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When you're self-employed, you have to deal with a number of things other workers don’t have to deal with – taxes being the most complex. When it comes time for April 15th, many writers want to put their pens and their laptops down for good. But with a little planning, tax time doesn't need to be a hassle at all. And you may just get more money back from the government as a result.

Good Records Matter

The first thing you need to do before you can even think of taxes is to consider your filing system – or lack thereof. A good basic filing system should include file folders or perhaps a 3 ring binder into which you can place all of your important papers. These papers might include receipts, invoices, and copies of important documents like your business license. What you want to do is to come up with a few categories for your filing system. Here is one that has worked for other writers: One folder for invoices and expenses that need to be entered into a spreadsheet – As you print invoices and receive payments, you can place these papers in here. One folder for papers that need to be filed – This can include everything you might want to keep on hand for your business. One binder for papers when they are filed – This will provide you with evidence of your business transactions, should you be called to do an audit. It's a pretty easy system that works no matter how big or small your writing business is.

Create a Spreadsheet

Now, there are plenty of accounting software packages out there which you might want to use. But if you want to keep things simple, you can just open up a program like Excel and create your own accounting spreadsheet. This should include one page for expenses and one for income. You will want to include the columns: date, store, item, price, and mileage for your expenses. For income, the columns should be: date, client, project, amount paid, method of payment, and fees. Into these boxes, you will want to include the numbers which correspond to the column labels. You might also want to put next to each expense what kind of expense this is as your tax form is going to ask you this too – i.e. fees, expenses, supplies, communications, etc.

Pay Ahead

The U.S. government requires that you pay your taxes throughout the year if you make so much money. To find out what you should be paying quarterly, get an SE form and worksheet from the IRS website. Here, you can estimate the tax payments you need to make. If you do not make these payments and you are supposed to, you will probably pay a penalty on the taxes you file the following year. With all of this data neatly arranged, filling out your tax forms should be as simple as sitting at your computer or at the table with the 1040 form. But if you're not confident in your ability to navigate the form on your own, your organization will ensure a tax preparation professional will be able to do the work easily.