Taxes for Self-Employed Individuals & Gig Workers

About this course

What you'll learn

• Identify the tax reporting path for an activity using its facts rather than an app label.
• Reconcile gross receipts, refunds, fees, deposits and information returns.
• Maintain evidence connecting each deduction to a business purpose.
• Distinguish mileage, actual vehicle costs, commuting and qualifying home-office use.
• Explain self-employment tax and its relationship to income tax.
• Prepare an estimated-payment plan using the household's full tax picture.
• Recognize health insurance, retirement, QBI and qualified-tip deduction issues requiring separate calculations.
• Assemble, review and retain a supported individual return package.

Course details

Level

beginner

What's included

• 12 lessons
• Progress tracking
• Certificate of completion

Requirements

• Basic familiarity with an individual income tax return and simple arithmetic. Personal Income Tax Fundamentals is helpful. Learners may use fictional figures throughout; no sensitive records need to be uploaded for this course.

Curriculum

1. 01

   Lesson 1: Recognizing Self-Employment and Your Tax Responsibilities

   Determine whether your work belongs on the self-employment reporting path and learn why side work, business form, and worker classification matter to your individual return.

   12m
2. 02

   Lesson 2: Reporting Gig Income and Reconciling Forms 1099

   Reconcile platform statements, cash receipts, Forms 1099 and bank deposits to report income once and explain differences.

   12m
3. 03

   Lesson 3: Building Records You Can Use at Tax Time

   Create a manageable recordkeeping process that links receipts, transactions and monthly reconciliations to a reliable tax file.

   12m
4. 04

   Lesson 4: Separating Business Expenses from Personal Spending

   Apply the ordinary-and-necessary standard, allocate mixed expenses, and distinguish current deductions from asset and inventory costs.

   12m
5. 05

   Lesson 5: Vehicle Expenses, Mileage and Travel Records

   Distinguish business driving from commuting, compare permitted vehicle methods, and build records supporting mileage and travel deductions.

   12m
6. 06

   Lesson 6: Home Office, Equipment and Mixed-Use Decisions

   Evaluate home-office eligibility, compare simplified and actual methods, and organize equipment and mixed-use records without duplicate deductions.

   12m
7. 07

   Lesson 7: Understanding Self-Employment Tax

   Follow the connection between business profit, Schedule SE, wage coordination and the deduction for the employer-equivalent portion of self-employment tax.

   12m
8. 08

   Lesson 8: Estimated Payments and Wage Withholding

   Build a household tax-payment plan, understand common safe harbors, and track payments by the correct year and due date.

   12m
9. 09

   Lesson 9: Deductions Beyond Schedule C

   Recognize self-employed health insurance, retirement, QBI and qualified-tip deduction issues and identify where separate eligibility calculations are needed.

   12m
10. 10

    Lesson 10: From Records to Schedule C and the Individual Return

    Work through a complete illustrative reconciliation and follow profit into Schedule SE and the rest of the individual return.

    12m
11. 11

    Lesson 11: Reviewing, Filing and Correcting Your Return

    Complete a practical filing review, distinguish acceptance from payment, and handle errors, corrected forms and notices using a documented process.

    12m
12. 12

    Lesson 12: Your Year-Round Self-Employment Tax Routine

    Turn the course into a repeatable monthly and periodic routine that keeps records current, payment projections useful and annual filing organized.

    12m