Freelance Writer, need tax form help.

[Fightscribe]

Virginia

Hello, I am a freelance writer, and I need some help wondering what I should do to make sure I claim all my money correctly. My main problem is that I write for two companies who don't send out taxes and pay me "under the table." In years past I was making just a couple of hundred dollars and didn't feel I needed to claim this. But, between my two jobs now I can pull in close to 3000 a month, obviously a more considerable number. One website pays me by Western Union, and the other pays me inside of a poker account. I had one, and it was easy for them to do this way as well. I am very pleased with the jobs, and I am making decent money, but I don't want to get in trouble with my taxes. The Western Union pays me about 2k a month, and I go into the bank and put that in, and it just dawned on me they might get curious as to where I'm getting 2k in dollar bills on a monthly basis.

I guess my questions are, what do I do to cover my butt? I want to do everything legal, but I am new to this, especially regarding this amount of money. When you fill out a 1099 form do you put all the places you work for, or just your job and money made, or neither? LOL, I'm just really confused about the matter. A family member suggested to me buying an LLC. name and making myself a business. When I got a writing job I would be considered more of a consultant, and would just put my business name on my taxes, as opposed to just having money going undeclared. To top it all off my future father in law is a big man up in the IRS, but I'm afraid to have this conversation with him for obvious reasons.

I may have left out some questions, but I am counting on you guys knowing some ways I can go about doing this the correct, legal, way. For what it's worth, I have a "real" job, but I make only about 400-500 a month doing that. That's part time at a newspaper. Also, I know there is 100 percent no way these companies would send me proper tax forms. They are located "offshore," so they don't need to do this.

If you read through all this thank you very much and thank you for any help you can give me.

[LdiJ]

Originally Posted by Fightscribe

Virginia

Hello, I am a freelance writer, and I need some help wondering what I should do to make sure I claim all my money correctly. My main problem is that I write for two companies who don't send out taxes and pay me "under the table." In years past I was making just a couple of hundred dollars and didn't feel I needed to claim this. But, between my two jobs now I can pull in close to 3000 a month, obviously a more considerable number. One website pays me by Western Union, and the other pays me inside of a poker account. I had one, and it was easy for them to do this way as well. I am very pleased with the jobs, and I am making decent money, but I don't want to get in trouble with my taxes. The Western Union pays me about 2k a month, and I go into the bank and put that in, and it just dawned on me they might get curious as to where I'm getting 2k in dollar bills on a monthly basis.

I guess my questions are, what do I do to cover my butt? I want to do everything legal, but I am new to this, especially regarding this amount of money. When you fill out a 1099 form do you put all the places you work for, or just your job and money made, or neither? LOL, I'm just really confused about the matter. A family member suggested to me buying an LLC. name and making myself a business. When I got a writing job I would be considered more of a consultant, and would just put my business name on my taxes, as opposed to just having money going undeclared. To top it all off my future father in law is a big man up in the IRS, but I'm afraid to have this conversation with him for obvious reasons.

I may have left out some questions, but I am counting on you guys knowing some ways I can go about doing this the correct, legal, way. For what it's worth, I have a "real" job, but I make only about 400-500 a month doing that. That's part time at a newspaper. Also, I know there is 100 percent no way these companies would send me proper tax forms. They are located "offshore," so they don't need to do this.

If you read through all this thank you very much and thank you for any help you can give me.

Well...that is certainly a wierd way to be paid, by BOTH companies. You would not fill out a 1099 form. The person paying out money is the person who would fill out and give a 1099 form to the person receiving money.

You would use Schedule C to report your income and any related expenses. However I would recommend using a tax professional for this year at least, so that you have a better understanding of what all is entailed in the situation.