Teens and Taxes

February 2, 2012 By Leave a Comment

If you started a micro business in 2011, you are going to have some extra tax issues in 2012.

I have a website, TeensandTaxes.com , to help teenage business owners understand if and when they owe any taxes on their business income.

Taxes can be confusing, so grab a copy of my ebook, Teens and Taxes: A Guide for Parents and Teenagers.  It will clear the confusion for you.

A 42 page ebook with chapters on

  • employees
  • independent contractors
  • household employees
  • kiddie tax on investment income
  • business income

Read more about the ebook here

Read a sample chapter here

View the Table of Contents here

Available for immediate download for $4.99, or bundle with an audio for $7.99.

Read more HERE

Carol Topp, CPA

Filed Under: Blog, Money & Taxes Tagged With: , , ,

Business tips on video

December 14, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Need quick tips to start your micro business?

You have got to visit SBTV.com, Small Business TV.

It’s full of short videos on all kinds of micro business topics like:

  • Marketing
  • Money
  • Technology
  • Green business
  • Legal
  • Internet business
  • Success stories

These videos are geared toward grown ups, not teenagers, so don’t be overwhelmed. Listen to a few videos; you never know what could apply to your micro business!

Here’s a few to start out: 
Small Business Taxes

Social Media Tricks for Your Small Business

Legal Issues for Home-Based Businesses

 

Make sure to check out my book series, Micro Business for Teens.

 

Carol Topp, CPA

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Blog, Running a Micro, Starting a Micro Tagged With: , , , ,

Tax Jujitsu. Would it help business owners?

September 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Robert Reich

Robert Reich, who is now a professor at UC Berkeley used to be Secretary of Labor under President Clinton, has an idea he calls Tax Jujitsu or the Peoples Tax Cut.

Jujitsu: a method developed in Japan of defending oneself without the use of weapons by using the strength and weight of an adversary to disable him.
Here’s the idea:
Democrats should propose eliminating payroll taxes on the first $20,000 of income, and making up the revenue loss by applying payroll taxes to incomes above $250,000. Read all about it here:
I actually like some things about this idea, but here’s my question:

Would that apply to teenagers who own a micro business? In other words, would business owners benefit too, or only people working for an employer?

Business owners (including teenagers) have to pay 15.3% of their profits to Social Security and Medicare (it’s called self-employment tax. Read more about it at TeensAndTaxes.com).

Wouldn’t it be great if a teenager could start a micro business and know it would be self-employment-tax free up to $20,000!

Wow! Now, THAT would stimulate the economy! We’d find kids starting businesses like crazy. Maybe their parents would start a business too! Maybe these businesses would grow and hire employees, putting more people to work.

Or better yet, maybe these businesses would hire owners of other people who own their own business like webmasters, freelancers and independent contractors. This would spread like wildfire and really get the economy back to health!

I can dream can’t I?
Filed Under: Blog, Money & Taxes Tagged With: ,