Taxes Archives - Pajama Pants Finance

13Mar 2021 by Galen

American Rescue Plan and Content Creators

Taxes

President Biden just signed the American Rescue Plan (hereafter ARP), known commonly as the bill sending out $1,400 stimulus checks to many Americans. However, it contains many provisions beyond that, some of which apply to content creators. We’re not going to cover the money for schools to upgrade their filtration system or the stuff to help local governments do their vaccine distribution. As almost always, this is very US specific info. Let’s dive in to it. Stimulus The big-ticket item for many people is the stimulus check. If no one else claims you as a dependent for tax purposes you may be eligible to get a check directly from the government. The new bill gives $1,400 per tax filer and dependent, meaning a single filer with no dependents could get…

25Feb 2019 by Galen

March 15 tax filing date

Taxes

Did you know that you might need to do a tax filing on March 15th? The good news is that most people don’t need to worry about it. However, if it is something you’ll need to worry about you really shouldn’t forget it. Who needs to worry? March 15th is the tax filing deadline for partnerships and S-corporations. Additionally, it’s the last date at which you could make an S-corp election for 2019. For more info on why you might care about S-corporations check out this article. That means you need to actually get your taxes done earlier than you’re expecting. The reason is because these are pass through entities meaning any profits pass through to you without being taxed at the business level. Therefore, the forms need to send…

07Jan 2019 by Galen

2019 Tax Changes for US Streamers

Running a Business, Taxes

Welcome to 2019! First, some good news. The 2019 tax changes are much less significant than the whopper we got last year. In fact, most of it is just adjusting to inflation. Beyond that it’s some delayed implementations from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA). New rules I hesitate to mention it, but one of the new rules that could most impact the streaming community is that there’s no longer a penalty for not having health insurance. That being said, it’s still incredibly ill-advised to not have health insurance if you live in the US. We are unfortunately good at bankrupting people with medical issues. Yes, it sucks to have to pay monthly. Those monthly payments keep you from an even larger potential disaster so don’t skimp on health…

03Dec 2018 by Galen

2018 year end planning

Insurance, Investing, Personal Finances, Running a Business, Taxes

There’s one month left in 2018! So, what should you do for your streaming business and personal finances with the last month of 2018? Unfortunately, there are some opportunities that close off at the end of the year. Fortunately, you’ve still got time to implement them! Business Create a Profit and Loss (P&L) A P&L documents what your business has earned and spent this year. I wrote more in depth about it here. The main importance of this document is the information it gives you. With an accurate P&L you can make good estimations on any tax you might owe, what you can pay yourself, can find areas of improvement, and can compare against previous years to track trends. Cash flow is the lifeblood of your business. Don’t neglect monitoring…

21May 2018 by Galen

Recording business mileage

Running a Business, Taxes

We live on Twitch, we’re all hermetical shut-ins, right? Despite that stereotype, you likely do some driving that you wouldn’t normally do if you weren’t streaming. You may be going to a local meetup, a conference, or just taking a meeting that requires a bit of a drive. If so, you should document how many miles you travel. Why would I track miles? Considering it’s a bit of a pain to remember and actually log your miles, why would you do it? There’s an easy answer: if you drove somewhere you wouldn’t normally have because of your business you can get a deduction. That deduction will save you on taxes! For instance, this year I'm going to be driving to TwitchCon. That's several hundred miles and therefore several hundred dollars…

07May 2018 by Galen

Quarterly taxes: How and why

Running a Business, Taxes

Taxes, as always everyone’s favorite topic. Did you know that when you’re self-employed you’re supposed to pay them every three months (aka your quarterly taxes)? Unlike everyone else it’s not a once a year thing for you. Why do you owe quarterly taxes? There’s actually a good reason for owing quarterly taxes. When you’re working for someone else they’re taking a portion of what you owe out of each paycheck. This gets the IRS their money sooner and it prevents you from owing a huge amount come tax time. When you’re on your own well… you’re on your own on the taxes side as well! We’re a pay as you go tax system so you are supposed to pay your taxes as you make income. A common refrain in the…

30Apr 2018 by Galen

How to file a 1099 for contractors

Running a Business, Taxes

Hey want to know something important for business that basically no streamer does? You’re supposed to file a 1099-MISC for any contractor you paid more than $600 in a year. That emote artist? Yup. Your manager? Yup. Your lawyer? Yes, but on the 1099-NEC. Housekeeping EIN: Employer Identification Number. The thing you want to do a free filing for so you don’t have to give your contractors your Social Security Number. W-9: The form you should have sent your contractors to get their official information including Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), address, and legal name. When do you need to file a 1099 I kind of spoiled it in the introduction, but you’re supposed to file a 1099-MISC for any contractor you pay more than $600. You could also do it…

12Mar 2018 by Galen

Retirement Accounts for Streamers

Personal Finances, Running a Business, Taxes

Moblord's Mean Retirement Intro: Look, you're probably a great broadcaster. People like you. People sub and donate to you. But what I'm about to say is going to seem pretty harsh: You almost certainly won't retire as a career-long broadcaster. Really not a reflection on you personally as much as it is just a numbers game. Less than 1% of broadcasters are partners and less than 1% of partners made over $20k last year. It's similar to the kind of numbers from sports or acting, so not totally unique, but it's rare to hear anything but the winner's stories told. Those who don't make the 1% of the 1% go on to do other things with the rest of their lives and it becomes just a great story for the…

05Mar 2018 by Galen

Streamer Tax Calculator Updated for 2018!

Taxes

I’ve updated the Twitch Income Calculator for 2018! This week we’ll cover what the tool is useful for as well as what it lacks. The new tax law (which I’ll call TCJA in this article) added a lot of new, cool benefits for business owners. However, it also added a lot of complexity. Let’s dive in. [otw_shortcode_button href="http://pajamapantsfinance.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/02/Stream-Income-Calculator.xlsx" size="large" icon_position="left" shape="square"]Stream Income Calculator[/otw_shortcode_button] What it does This tool is awesome for putting together a very rough estimate of what you’ll owe in taxes from your streaming business. It asks you to enter some numbers that you either should be able to pull from your dashboard or should be able to recreate pretty easily. You can use that rough estimate to put together a savings plan to…

12Feb 2018 by Galen

Last Minute Tax Moves for 2017

Running a Business, Taxes

Did you know there are still some things you can do to reduce your 2017 taxes? You’ve missed most tax savings opportunities since they tend to have to happen within the calendar year. However, there are a couple that you can still do… and even an extra two available to you as a business owner! One really important note: I’m not a CPA and if you’re looking for specific tax advice you should talk to a CPA. I’ve sent folks to Ernest Jones before and he knows his Twitch… check him out. Additionally, you could check out our article on taxes here. Traditional IRA + HSA First, assuming your return shows under $72k Modified Adjusted Gross Income (MAGI) single ($119k married) you can get a tax deduction for contributing to…

Category: Taxes