As a writer in the process of getting published, you may have paid more than $600 to a literary agency, editor, photographer, website designer, or book packager to work with you this past year. You can claim this amount as an expense when you file a Schedule C; it will lower how much tax you have to pay on your income. Here is the link to Schedule C   If you paid more than $600 to one agency, the IRS requires you to send a 1099-MISC form to that agency. Here is the link to Form 1099-MISC When you open the link, scroll down until you get to Copy B, the black & white form, which can be downloaded and completed (ok to file electronically as well.) Print out Copy B. Fill out your information (you are the Payer) and fill in the Recipient’s name, address and federal ID #. Put the amount you paid to this business in Box 7 – Non-Employee Compensation. Send a copy to the IRS by January 31st. If you run out of time to mail it in, you can file electronically. See below for IRS mailing address, which depends on where you live. If your legal address is located in the states below, use this IRS address:   Department of the Treasury Internal Revenue Service Center Kansas City, MO 64999 Alaska, California, Colorado, District of Columbia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota,…

January begins a new fiscal year. It’s also the best time to organize your tax information for last year. Whether your book has been out for more than a year, or you’re more than a year out before you finish writing your book, this is the best time of year to gather the information together for tax purposes. On the income side, identify the sources from which you have received payment. If you received royalties or an advance on royalties, you will need to file this as income because taxes have not been paid on this amount. You pay income tax on the full amount of the check or checks received during the fiscal year from royalties or an advance on royalties. Your agent or publisher will send you a 1099-MISC which you should receive in early February. If you worked as an independent contractor and someone paid you more than $600 in the past year for your work as a professional writer, than you should expect to receive a 1099-MISC early in February. If you worked as an independent contractor but were paid less than $600 in the last year, you still need to declare this as income, but don’t expect to receive a 1099-MISC form. If you worked as an employee (writer, editor, teacher, workshop leader) then social security and income tax has already been taken out of your payments. Expect to receive a W-4 which declares your income and taxes paid to the IRS. On the expense…

The calendar has flipped over to another year, yet the more things change, the more they stay the same. The change in tax forms isn’t much of a change, unless you don’t know there’s been a change. Plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose. January 31 is the due date for you to mail your 1099-NEC forms to any independent contractors or freelancers you hired during 2021 for professional services in your work as a writer. I am not a tax consultant and recommend you speak to a certified professional, but I wanted to bring this deadline to your attention. The IRS reintroduced Form 1099-NEC as the new way to report self-employment income instead of Form 1099-MISC, as has traditionally been the case. The “gig” economy of independent contractors and freelancers circumvents the traditional ways in which taxes and other federal benefits are deducted from payments to employees. Workers who are not employees are obligated to report their income to the IRS and so are those who pay them for goods and services. If you are a writer or author who has paid independent contractors or freelancers for professional author services, then you will need to send the IRS and the contractor a 1099-NEC Form by the end of January 2022 for work in 2021. Did you hire a website designer? Writing coach? Editor? Publicist? Report payments totaling $600 or more to a nonemployee from your business to the IRS and provide a copy to the professional you paid.…