making me enter a special code and fill out forms and pay for the ‘deLuXe’ tax software because only that can handle the right forms
i assume other countries do this too. scum apps more like
Nope. Not a thing over here.
“contractor” yeah. its a very nice loophole they love to abuse. prevent them from having to care about any benefits also.
i assume other countries do this too
France has flaws, but this isn’t one of them
The tax app nonsense is uniquely American, in many ways.
This is a profoundly American problem op. The rest of the world does not have these issues. Contact you’re representatives and ask them why this is the only place in the world that has this issue.
Canada also works similarly
As an American who moved to Canada, there are similarities but Canada is still one million times better than the US.
The CRA (Canadian IRS) allows digital access to all tax info. Whatever software or service you use, just log into your CRA account and everything auto-fills. Done in a few minutes. My US taxes have never taken less than an hour, and often multiple hours if there’s anything remotely complicated.
I’m not denying that, but things are still shitty here compared to the country I come from because of the same reasons: lobbyism (by the same companies, even!)
Canada also works similarly
Our neighbour is a bad influence on us when it comes to things like business practices.
Contact you’re representatives and ask them why this is the only place in the world that has this issue.
Because the tax prep software companies
bribelobby Congress to keep things the way they are.It’s not the tax prep companies in this case. It’s companies like Uber spending millions on lobbying to ensure that their drivers are never considered their employees, and subject to protections that employment affords
It’s actually both. TurboTax spends millions lobbying against simplicity in the tax return process. While Uber also spends millions lobbying against proper labor practices.
In Australia my employer reports my income and does all the tax before I get paid. Then at tax time I go to the Aus tax office website; review it, add any claims I want to make and submit it.
This is an American solution to an American problem.
That’s basically how it works here too. The situation in op is different because there’s no employer.
Uhh what? There’s no American tax website to login into to “verify” things were handled right. One still has to do a decent amount of work copying data into third party for-profit company web forms.
While it’s easy for some to manage, it’s by no means a simple process compared to what some other countries offer
If you drive with Uber or something similar in Australia, I’m pretty sure you will be classified as self employed. I doubt Uber is your “employer”
Eh, as a rideshare driver you have a code conduct, rules about how to give rides, a dress code, a vehicle requirement (age, cleanliness, paint color, etc), and an agreement to be exclusive. (Yes all of those multi app drivers are breaking the rules.)
Just having the ultimate flex schedule isn’t really enough to say you’re independent.
Are you absolutely sure rage the Uber driver comtract requires exclusivity in Australia? That would five substantially different to the other countries it operates in - and I would expect that any such requirement would lead the tax authorities to put them squarely in the ‘employer’ category
Huh, TIL that there are countries that tech companies actually follow the laws in? In the US, they just do whatever they want.
I’m jealous.
Seems like they follow the law as voted for https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-64947695#
The law that Uber voted for yes. Drivers were extremely against it but Uber and Lyft have marketing budgets that drivers don’t.
The thing is, just by existing law before that they should be employees. The only thing they actually get towards independence is the ultimate flex hours. Which isn’t enough to be an independent contractor in any other industry. By federal law gig workers should be employees. But the government is bought and paid for. So Uber and Lyft and Amazon and UPS and FEDEX and the trucking industry all get to pretend their drivers aren’t employees.
It could be worse, at least Uber and Lyft don’t require you to buy the vehicle from them and they largely look the other way if you take rides from the other one. Trucking is far worse.
Yup. Especially because the IRS knows how much most of us are making. (If you’re not completely in cash in the black market the IRS knows.) Your employer reports your earnings to the IRS.
Incredibly we have this system because the private tax preparation business has lobbied to make it hard to pay your taxes.
I am assuming you are dealing with 1099 income. As someone who had that 15+ years ago and didn’t understand some things, I really hope you understood while earning that you have to pay both your portion of Social Security, and your “employer” would pay since you are your employer (even tho it’s BS in this case). I didn’t and owed a huge amount of money. Over US$3k. And I was making $10/hr so that was a lot. I had to get another job to pay it. I hope you’ll be ok and are happy with what you do!
shit like this is why I won’t declare my upwork earnings. My dad declared nothing for his side job construction work for 30+ years and faced no issues, why should I with my digital work.
I already found a loophole for not having to pay a fine for lack of insurance. I’m sure I can find one for this. I mean, the 1% do it…
That won’t work for you.
The 1% pay their taxes. That also have every means of deducting their tax bill due to all sort of high level fuckery. You do not.
It must be nice to decide which rules you have to follow and which you can ignore
Pot has been illegal in my state my entire life, still smoked it. I still speed on the highway. It’s all a game of cat and mouse. I’ll live my life my way no matter what rules they make. one day it could be illegal to love who I want. It won’t stop me though :)
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Did I … did I just get butt-replied?
Yep probably my bad
Your 1099 is sent to the IRS too. They already know because it was digital. Side construction work is offline and in cash. The IRS will also work with you on payments if you cooperate.
Try IRS free fillable forms.
A bit of a hassle to learn at the start, but you actually learn how to do the taxes yourself, and it’s 100% free.
It’s just a 1099, if you don’t want to use tax prep software don’t? Learn to do the paperwork yourself. If you’re smart, you’ll deduct all of your mileage, clothing expenses, ‘business related meals’, etc.
Also any healthcare expenses. When I worked 1099, I actually paid LESS in taxes than I do now.
Yeah, I’m 1099 and the standard deduction for a married person is 24k. I get as squirrelly as I can with my deductions and still usually don’t get close. Obviously some things are schedule A versus C or whatever, but I’m not sure I pay less than someone who grosses what I do but as a W2. I take the hit on FICA, since I don’t get to split that with an employer. I’ve been doing it going on 16 years and so my W2 days are hazy, but I’ve never been convinced I’m somehow paying less. Maybe the benefit I get is when I get a new chair to sit at my PC, I write it off, bt they didn’t mean I get $500 back.
Being an independent contractor has benefits. One of those benefits is having your own schedule.
