NYC TAXES

Well you'd certainly have to report all income earned for IRS purposes, but I actually don't know how much you're required to report for the purposes of assessing state and city income tax. Maybe only what you've earned from business carried out within the city? I don't actually know, but maybe the Freelancer's Union would have answers to these kinds of questions, no?

God, I wish I knew this. I'm legally resident in the US/NY, on a student visa in the UK, have diplomatic status in Georgia (the country, not the state) get paid for English work by an Ltd based in both US and UK, get paid in dollars into paypal for freelancing, and don't know if I hit the minimum earnings of any individual taxing organizaton! I'm so confused....

I feel like I want to say that the foreign income may be off the radar?

@JenMac I keep hearing that...wish I knew for sure. Perhaps I need to stop by one of those tax return places where people just do everything for you? However I would have to pay them, as well as the IRS.

Deal with me living in Germany was, I report and pay taxes on all income I earn while in Germany. So, even if I'm doing a freelancing gig paid for by an international company, if I sit at my computer in Germany to do it, then Germany gets my taxes for it. which seemed simple enough to reckon. The minute I relocated to NY permanently, I don't pay Germany any of my taxes, even if the same international company is paying my salary.

Seems only fair that you pay taxes in the place which is your permanent place of abode at the time you're working, like, the place in which you do your grocery shopping. As for reporting all income, I think freelancers fall into that foggy category of reporting same as waiters: you report as little as you think you can get away with, and try to keep as honest as you can.

I think foreign income is traceable (does it land in your US bank account? Then definitely yes!) but in many cases of private individuals the amounts are so small that no one is going to bother to pursue you for it. You only show up on someone's radar if you're moving tens of thousands across international lines...

My two cents. Totally unqualified to give advice on this, by the way. Take it for what it's worth.

@NeverSleeps: Did you work under a 1099 for those foreign companies, or was it just a contract basis? How much money were you anticipating on receiving? Whether you know this or not, if you work for anyone outside of this city and pay taxes, you can claim those taxes on your city or state return and get that money back.

@NeverSleeps: I already filed my return and got my refund. I filed late last month.

@hhusted You got a refund? Do you pay quarterly taxes? Or do you do something else besides freelance?

Argh! What to do, what to do. I need a tax lawyer in my family.

@hhusted I mostly work on contracts. I don't even know what a 1099 is. That's how much tax help I need.

@BroadwayBK: I am strictly a freelancer. I am a former certified tax preparer for the IRS. I know tax laws and work them to my advantage. I claim deductions that not too many people know about.

@NeverSleeps: Relax. I can help you. If you write to me privately I will guide you into filling out your tax forms.

@hhusted And claiming all of those deductions actually got you a return? So you not only don't pay taxes, but you get money back from the government as if you had? That's what I don't understand.

@hhusted That's okay, but thanks anyway.

@everyone Do you guys have your taxes prepared? Can anyone recommend a good place to go?

Thanks, @uraniumfish. I don't pay taxes in the UK if I'm making under 15K a year, GBP-wise. Not sure how much I'm actually making (obviously as a freelancer it ebbs and flows) but given that I only work part-time I doubt it'll "ping" anyone's radar. Especially as half the money goes into my US bank account...

@Everyone I file jointly with my husband and I freelance for both US based and non US based companies. We usually give all our documents to a CPA who charges us a fat sum to do our taxes but at least we can rest easy and not get stressed about filing taxes. Usually I send out the various envelopes on the last day itself ..i.e. 15th of April but this year we were more organized and we sent out everything in the first week of April itself.

@BroadwayBK: That's because you do not know the tax laws. I told you. I am a certified tax preparer.

@NeverSleeps: Are you sure. I have gotten large refunds for many people. You can trust me. I never burned anyone.

@Uptowngirl: My girlfriend allowed an accountant to do her taxes last year and screwed them up. This year I did them for her and she got a refund. Accountants are not always tax preparers. Tax accountants are though. However, there are some accountants who can do accounting work and taxes, but not always.

@uptowngirl I am with you on getting someone else to do it...

@hhusted It's ...well no offense, but how do I know if you are a certified tax preparer or not? I'd rather just pay someone in person to handle things.

@Hhusted oh the firm we use is a certified tax preparer.. I am a foreigner so I need to use a firm that specializes in doing taxes of aliens- IRS terminology not mine.. :)(http://www.irs.gov/publications/p519/index.html

@hhusted NO, I am not a certified preparer. That's why I was asking! To understand. "I am a certified tax preparer" is not really a great answer to "How did you pull that off?"