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Practical guides on invoicing, taxes, and expenses for freelancers running their own books.

The IRS $75 Receipt Rule: What Freelancers Can Skip and Keep

Under $75, the IRS often lets you skip the paper receipt but still wants the record. Here's which expenses the rule covers and what to write down for each.

October 9, 2026

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Taxes

Schedule SE Explained: How Self-Employment Tax Is Calculated

Self-employment tax is 15.3%, but not on all of your profit. Follow the Schedule SE math on an $80,000 example, including the half you get to deduct.

Lumpy Income? Use Schedule AI to Cut Your Underpayment Penalty

Equal quarterly payments assume equal quarterly income. If you earn most of it late in the year, the annualized method can shrink your penalty. Here's a worked example.

Filing a Tax Extension? It Doesn't Buy You More Time to Pay

Form 4868 moves your filing deadline to October. Your payment is still due April 15, and the penalty for missing that date is bigger than most freelancers expect.

Setting Your Freelance Rate: Hourly, Project, or Value-Based

Hourly billing punishes you for getting faster at the job. Project and value-based pricing pay for the result instead, and each one fits different work.

Your Schedule C, Line by Line: What Each Part Actually Does

Tax software fills out your Schedule C one field at a time, so most freelancers never see the whole form. This walks through what each part actually does before you sign it.

W-4 Withholding vs. Quarterly Taxes: What Side Freelancers Should Use

Freelancing on the side of a W-2 job doesn't always mean quarterly payments. Raising your paycheck withholding can cover the tax instead, even in November.

From Proposal to Invoice: Keeping the Numbers Exactly the Same

A client signs your proposal, then the invoice you send a week later doesn't always match it dollar for dollar. What has to carry over exactly, and what's fine to change.

Cell Phone and Internet: How Much of the Bill You Can Deduct

Your phone and internet bills mix client work with everything else in your life. The deduction is real, but it's a percentage you calculate and defend, not the whole bill.

Invoice Payment Methods: What Each One Actually Costs You

Card, ACH, and PayPal payments all take a cut before the money lands in your account. The size of that cut depends entirely on which one you offer first.

The S-Corp Election: When It Actually Saves Freelancers Money

An S-corp election taxes only your salary, cutting your self-employment tax on everything above it. Below a certain income, the extra paperwork usually costs more than it saves.

IRS Audit Triggers for Freelancers: What Actually Raises Risk

Home office write-offs rarely trigger an audit. A 1099 that doesn't match what a client already reported, or a deduction ratio that looks off, actually does.

HSA Contributions: The Deduction You Get on Top of Your Premiums

Self-employed health insurance covers your premiums. A qualifying high-deductible plan also unlocks a second, separate deduction: the HSA.

Late Fees on Invoices: What You Can Charge, and How to Write It

Most freelancers never charge a late fee because it feels petty over a few slow weeks. Learn how much you can legally charge, and how to write a clause that actually holds up.

Sales Tax on Digital Products: What Freelancers Actually Owe

Selling templates, courses, or software can put you on the hook for sales tax in states you've never visited. Most sellers still don't know the 2018 rule applies to them.

Why Your Freelance Business Needs Its Own Bank Account

One shared account turns bookkeeping into guesswork and can undo the liability shield an LLC is supposed to give you. Here's what actually breaks when you mix the two.

The Unpaid Invoice Deduction Most Freelancers Get Wrong

A client stops paying and most freelancers assume the loss is a write-off. For a cash-basis freelancer, there's usually nothing to deduct, because the income was never reported.

The Self-Employed Health Insurance Deduction: What It Doesn't Cover

This deduction lowers your income tax, not your 15.3% self-employment tax, and a profit ceiling can shrink it more than freelancers expect.

1099 or W-9? What Changes When You Hire Your First Contractor

The 1099-NEC threshold jumped from $600 to $2,000 for 2026. What that changes, when a W-9 is required, and what happens if a contractor never sends one back.

The QBI Deduction: What Freelancers Actually Get to Write Off

Tax software applies the QBI deduction and moves on, but two hidden limits and your business type change how much of the 20% you actually keep.

Section 179 vs Bonus Depreciation: What Freelancers Should Pick

Your tax software defaults to the biggest write-off it can find. The smart pick depends on next year's income, not just this year's, and the math is easy to run before you file.

The 1099-K Threshold Is Back to $20,000 for 2026 (For Now)

The IRS 1099-K threshold bounced between $20,000, $5,000, and $600 four times since 2021. The number for 2026 is set, and it changes nothing about what you actually owe.

Recurring Invoices: Stop Rebuilding the Same Bill Every Month

Retainer clients pay the same amount every month, but a hand-built invoice invites mistakes. Automate the date and the math, and it stops needing you.

Cash Flow Forecasting for Freelancers Who Get Paid in Lumps

Your income doesn't land in equal monthly slices, so a normal budget doesn't fit it. Three numbers, tracked every payment, turn lumpy revenue into a forecast you can trust.

IRS Mileage Rate 2026: Why It Split Mid-Year and How to Log It

The IRS raised the business mileage rate to 76 cents halfway through 2026, the first midyear change since 2022. The math and the habit that keeps you covered.

Kill Fees: What to Charge When a Client Cancels Mid-Project

Most freelance contracts never say what happens if a client cancels halfway through. A kill fee clause fixes that before you lose weeks of work for free.

Business Meals: What You Can Actually Deduct at 50%

Freelancers still deduct client meals at 100% or skip the write-off out of confusion. The real rule is 50%, with tests for what counts and what the IRS wants on the receipt.

QuickBooks Self-Employed Is Gone: Choosing What Comes Next

Intuit stopped selling QuickBooks Self-Employed in 2024 and moved new freelancers to a pricier plan. What the old app did, and how to choose a replacement built for one person.

Scope Creep: Say Yes to the Extra Work, Then Send a Price

Most freelancers absorb the one quick thing and eat six unbilled hours. Saying yes is fine. Send a price first, in three sentences, before the work starts.

How Long to Keep Freelance Tax Records (and What You Can Toss)

The IRS has a set window to question your return, and your records have to outlast it. Some for three years, a few for six or seven, one kind until you sell.

Deposits and Milestone Billing: Stop Funding Your Clients

Most freelancers do the whole job before seeing a dollar, then wait weeks to get paid. A deposit flips that. Here's how much to ask for and how to bring it up.

SEP-IRA vs Solo 401(k): Which Shelters More of Your Income

Most freelancers pick a SEP-IRA because it sounds simpler. At freelance-level income, a Solo 401(k) usually shelters thousands more from the same net profit. Here's the math.

Home Office Deduction: Simplified vs Actual, By the Numbers

Most freelancers default to the simplified home office method without doing the math. For real offices in real-cost cities, that choice quietly hands the IRS extra cash.

Missed a Quarterly Tax Payment? Here's What to Actually Do

Missing a quarterly payment isn't the disaster it feels like, but pretending it didn't happen makes it worse. Here's how to limit the penalty and get back on schedule.

Sole Prop or LLC? What Actually Changes for Freelancers

Most freelancers are told they need an LLC for tax reasons. The IRS disagrees. Here's what an LLC actually does, what it doesn't, and when the paperwork pays off.