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I only took the standard deductions

Posted By: and nothing more on 2005-12-01
In Reply to: I guess they are focusing on people who take huge deductions which I really dont so maybe that is - MQ2

and it still happened to me. What I couldn't understand was that I was supposed to be in a less likely audit bracket because that year I was an employee, an IC and an SE. (they were trying to see if I met employee status on my SE account).


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deductions
The IRS has guidelines published for people who file quarterly.  I've been doing this at home for 9 years now.  Over the years the govt has sent me vouchers which I've ignored.  This year, however I decided to pay quarterly to stay out of trouble.  I know there are exceptions for filing quarterly if you have children but since I don't I didn't pay much attention when reading the info.  However, I have heard of ICs who had their husbands take more out of their checks but the IRS penalized them anyways.  Hope this info helps. 
deductions

Well 2600 out of 15 K is about 15% to 20% and it depends on the sq foot that you have in your office.  I use 20% and deduct 20%.  You cannot deduct ALL of it as it is only the percentage of the house that you use.  If you are a business, an IC and it is required that you need that occupational license it is deductible.  I deduct my business license which is a percentage of my business -- would trade the $200.  If we want to operate as a business and want the deductions that you have to be licensed as such and pay the necesssary fees.  Can't have it both ways. 


I had about 12K in deductions.
.
deductions
I deduct and depreciate my house as I know I will live in it well after I retire and so won't  have to worry about the depreciation move or when I die and my estate can well pay for it if it.  But I deduct advertising, phone, health insurance, mileage, computer, supplies, depreciation of house, partial utilities, my internet, cell phone, etc. and it equals out to at least  15K a year.  My mileage helps but if I were working outside in a hospital I would have that expense and no deduction so I don't mind.  I also put aside 20% in my IRA which is a deduction.   Most of these deductions I would have if I were not an MTSO-IC as I would still use internet, gas, house, utilities, etc. and would have more of a taxable income but someone is just holding my taxes for me and sending them in.  But you have to think ahead to prepare.  I go on vacation to places where there are seminars that I want to attend, etc. Again if you weren't an IC you would still have those expenses and they would not be deductible.  It is just a shock because no one withheld for you during the year.  You almost think and feel that your employer is actually paying those taxes for you and except for the 7.5 of SS they are just managing your money.  So begin to manage yours now.   If you have kids and give them allowances, you can say you are paying them for filing and be able to deduct up to 500 without doing a 1099.  There are legitimate deductions out there but you gotta search for them.  If you have your kids give out flyers, etc, pay them and deduct it.  You give them money anyway.  But I would not give up my house deduction/depreciation for anything as I know I will be here long after I retire.   That is my long 2 cents worth.  Patti
I need help with QA deductions..SM

It has been so long I don't remember the exact deductions and how it works.  Could you please tell the very basic process for deductions and how it works.  Specifically, how much is deducted for a word left out, the wrong medication dosage, no comma where there should be one, and when they type a word like has but it was supposed to be his.


I'd really appreciate it.  Maybe someone knows a site that has this info.  I couldn't find anything myself. 


thanks.


deductions

Mileage for any travel pertaining to business, advertising, mailings, internet, phone, office, -- first couple of years I went to a CPA and then did on my own following his prior returns with Turbo Tax.  They take you through it step by step.  Anything you contribute to your SEP retirement, insurance, computer, desk.  Get a good book or talk with a CPA.    Have a separate check book for all payments to work related expenses.  Even a couple thousand miles per year is a savings. 


Deductions
Hello everyone. I know this has probably been discussed a million times and that there's probably information in the archives (which I plan to dig into), but I was wondering if anyone could, off the top of their head, guide me to a site or something that could specifically tell me what deductions I am able to take as an IC doing MT work for a national company? Thanking you in advance. Reb
Don't forget the tax deductions
Pleae keep all your receipts for hearing-aids/batteries, etc. and check with your tax preparer at year's end or before. I would think this would be deductible but worth asking about.
TAX question..deductions??sm
I am starting or trying to start my own business at home
but in order to do that I had to buy my own pc and use
it to take an online course at home in my spare time.
I work parttime for a national MT co. I want to deduct
the cost of the pc and the course from last year's income
which I earned as an SE (several W2s). Both the course
and the pc were bought in Dec. 05 using a small-business
credit card. I don't expect to finish the course for a few
months and only then will be able to "market" my new skill.
My question I guess is..when you purchase something by credit,
is it "totally deductible" in the year of purchase or do you
only deduct the payments in the year they occur? Thanks.
need some tips for tax deductions
I would really appreciate any tips I an get on tax deductions for at home employee.
Just keep deductions in mind.
I live in Alabama and out in the country. I count the miles I drive to the bank and to the post office, post office box dues, cell phone, extra phone line, internet, etc. As an employee I had to pay all these anyway, I just could not deduct them from my taxes.
I pay taxes now and take ALL deductions
x
Employee/IRS deductions
I have been claiming my home office for years as a deduction, which includes portion of my oil heat, telephone bills, DSL bill, computer, paper, pens, notebooks, etc, books, software, etc.   I have been an employee and an independent contractor, and my accountant has always told me I could take these deductions, so I have with absolutely no problem.  The rules for a home office is that the room you use needs to be for business, so I use a small bedroom just for my office, i.e. it cannot be a room you use for a bedroom and a home office.   Hope this helps. 
What are some examples of deductions you use?
nm
Disagree, as an IC you can take those deductions
I'm an employee now, and though I still do write off home office and percentage of my bills it's nowhere near the amount I used to be able to write off as an IC. All those extras have to add up pretty high to get above your standard deduction to write them off as an employee.
Since when as an employee can you get deductions?
nm
Income after deductions.
Income after expenses is what you are given credit for making. If you grossed $40,000 and had $10,000 worth of expenses, you made $30,000. This is your taxable income and what is credited as your social security income.
Get a good tax guy. His fee is a write-off. He will tell you what you need to do & deductions you
;I
write offs/deductions for IC's??

Just wanting some ideas on what everyone uses as deductions.  Im going to get hit hard this year and just seeing what everyone else does.


TIA,


Are there any deductions for taxes on your paycheck?
nm
To all ICs claiming huge deductions...(sm)

I just met with my accountant yesterday.  I am so sick I cannot think straight.  I asked alot of people before moving ahead with an IC position and leaving employee status.  EVERYONE stated that the deductions you can write off are more than worth paying the extra SS taxes that you no longer have an employer to pay.  I even saw several people specifically state they lowered their taxable income by $10,000 or more so the IC status was well worth the headache of paying the extra taxes. 


Well, I would sure love to know how in the world you ladies come up with these deductions.  The accountant said my total deductions for my home office came to about $2400.  But then my SS taxes I owed ate up that plus about another $1500.  Are those of you reaping in huge deductions working strictly via the internet?  I have no gas, mileage, vehicle wear/tear deductions because I'm strictly internet based.  But even with considering those deductions, if I had them, I still cannot see where in the world you all are coming out so much better.  Someone please offer suggestions/comments....have I just completely screwed myself over here or do I need a new accountant??


My IC home office deductions came to only sm
$1100 because I own my house outright and, like you, have no real expenses because I work at home off the Internet. My health insurance premiums are low because it's lousy insurance.

People with high mortgages will have a higher deduction based on that. They may travel each day to get their work, etc. Every person's situation is different.

I think you did okay!

BTW, if anyone uses H&R Block, I strongly urge you to get the Peace of Mind benefit for $27. Mine came in handy for 2004 when the preparer made a big, big mistake caught by the IRS (I'm going to end up getting a refund of what the preparer said I owed in 2004!!!) This may be my last year with the blockheads, though. I should say I've gotten excellent service in the last 25 years, except for that one preparer last year and Block messing up on its own tax preparation.




Wasn't that 20K TAXABLE after all deductions? sm
I wouldn't mind making more than that and only having to pay taxes on 20K.
You worked, they paid. You took deductions.
x
Does anyone remember name of book for deductions
if you work at home, saw posted a few weeks ago, wrote down and have misplaced. Thanks.
Try googling "book for tax deductions" or
x
depends on income and esp deductions.
last year was my first as an IC, and i saved back money for taxes -- needed none of it.
Hidden business tax deductions?

Have any of you come up with some not well know deductions we can take on our taxes?  As you all know, in transcription our overhead is very low and we get SOCKED on the self-employment tax.


I already do the percentage of house on taxes, utilities, phone, gabage, etc.  Full on cell phone, meager supplies, meager mileage, internet.  Might have gotten yard care deducted last year, I forget. 


Let me know if any of you have other areas of deductions!!


Been an IC for 17 years now. Never had a problem with deductions; however, I also have a husband
and we file jointly with a schedule C. We do receive a large return, but that is because he has so much tax money taken out, because over overtime, etc. I guess I am just the lucky one with that.

My deductions come out to about 10K a year working as an IC.
But you get tons of deductions and write-offs.
x
My independance and deductions, making my tax load LESS,
x
A good tax guy can help with taxes and give ideas on deductions. His fee is a
:}
I guess they are focusing on people who take huge deductions which I really dont so maybe that is
why they dont audit me because basically there is nothing to audit since my deductions are about $600 a year which are payroll deducted for equipment. I watch with my deductions that everything can be well documented but I really only have health insurance now which before you couldnt take so that is it for me and that is easy to prove.
A good tax guy is worth his weight. He will help you find deductions and if any probs with IRS,
;+
There is no standard and most of us are not
privy to that information. 
There is no standard.
It will depend on how much experience you have and how well you are doing with the work. My first company kept me on QA for 6 weeks, although they typically kept new MTs on QA for the first 12. My second company kept me on QA for 2 days, and for my current company I sent 3 reports through QA and then was released.
Definitely not the standard. I would not
work anywhere where I had to pay to use their software. Keep looking, there are good jobs out there.
the pay seemed standard
BUT good luck getting on. I was hired, given a start date, and 3 weeks later finally quit because I had 3 different people asking for the exact same paperwork that had been sent. 
Me too. It's always been the standard for a
reason, because it makes it easier to read. It's a crock & I don't plan to quit putting 2 spaces after a period.
Unfortunately, this is the standard.

If 4 cpl is the VR rate, then you are getting paid, but if they had stated a certain number of hours or days for training pay, then you should receive that amount specified as training pay.  If they simply said you're paid for training, that could very well mean that you will be paid your training rate for your 1.5 hours of training.  What company is it?


these tests are standard for this age and despite what sm
poster below said; they are usually done with routine pap smears and sometimes no mention is ever made from doc about what they are doing. fight ins company.
That's kind of standard, isn't it? I mean (SM)
every hospital and every MT company I've ever worked for, to be a full-time employee you had to account for 40 hours a week, either by working it, or taking PTO, unless you were covered under FMLA.

I think sometimes we expect even more flexibility working from home and forget the fact that working from home IS flexibility -- not having to go into the office, being in the comfort of our home (if we want our children or family around us, that is our option--not so in an office), etc.

The 40-hour expectation is very standard, in my experience. You have PTO to use for when you cannot make up your absence. My guess is they will offer more PTO with this new plan coming up.

Try not to panic or be upset. No one knows what the new plan will be. We will each have to decide if the new plan is what we need or not. If it isn't, thank goodness there are other companies to work for out there.

Please try to relax.
Wow. That's quite contrary to the standard.
Usually, 32 hours is part-time and 37 starts full-time.

You've been quite fortunate!

I HAVE to get to work now. I don't wanna. LOL I'd rather stay and play! LOL

I think the standard now is use numbers (6)
...
Isn't the standard deduction much more than $2K? nm
x
Double standard
So we expect MDs to always have their complete attention on every word out of their mouths, which would be nice, but some of them put in 70 or more hours a week at the office/hospital, and have mountains of dictation to complete each week. But we expect them to never make a misspeak, even though on these boards we have a heart attack if one poster points out another poster's spelling or grammar error. Never mind that we are supposed to be better at English than the MDs, but we don't have to use our skills in writing posts (which is MUCH easier to do well than never making a misspeak), even if the post has to do with getting a job. That's quite a double standard, if you ask me.
What is the industry standard...sm
Tried to post this on Wednesday, will try again...I need to know what is the industry standard conversion for minutes dictated to minutes typed?  Not how much do you do - but what is average for one hour dictation - how many hours typed.  Bosses think we're taking too long but we do not get automatic demographics and need to look on log sheets (if they arrive and if they're correct) for everything from patient name to referring doctors, addresses, patient #'s, etc. So I need to give him an "average" number of hours dictated equal "X" amount of hours typed taking into consideration the lack of information, the searching we must do and the various typing speeds.  I'm not going to "judge" anyone's advice  - just need some input from those that have been there.  Thanks for sharing.
AAMT is only the standard on
That account would be the one I type online.  The other accounts, that are much more profitable than the typing I do online could give a rat's crap whether I'm certified.  They think I'm great, and they pay me for it.  No QA (don't need it), and my TAT is great.  I'm very reliable, accountable, and have a lot of social grace.  Not a machine here....  typing out those lines for the almight online MTSO's.  Just type for one, and thank goodness they are fair, and I don't feel like I'm "doin' time".  I get raises, and they don't hassle me all day through IM or nitpicky QA issues.  Spent 1-3 days in QA when I first started, and now whatever they give me, I type, and do not require QA.  
There is a standard scale!
I know this is an old post, but I just ran across it.  There absolutely is a standard scale.  The AAMT website has it under an article titled Metrics for Measuring Quality in Medical Transcription (2005).  I wish I could give you the exact page, but I only have the .pdf of that article - but it was only downloaded last week, so it'll still be there. 
That's not a standard description, so
you can only be sure by asking the person who used it.
Industry Standard for VR Pay?
What is the industry standard for VR pay? Specifically for someone just starting out.