Tax question

[chet-tonja]

Hey you accountants out there, I always do my taxes, but this year my wife made an attempt at a little business that didn't last but a few months. Her total profit was less than $1000. I'm not sure if I file this with our personal taxes or as a separate filing. I payed my state taxes every month, but never paid any federal. I also haven't recieved anything from the state yet regarding the final amounts...I'm assuming I will get a W-2 type form??? We had several thousand in expenses which I'm assuming are deductible, but I'm not sure the best way to get everything going. Any help would be appreciated! Chet

[BrianD]

Chet, you have me quite confused. I don't know what it is you are waiting from for the "state", or what "final amounts" you are referring to. Are you talking about your wife's business? If you are saying your wife did work for the state, I would imagine they treated her as a contractor and should issue her a Form 1099 for any monies paid to her. You report all the income and expenses from her business on Schedule C of your Form 1040 (this form is part of your regular return). If she doesn't receive a Form 1099 detailing amounts she was paid, you should still report whatever income she received.

If you give me more details, I could probably help more.

[Jamesurq]

It sounds to me that he's confused and thinks that the state is going to send him a W2 form for a home business.

You'll need to figure out the final figures yourself and file your tax return. I would seriously hope that you have all of your expenses documented (ie: mileage, that new laptop you purchased for the business, the antique vase that sat on your mahogany table that you placed the laptop on.) - Generally speaking these will be written off against any proffits and you'll be able to claim a loss.

Talk to an accountant where you are - asking a CPA and a Controller online is a good start - but unless you feel like Fedexing Brian your documentation it's not really gonna cut it.

[chet-tonja]

Yeah I didn't really explain it too well. Basically she had a business that failed with very little profit and several thousand in expenses and losses. All this information was recorded when we paid our monthly state taxes for her business. Basically, I'm wondering if I will recieve a document from the state with the "official" income like I would recieve from my employer...W2. Also I was wondering if I file under her business name separate from our personal taxes or include all the incomes together? Hopefully I'm explaining this better and I guess I should probably consider getting an accountant. I have very good documentation of all the expenses and saved every receipt that was related to her business.

[carpetride]

Hire a professional, you'll save yourself some grief down the road.

**Note: I'm not a CPA and I didn't stay at Holiday Inn last night.

[Jamesurq]

the answer is no - you won't get a W2 from the state - it's up to you to figure out the income/expenses, etc and tell them about it.

Kinda the reason why so many people get arrested for cheating on their taxes - it's an honor system - how else could it be?

[BrianD]

If you filed some type of monthly return with the state (sales tax I assume), whatever total income you reported to the state on those returns should agree to the amount you report on your personal return. You don't have an option to file this income separately. It is all part of your personal income, and must be reported on your individual Form 1040, unless the business is formed as an entity other than a sole proprietorship (partnership, corporation, etc).

[chet-tonja]

Thanks Brian, that is exactly what I was looking for and yes it was the sales tax info I filed every month.

[BrianD]

No problem. The Schedule C is really quite simple. Put your income on one line, and itemize your expenses in the preprinted categories. If you have an expense that isn't preprinted, just itemize it on the second page of the Schedule C. The net loss from the Schedule C (which I assume you have based on above statements) carries forward to page 1 of the Form 1040 and will reduce your income (and taxes )