How To Handle Taxes Like A Boss 

Taxes? WAIT WHAT? You mean I have to pay someone a portion of the money I earn?

HAHA- that was me.

What can I say? Taxes aren’t my area of expertise- ya know?

Anyway, to get real these were serious questions I had to ask Michael when I ( finally ) started to make a living blogging.

Years ago I was a broke Pure Barre teacher & bartender living paycheck to paycheck until I started to make a living blogging. In the restaurant business, I received a paycheck & taxes were handled for me.

EASY.

Pretty much, I had no idea how complicated taxes where once I had my own business. I WAS SCREWED. In the beginning I paid for everything out of my personal checking account ( don’t laugh ). Also, I hired a developer for 50 bucks a month to build my first website & bought household decor/clothing using my debit card to shoot for The Skinny Confidential.

Things were bleak: I didn’t keep a list of expenses or even know you could potentially save some money by doing so. The idea of taxes was FOREIGN in my world.

Now that TSC is a real company & entity, the days of not paying attention to these details are OVER.

SO! I wanted to write this post to help any bloggers or new business owners save some time/money & INSANE aggravation. When I was dead broke, I had to scrape together every CENT for a proper computer, camera, developer, & props.

But really I had no idea that I could expense this stuff and get a deduction. I KNOW- OUCH.

The problem was I was being written checks & receiving income without documenting & coding the expenses.

LOOK AT IT THIS WAY: If you make 1000 dollars you will owe taxes on the full 1000 dollars. If you code your expenses according to the tax laws (in my case: camera gear, computers, designers, etc) you can then offset your income by deducting those expenses on your tax return.

So if I had $1000 in earnings & $800 in expenses, I would then only pay the taxes on $200. Make sense? LUCKILY it saved me a ton of money when I learned how to do this. Michael had to sit down & show me the benefit of getting this organized…& let’s just say it took a ton of training.

It’s just not my favorite subject in the world.

As a new blogger, vlogger, or influencer starting to make a living with your platform, it’s really important to be SAVVY when it comes to taxes.

Really though, it makes a huge difference financially. We all need to know what we can write off & when: is it our computers? Our camera gear? Clothing? Travel? Software? Designers? A home office? All of this stuff can be classified as expenses & deductions which in turn save us money when it comes to taxes.

Michael always told me if you’re setting up a new business, set up the foundation as if it were already a huge business so that when you get there you aren’t playing catch up.

When I was starting out I wish I would have listened because it took a ton of work to go back & organize years later. It can be really complicated & confusing so when I learned about TaxAct I was so excited to have a platform to help me organize everything QUICKLY & EFFICIENTLY.

TaxAct is a FAB tool to help you figure all the nitty-gritty out. I LOVE IT because they have a product for freelancers & independent contractors ( like bloggers & influencers ).

When I first started out I didn’t know how to take advantage of any deductions or credits so I lost out on a ton of money. If I had a tool to help me organize my expenses & figure out my deductions, it would’ve been a much more seamless situation.

So many of my friends start businesses & have no idea how to file their returns at the end of the year- it costs them a ton of money.

Michael’s TAX TIP:

Did you guys know you can expense out some conferences & seminars? Lauryn just spoke at Create & Cultivate with Kim Kardashian for work. Think about it: you could potentially expense that & claim a deduction. You can get a deduction for doing things that grow your business. So my tip this week is to be smart during tax season, use a tool that can help you get the maximum deductions and credits so that you can hold on to more of your hard-earned money. This works for anyone who is filing their taxes. Even if you are a W-2 employee. TaxAct is also backed by a one hundred thousand dollar accuracy guarantee so you don’t have to stress when filing with them. EASY!

Ok guys: what’s your experience with taxes? Should I do more posts like these? Keep me posted.

Talk tomorrow, x lauryn ( & kinda Michael because he’s real good at taxes )

+ this post is in collaboration with TaxAct. as always all opinions are my own.

++ WHY I TIME-BLOCK. 

SHOP: top | glasses ( took lens out & added a clear lens- similar here ) | laptop cover | planner

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