Part 2 of Ewwww, Taxes!

The second speaker we had regarding taxes was Donna MacMeans. Donna is a certified CPA in Ohio and writer of historical and paranormal historical romances (and how I never heard of her I’ll never know, but I can’t wait to start reading one of her historical paranormal romances which I just bought).

Being a CPA, Donna was filled with fantastic, detailed information about the nitty-gritty of doing your taxes as a writer. She hit on the following topics:

Are you a business? The answer is yes! And not only that, but probably, unless you earn over 100K with your writing, you probably want to be a sole proprietorship for tax purposes.
As a business, you need to keep accurate accounting records. She recommended using Quicken or some other accounting software to make it easy on yourself.
Be sure you keep track of your mileage so that you can take the deduction on your taxes (she repeated a number of times… if you don’t take the deduction, you won’t receive it!). The easiest way to do this is to plug point A and B into Google Maps (or your favorite map website on your computer) and write down what they say is the distance. The most accurate way to track your mileage is to make a note every time you get into your car and go somewhere for work-related activities. You do whatever you makes you most comfortable.
Business Trips are tax deductible, but remember that you need paper evidence of your airfare, cab fare and you can deduct 50% of your meals (write on your receipt why the meal is a business expense). The fantastic dress you bought to wear to the Rita’s is not deductible and neither is your husband’s airfare unless he spent his entire time on the trip assisting you in your work.