the social security is, like 15%, which is one of the reasons the rate is so high.
Your tax bracket depends on how much you earned in 2017 in total. So you can't just ask how much you'll owe on the $5,000. As the previous posters have said, there are too many variables for anyone here to answer. I hope you had enough withheld from your full-time job.
Last edited by macnyc2003; 12-26-2017 at 12:17 PM..
Your tax bracket depends on how much you earned last year in total. So you can't just ask how much you'll owe on the $5,000. As the previous posters have said, there are too many variables for anyone here to answer. I hope you had enough withheld from your full-time job.
You mean this year in total, its 2017 and he's asking about 2017 income
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I learned the hard way the first year, and owed almost $1,000, but that was AFTER I found something to write off. That's the key. Find anything to offset those earnings, otherwise you will be taxed on the full $5,000, as it will be treated as earnings. You have to look at it as your own business, so you're supposed to have earnings that you bring in and then expenses ("losses"). I can't say exactly what you should expect to pay in taxes because I don't know all of your other earnings and what you are doing. For example, if you are salaried, I would assume you take deductions? That all plays a role.
