Tax Tips for Working DJs
April 2, 2017
April is around the corner, and for the working class in the United States, that means Tax Day is coming soon. Tax Day instills a sense of fear in some professionals, but for those who prepared well or have teams in place to help facilitate income accountability, it’s just another day. That calm, collected professional could be you! If it’s too late for that to happen this year, consider these tax tips for working DJs who are regularly compensated for their services.
Keep Up With Your Expenses
Traveling, meals, lodging, mileage and other costs related to work may be deductions you can use when you file your taxes. It is a good idea to maintain a filing system of some sort to keep your expenses together and organized. Make sure your filing system is in an accessible place so that you can regularly update expenses daily, weekly or monthly. Or, if you choose to use a software program like QuickBooks to keep track of spending for business matters, make sure that you can access your documentation when needed.
It may also be a good ideas to digitize receipts and email them to yourself as a backup, in case paper receipts get lost. If you are ever audited (because audits are real), you’ll want to have all your bookkeeping and expense validation in place. Apps like Evernote and OneNote can be your on-the-go best friend when it comes to digitizing, organizing and storing your paper trail of receipts and expense accountability. They link with other apps like Scannable and ReceiptMate to quickly allow you to scan and record receipts on the fly and eliminate the need to keep up with all of those tiny pieces of paper until tax time.
Consider a Separate Bank Account
Depending on how you set up the legal structure of your business or how you were hired by your entertainment venue (and there are huge legal differences when it comes to taxes), the requirements regarding how you pay taxes may vary. Regardless, it may be advantageous to take a portion of your earnings and put them in a checking or savings account that is separate from your primary account. This will allow you to have a designated account for tax purposes, just in case you have to pay quarterly or if you will have to account for your own yearly tax withholdings. You’ll avoid accidentally spending money that, technically, isn’t yours.
Hire a Certified Accountant
Software programs like TurboTax are comprehensive methods of taking care of your taxes on your own. They do a great job of asking your questions that help walk you through the filing process, even to the point of finding tax breaks you might not have considered. However, if you want to keep legal and tax headaches to a minimum, it might be a great idea to consider hiring a certified accountant. An accountant can help you with financial planning and navigating through the tax terms and IRS requirements. Plus, hiring an accountant ahead of time may help alleviate bookkeeping woes and frustrations; these professionals can help you with software tools and tips for compiling and organizing your paperwork, and certified tax accountants may even help with finding deductions you might not have considered.
We at JammText are not lawyers, and none of these tax tips should be considered legal advice. However, we understand that filing taxes properly is a serious matter and can be very frustrating. If you are concerned about having your tax affairs in order, we encourage you to seek financial and/or legal advice from a trusted professional. Do your due diligence when it comes to your taxes so that you can continue doing your thing behind the decks and growing your business.