<p>Need your help. The son worked as a free lancer last year for several months. He’s now a contract employee at the company. No tax was taken out of his free lance money last year and he went to one of the standard tax preparer shops to get his return done. They wanted what amounted to five percent of the free lance money he earned to do a business return. He declined. </p>
<p>Are you familiar with organizations in LA that provide tax preparing assistance to low income individuals? He did the free Turbo Tax online but I’m not sure he was skilled enough to know how to fill it out properly. I’m not. He also needs advice on how much to save this year for quarterly payments to the IRS and CA.</p>
<p>The preparers are trained yearly and often are retired accountants or bankers. Your son should be able to find a nearby location by following the link above. He should do so soon - appointments fill up quickly.</p>
<p>But, if your son worked as an independent contractor and is NOT trying to deduct home office expenses, TurboTax ought to be very straightforward. He will file a Schedule C-EZ, (Or a Schedule C) and he will owe full Social Security and Medicare taxes on his income, as well as any income taxes, filed on a form SE. I’ve worked through the TurboTax Q&A for independent contractor income and it is pretty clean. </p>
<p>Great that’s what I was looking for. I know that last year here in Madison, business students provided similar assistance. Any of the universities in LA doing the same thing?</p>