Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
It’s that time of the year again! Who’s excited? Lol.
As not excited as I’m to pay taxes, I know I have to, but my question is: how do you guys do it? Like do you go to HR block or do you have an accountant? If you do the HR Block, what do you say? Do you say that you’re a stripper? Honestly, I’m uncomfortable doing that because I can already see nasty looks and hear nasty inconspicuous comments... YET, I’d still like to claim and receive the deductions associated with stripping: mileage, outfits, etc...
What do you guys do or what do you suggest I do?
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
I tried an accountant once & yes, he did make off-putting comments about "oh you must make thousands a night". He was also telling me to write off all kinds of stuff that would have put up big red audit flags.
I do them myself with the PDFs of the forms you can get from the IRS site. You can e-file them that way or print them out & mail in. It's tedious but it's really not "hard".
Oh, and as far as the deductions you mention taking, err on the side of caution. There's a lot of good older posts by Melonie about the 'housewife test' - stuff like hair, nails, even most plastic surgery is debatable as being a business expense since tons of women pay for that stuff who are not strippers. I personally only deduct my shoes & my business license every year because those are pretty cut & dry.
Also, you can't deduct mileage from your house to the club :/ They consider that commuting, even for an IC. If you go to the club after your vanilla job though, that can be deducted.
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
Not an endorsement, but Credit Karma has an online free tax tool that is fully compliant with the IRS standards and is easy to use. Best part is, it's free!
Definitely not an endorsement mainly because for us it's usually not free, but Intuit TurboTax and H&R Block's online efile systems are easy to use, and fully compliant with IRS standards.
The IRS has a program called VISTA that gives you person to person assistance for free and free filing up to a certain income level.
HTH,
Z
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
I actually go to HR Block lol. The guy who does mine is so sweet and very professional, he never makes me feel uncomfortable or even brings up my job at all. That means a lot to me, I’m all about having good rapport with who I work with. I file as an independent contractor and with all the deductions I have, I barely have to pay anything...last year I actually got money back :)
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
I go to a CPA who has been doing my taxes for ten years. He was recommended to me by another dancer. He is very knowledgable in the industry as far as what can/cannot be deducted.
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
My first year I’d go see a pro. You can do it yourself, but I have audit anxiety. I’d rather be reassured everything is legit. Also, my lady is LGBT so she’s cool. I found her randomly in the less prosperous side of town because she just opened. Just drive to the less prosperous side of town and check out some taxes places. They aren’t as judgy and they are cheaper.
Re: Taxes!! Where do you go? How do you do them?
TurboTax home and business works well it also tells you if u are at high risk for an audit or not. I love it bc I don’t have to worry about being judged for my job using the online software.