May 21: IRS Calling First-time Consultants and Freelancers

Sure the official 2008 tax season may be behind us, but small business owners are actually faced with tax-related decisions (and actions) all year long. For those of you who have recently started a consulting business or are freelancing on a regular basis, the IRS wants to talk to you - now. Don't worry. This is the good kind of call from the IRS. It's part of a new outreach campaign to first-time small business owners in an effort to educate them about tax-related issues from reporting self-employment taxes and filing 1099s to utilizing e-filing and avoiding reporting penalties.

The year-long campaign kicked off in April but May 21 marks the first in a series of phone conferences on specific topics. Tomorrow's call is targeted toward those of you filing a Schedule C for the first time, but seasoned business owners will probaby benefit from the information, too. Topics include:

• Classifying workers as employees or independent contractors as determined by law, not the choice of the worker or business owner
• Depositing federal withholding employment taxes
• Making quarterly estimated tax payments to cover your own income tax and social security self-employment tax liability
• Keeping good records to protect your personal and financial investment
• Filing and paying your taxes electronically

Call information is available from the IRS' small business site. While you're at it, go ahead and add the upcoming May 28 webinar to your calendar. It will cover tips to "Avoid Information Return Penalties" for 1099 filing.