The organized freelancer will make sure the amount here is right.; Credit: Photo by Great Beyond via Flickr Creative Commons

For freelancers, consultants, actors and other self employed people, life gets complicated this time of year. Digging around for the paperwork to fill out tax forms practically qualifies as exercise.

"They have a nightmare trying to find receipts," said accountant Tristan Zier.

Zier founded Zen99 to help freelancers manage their finances, including filing their taxes.  His most important advice to freelancers: keep track expenses and receipts year round rather than pursuing a paper chase as April 15 nears.  

"When they can’t find receipts, they can’t write off their expenses," he said. "And they’re paying more money to the government instead of keeping it for themselves."

Zier and others have come up with a lists of common mistakes freelancers make at tax time. 

Here are seven don't - or, deadly sins, for freelances at tax time:

1. Not knowing what they owe.  Zier says there are 20 different 1099 forms that get sent out to workers to track freelance gigs.  One of them is the 1099-K, which only has to be sent to you by a company in paper form if you make over $20,000. "People think, 'Great, no paper form, no taxes on that," says Zier. "Big mistake there.  You still have to self-report the income."   
2. Not knowing WHEN they owe.  For freelancers who owe more than $1,000 in taxes for a year, tax time comes more often than just April 15.  They have to pay taxes quarterly. But then it's not coming out of paychecks like it does for permanent employees. 

3.  Not tracking and writing off the right types of business expenses. Zier says many freelancers fail to realize they can write off part of their cell phone bill as a business expense.  Expenses vary by the type of work.  "A rideshare driver's biggest expense will be related to their car, while a web developer's biggest expense might be their home office," Zier says. "Figuring out what expenses are important to your type of work is important is maximizing your tax savings."

4. Writing off personal expenses.  This goes back to that cell phone.  If you use the same phone for personal and business purposes, don't be tempted to write the whole bill off. Estimate the amount you use it for your work. The same goes for your vehicle. Don't go trying to write off miles driven to the beach. 

5. The Double No-No: counting expenses twice.  Speaking of vehicles, Zier says most people use the Standard Mileage Rate ($0.56/mile for 2014), which factors in gas, repairs and maintenance and other costs like insurance and depreciation. But if you use this rate, you can't also expense your gas receipts and repair bills.  

6. Employee AND employer.  At lifeofthefreelancer.com, financial consultant Brendon Reimer reminds freelancers they play both roles. For regular employees, Federal, State, and payroll taxes are withheld from a paycheck, and distributed on the employee’s behalf. It's how Social Security and Medicare are funded. The IRS mandates that the employer must pay half of every employee’s payroll tax, and the employee is responsible for the other half.  Independent contractors have to handle both halves.  "The IRS does give you a small benefit by letting you deduct the half that you pay yourself as a business expense," Reimer writes. Zier said the freelancer's sin here is believing he or she pays more taxes than the regular working stiff.  

7. Not keeping adequate records. The IRS requires you to keep proof of all business receipts, mileage, etc.  If you can't show these, the IRS  could refute the expense and force you to pay back taxes. Zier says the good news is there are other ways to prove expenses if you've lost the receipt. A bank or credit card statement with the date and location might do the trick. "The IRS is surprisingly accommodating if you are doing your best," Zier says. "If you're being a headache, they're going to be a headache as well." 

In separate reports, Zen99 and the consumer finance web site nerdwallet ranked Los Angeles the best city for freelancers.

Each considered housing and health care costs, the percentage of freelancers in an area as factors. Zier said even before the sharing economy began to take off, the entertainment industry and growing tech scene were already strong sources of freelance gigs in L.A.

"Even back in 2012, L.A. had twelve percent of people report themselves as self-employed on the Census," Ziers said.   "You know your Ubers and companies like that  are really bringing a lot of attention to the contractor market, but it was a very robust community before."

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

We used to make a big deal out of Casual Fridays at work.  But now that we're entering the dog days of summer, is anyone dressing up?

Mark Austin Thomas: Business analyst Mark Lacter, dare I ask what you're wearing?

Mark Lacter: This is radio for a reason, Mark!  And certainly, don't ask that question at the L.A. Daily Journal newspaper, which recently issued a memo that laid down the law on what's not considered appropriate attire.  As in, no jeans, no sneakers (except for messengers), no sandals or flip-flops, no halter tops, no spaghetti straps, no tee-shirts.  Also, no shorts, leggings, or exercise pants.  And, if you don't measure up, you may be sent home to change clothes - without pay for the time you've missed.  Now, to be fair, the Daily Journal is a legal newspaper, and law firms - along with the courts - remain kind of a bastion for traditional business attire.

Thomas: And that means jackets and ties for men...?

Lacter: ...and skirt suits and business dresses for women.  It's the same deal for many offices in New York and Chicago.  Matter of fact, dressing down is still not especially popular in many parts of the country, according to a new survey I came across.  More than half of the respondents say it suggests an employee doesn't have respect for the workplace.  In other words, not a team player.

Thomas: But L.A. has this huge creative community where jeans and tee-shirts are almost part of the uniform.

Lacter: Yeah, the only people wearing suits at these places are the high-level executives who are actually called "suits."  This has been true in Hollywood for years, but now you're seeing it with the growth of tech companies.  Imagine how confusing it must be for an attorney who wears the standard business uniform, and who has one of these companies as his client.  And, maybe that's the point - there is no single workplace culture, even within the companies themselves.

Thomas: Is being comfortable just not on the radar at these places?

Lacter: Well, not to pick on the Daily Journal, but so what if someone who is stuck in front of a computer all day wants to be a little more comfortable in jeans?  Will the world as we know it come to a halt?  You know, the workplace is far different than it was even 10 years ago.  People are doing their jobs in all sorts of ways, whether it's working from home, or as independent contractors.  And, this is really all about common sense - so, maybe it's time the stick-in the-muds realized as much.

Thomas: Attire aside, how is the workplace itself changing?

Lacter: Some of those downtown law firms have been cutting back, which means that they don't need as much space.  Not every attorney needs a giant office.  Same with the downtown accounting firms - when folks do go to work, the office may include a fancy kitchen, a ping pong table, workstations that double as treadmills, a place to do yoga or even to take a nap.

Thomas: All this is supposed to boost productivity...

Lacter: ...which it probably does, though you do have to wonder whether having a yoga room really enhances output, or is just a way of keeping employees from not taking a job somewhere else.  My favorite perk, and I say that facetiously, is the office kegerator, which not only seems like a dumb idea, but a great way for a company to get sued if somebody has one too many.

Thomas: Quickly Mark, any news in the dispute between CBS and Time Warner Cable?

Lacter: Not good news.  Time Warner Cable offered what it said were two possible solutions to the standoff, but CBS has came back and called it a sham.  Time Warner Cable subscribers have been without CBS programming since Friday, which is already going on longer than analysts had first expected.  The fight is over re-transmission fees - the amount of money that a programmer receives from a distributor- in this case, Time Warner Cable.  CBS apparently wants a big increase, and Time Warner Cable doesn't want to pay.

Mark Lacter is a contributing writer for Los Angeles Magazine and writes the business blog at LA Observed.com.

This content is from Southern California Public Radio. View the original story at SCPR.org.

"When a soldier dies, you suck it up." Briarcliff Ent. has unveiled an official trailer for a movie called My Dead Friend Zoe, marking the feature directorial debut of filmmaker Kyle Hausmann-Stokes (who was in the US Army). A fresh new take on veterans. This initially premiered at the 2024 SXSW Film Festival earlier this year, where it won the Audience Award in the Narrative Spotlight section. You can tell why from this trailer! Engaged in a mysterious relationship with her dead best friend from the Army, a female Afghanistan veteran comes head to head with her Vietnam vet grandfather while at the family's ancestral lake house. At its core, this is about a complicated friendship, a divided family and the complex ways in which we process grief. This unique indie film stars Sonequa Martin-Green as Merit, Natalie Morales as Zoe, along with Ed Harris, Morgan Freeman, Utkarsh Ambudkar, and Gloria Reuben. This is an impressively dark comedy about grief and veterans, following her around as she deals with a lingering ghost of her best friend. This looks VERY smart and clever, which is what cinema really should be all about these days. Take a look. Here's the official trailer […]

Deadpool and Wolverine took a while to get off the ground because Ryan Reynolds was attempting to fold Deadpool into every MCU movie.

Man ploughs car into crowd in southern China, leaving 35 dead amid divorce rage

The deadline for nominations for Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15th. A Government spokesperson said, “The public is advised that the nomination deadline to choose Bermuda’s next National Hero has been extended to Friday, November 15, 2024. “The public can visit: https://forms.gov.bm/Bermuda-National-Hero-Nomination to submit their recommendation. “The public will be […]

The Infamous Stringdusters have released a new installment of their beloved cover album series, Undercover, Vol. 3.

A man killed himself with a bomb outside Brazil's Supreme Court after trying to enter the building, officials said, stirring security concerns before the country hosts global leaders from the Group of 20 major economies.

Two people were killed Tuesday when a massive explosion took place in a food dye factory in Louisville, Kentucky. Twelve people were injured in the explosion, according to WLKY. Two […]

The post Deadly Explosion Decimates Kentucky Factory, Damages Nearby Buildings appeared first on The Western Journal.

Two explosions near Brazil's Supreme Court and Congress forced evacuations Wednesday night with one man found dead in what some authorities are calling a suicide attack.

Manitoba RCMP have identified the body of a man pulled from the Red River in September as a 29-year-old who was reported missing.

A 28-year-old man was shot and killed outside a Kitchener home on Jan. 25. Now, police say a Toronto teen has been charged with first-degree murder and a second suspect is sought in the case.

According to the Garda Siochana, Ireland's national police and security service, the US citizen was discovered unconscious on a bathroom floor Tuesday evening

Officials in southern China ramped up security on Wednesday at the site of the country's deadliest attack in a decade, snuffing out makeshift memorials to the 35 people killed when a man drove a car into a crowd at a sports complex.

A Russian television chef, who was an outspoken critic of President Vladimir Putin's war in Ukraine, has been found dead in Serbia, the BBC reported.

According to the Garda Siochana, Ireland's national police and security service, the US citizen was discovered unconscious on a bathroom floor Tuesday evening

A 35-year-old man, Felix Vhimga, has been found dead in a mysterious circumstance in the Ojowo area of Ijebu Igbo in Ogun State. PUNCH Metro learnt that the deceased had gone missing after visiting his brother, Sunday Robert, in the community on Monday. On the completion of his visit, Vhimga was however said to have

Jerusalem — Israel suffered one of the deadliest days of its ground offensive against Hezbollah in Lebanon on Wednesday when six of its soldiers were killed in combat near the border.  The soldiers "fell during combat in southern Lebanon," the army said in a statement. Their deaths brought to 47 the number of Israeli troops who have been killed in combat with Hezbollah since September 30, when Israel sent ground forces into Lebanon.  The army's announcement came after Israel Katz, Israel's new defense minister, said there would be no easing up in the war against Hezbollah.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on X shared an image of the "Golani" Brigade symbol, the unit the soldiers who were killed belonged to, a green olive tree against a yellow background, with a broken heart emoji.  Since September 23, Israel has stepped up its bombing campaign in Lebanon, mainly targeting Hezbollah strongholds in south Beirut and in the east and south of the country. On September 30, it sent in ground troops.  The offensive came after nearly a year of cross-border exchanges of fire, launched by Hezbollah in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel that triggered the Gaza war.  Strike at Aramoun Earlier on Wednesday, an Israeli strike hit Aramoun, a densely packed area south of Beirut that is outside Hezbollah's traditional strongholds. The health ministry said the strike killed six people.  Lebanese state media on the same day reported a third wave of Israeli raids on Hezbollah's south Beirut bastion in 24 hours.  The Israeli army, meanwhile, said it had intercepted some of the "five projectiles" that had crossed from Lebanon into Israeli territory.  Katz told senior military commanders on his first visit to the border region since his appointment last week that Israel would "make no cease-fires, we will not take our foot off the pedal, and we will not allow any arrangement that does not include the achievement of our war objectives."  Katz added: "We will continue to strike Hezbollah everywhere."   Israel's objectives include disarming Hezbollah and pushing the militants beyond the Litani River, which flows across southern Lebanon.  After Katz's address, another airstrike hit a Beirut suburb Wednesday evening after a warning by Israel's military for residents to evacuate.  Hezbollah said on Wednesday it had fired ballistic missiles at the Israeli army's headquarters in the commercial hub of Tel Aviv, which also houses the defense ministry.  Contacted by AFP, the Israeli army spokesperson's unit said it would "not to react to Hezbollah's allegations."  Lebanese authorities say more than 3,360 people have been killed since October 8, 2023, when Hezbollah and Israel began engaging in cross-border clashes.  Rocket fire from Lebanon on Tuesday killed two residents of the northern Israeli city of Nahariya. The deaths brought to 45 the number of civilians killed in northern Israel as a result of rocket fire from Lebanon.  Israeli hostage The Palestinian Islamic Jihad militant group, an ally of Hamas, released a video earlier on Wednesday of an Israeli hostage held in Gaza, identifying himself as Sasha Trupanov.  Trupanov's mother, Lena, in a statement published by the Hostage and Missing Families Forum campaign group, urged the hostages' immediate release.  When Hamas militants staged their October 7, 2023, attack, they killed about 1,200 people and about 250 hostages into the Gaza Strip. Of those, about 100 remain held hostage, while about a third of them are confirmed dead. Their bodies remain in Gaza.  In the more than 13 months of war, Israel’s offensive has killed nearly 44,000 people, the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza said Wednesday. The health ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants but says more than half of those killed were women and children. 

SAO PAULO — Two explosions outside Brazil's Supreme Court on Wednesday killed a man and forced the justices and staff to evacuate the building in the capital of Brasilia. The court said in a statement that two very strong blasts were heard at about 7:30 p.m. local time, shortly after Wednesday's session had finished. It added that all the justices and staff left the building safely after the incident. A police statement had said earlier that an artifact exploded outside the court. Local firefighters confirmed that one man died at the scene but did not identify him. Local media reported that the second explosion occurred about 20 seconds after the first. The incident took place in Brasilia's Three Powers Plaza, where Brazil's main government buildings, including the Supreme Court, Congress and presidential palace, are located. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva was not in the neighboring presidential palace at the time of the blasts, spokesperson José Chrispiniano said. Police blocked all access to the area, and the presidential security bureau was conducting a sweep of the grounds around the presidential palace. Brazil's federal police force said it was investigating and did not provide a motive. The Supreme Court in recent years has become a target for threats by far-right groups and supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro due to its crackdown on the spread of false information. Justice Alexandre de Moraes in particular has been a focus for their ire. Earlier, another explosion was heard outside Brazil's Congress, but it apparently did not cause damages. 

A teenage girl died after being involved in a road traffic collision in Larnaca on Wednesday night. The girl, named as 18-year-old Romanian national Iulia Michaela Vasile, was riding in the back of a vehicle which had been reported stolen when, according to the Larnaca police’s deputy director Harris Hadjiyiasemi, it mounted a pavement, swerved […]

Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds make heartwarming move following grand donationRyan Reynolds and Blake Lively throw a special surprise for a Deadpool fan battling cancer.The power couple stunned fans with a heartwarming gesture, inviting Deadpool fan Riley to a Wrexham game in a heartfelt...

“Fortunately, I won’t be around to experience the four years.”

The Brazilian Supreme Court was evacuated Wednesday following two explosions in its vicinity, stoking security concerns in the G20's leadup.

BRASILIA — A man killed himself with a bomb outside Brazil’s Supreme Court after trying to enter the building on Wednesday (Nov 13), officials said, stirring security concerns before the country hosts global leaders from the Group of 20 major economies. The blasts come five days before the G20 heads of state meet in Rio de Janeiro, followed by a state visit to the capital Brasilia by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The first of two explosions went off on Wednesday evening in a parking lot near the court building and a second blast came seconds later in front of the court, where the man’s body was found. Federal District Vice Governor Celina Leao said preliminary information suggested the man had killed himself with explosives after trying to enter the Supreme Court. She said he owned a nearby car in which another explosion blew open the trunk. Leao said she hoped it was the crime of a “lone wolf,” but she could not be sure. Police said they had not made a final identification of the dead man as they were confronting the risk of additional explosives on the body.

Local officials told the AFP news agency that a body was found outside the building in an apparent attack.

On May 13th 2024, Booking.com was the only Online Travel Agency (OTA) to be designated as a “gatekeeper” under the EU’s new Digital Markets Act, meaning they had six months to comply with the law’s stringent regulations.

1. One dead after two reported explosions near Brazil’s Supreme Court  Al Jazeera English
2. Brazil: 1 killed in explosions outside Supreme Court; judges safely evacuated  Hindustan Times
3. Video: Explosions Go Off Near Brazil’s Government Offices  The New York Times
4. One dead following blasts at Brazil Supreme Court  BBC.com
5. One dead after explosion takes place outside Brazil's Supreme Court  The Times of India

Musk and Ramaswamy have to find ways to cut down on government spending and overall bureaucracy.

Some of the lenders had sought the tribunal’s approval to start proceedings under IBC for recovering dues from the 58 IL&FS entities

More than 5 lakh internship applications received so far from Youth 

Glass windows are an invisible killer, resulting in billions of bird deaths in the U.S. each year. To prevent collisions on campus. Binghamton University, State University of New York has installed bird-safe windows.

SURAT THANI - Searchers have found and recovered the body of an Indian tourist who fell from a cliff while walking to the top of a popular waterfall on Koh Samui.

"The Lightest Straw", новое видео THE OLD DEAD TREE, доступно для просмотра ниже. Этот трек взят из нового альбома 'Second Thoughts', релиз которого намечен на шестое декабря на Season of Mist:

“Unpredictable”
“Don’t Waste Your Time”
“The Lightest Straw”
“Better Off Dead”
“Without A Second Thought”
“Luke”
“Story Of My Life”
“Fresh Start”
“I Wish I Could”
“The Trap”
“Solastalgia”
“OK”
“The Worst Is Yet To Come”
#The_Old_Dead_Tree #TheOldDeadTree #GothicMetal #Gothic_Metal
Видео: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x8KITCrV5dM

Rockies third baseman Nolan Arenado said Thursday he won't make Opening Day a hard deadline for negotiations on a possible multiyear contract.

OM Lifehope Dancelink holds a workshop for girls in a predominately Muslim area of Birmingham to teach not only dance moves but also about Jesus.

A municipal councilor in Arayat, Pampanga was killed while his companion was wounded in an attack by motorcycle-riding assailants in Barangay Telapayong on Tuesday.

The body of a 52-year-old man was discovered in his Toa Payoh flat last Sunday (Nov 10), several days after his death. The police told AsiaOne they were alerted to the case at 11.15am on Sunday, where they pronounced the man dead at the scene. It is not known when he died.  The man, Bai Zongren (transliteration), had been living alone in his unit at Block 157 Toa Payoh Lorong 1 for several years after divorcing his wife, according to a neighbour who spoke to Shin Min Daily News. He also had a daughter, who moved out with his ex-wife after they split.  The neighbour, who did not want to be named, added that Bai would occasionally get visits from relatives. "His mother used to live on the fifth floor, but she died a few years ago."  The neighbour told Shin Min that she was unaware of Bai's death when she passed by his unit several days ago. As Bai's door was locked, she assumed the flat was empty.  When she passed by his unit again on Saturday, she detected a foul smell but thought that it was from wastewater. She said she only found out about his death when she saw the police at his door.

Taxpayers who are subject to an income tax audit and certain other specified individuals have until November 15, 2024, to file their income tax returns (ITR) for the financial year 2023-24. This deadline, as reported by The Economic Times, mandates the

If you remember, a little over a month ago I made a post about Yahgoohoogle and SearchThe4 as alternatives to the standard Google search. We'll, its been brought to my attention that SearchThe4 is dead. But, with its passing comes another site almost identical to it, only better.

Rjnsmith Search is a search engine that is basically SearchThe4 but with more options of search engines to use. The user has the option to use these search engines for general web searches.

Alexei Zimin was an outspoken critic of Vladimir Putin's invasion of Crimea in 2014.

Everybody makes mistakes, but some mistakes are worse than others. Some mistakes are almost deadly—to your marketing, at least.

The following seven mistakes are dire enough to make your marketing fail. But the good news is once you know how to spot them and avoid them, your marketing has a dramatically better chance of success.

So keep reading, apply what you learn here, and carry on. You’ve got a business to promote

complete article

The food and beverage industry is a tough game. Sixty percent of restaurants don’t make it past their first year, and 80 percent go out of business within five years. Those are hard odds.

Franchising takes some of the risks out of the equation by giving you a proven model to work with. But being a franchisor with a proven model under your arm does not mean you’re suddenly bulletproof or immune to the laws of economics. If you start making unforced errors, you are going to fail.

Here are the five reasons most people fail as the owner of a franchise. Avoid these deadly sins at all costs:

Sin 1: Financial complacency
Sin 2: Operational obtuseness
Sin 3: Poor hiring choices
Sin 4: Myopic risk management
Sin 5: Mediocre offerings

Businesses now can negotiate for perks and concessions that were unheard of in the commercial real estate market just a few months ago.

Asking rent prices have yet to fall, which is typical in a down cycle as landlords try to hold out as long as possible, says CBRE chief economist Richard Barkham. At the same time, Barkham says, landlords are eager to fill space, so they're willing to offer a bevy of concessions to the right tenants, including rent-free periods, build-out expenses, and flexible lease terms.

April 25th. DEAD BOY DETECTIVES. It's really good -- it's funny, it's smart, it's scary, and it even has a few familiar faces...

We have previously published articles by the Australian AIDS-and-biology researcher Cal Crilly, and here is yet another installment. Cal is someone who digs into scientific studies. He does biological detective work and finds gems that hide in plain view, things we don't normally understand and that even the experts do not see as they are not trained to put discordant facts together and question basic assumptions. What this new article tells us is that retroviruses - the same kind that are thought to cause immune deficiency or AIDS - are useful and necessary for our immune system to function correctly. That of course tends to leave the hypothesis of a viral causation of AIDS in grave trouble. I say 'hypothesis' because no one has proven, or even come close to a coherent explanation for, the mechanism of AIDS causation by HIV. How does a retrovirus that is by nature a benign particle, cause devastation of the immune system? Here we have several scientific studies published in the world's finest journals, which attest to the fact that retroviruses are part and parcel of the human organism, that they are needed to provide certain defensive capabilities against invaders, and that they are not pathogenic. So we might ask ourselves why HIV tests (thought to indicate the presence of a retrovirus) are still performed, and why doctors are still recommending the use of toxic anti-retroviral drugs to kill what, rather than a foreign invader, appears to be part of normal human metabolic processes. Cal Crilly lays it out for you, citing and linking the sources......

I just got an email from my hosting company…apparently the old Movable Type comment script is causing some sort of server malfunction, so they’ve disabled all comments on this site.

Since I refuse to pay for the new version of MT, I may end up doing what I’ve been thinking about for a while: namely, switching to WordPress or some other alternative. Which seems to be the thing to do these days, anyway. Fortunately, spring break is coming up next week, so I may actually have some free time to wrestle with it.

In the meantime, feel free to email any comments you may have.