Singing bonus at new job

[tattoobunnie]

Well, it's impossible to call that in many cases. Like your airfare you use on a business trip. Let's say you are also going to get lunch with an old friend while you're there. You can't take off a percentage of your airfare because you fit in time to eat lunch with your friend.

 

I work with an accounting firm, so I'm not trying to put the wool over anybody's eyes or committing fraud. I think a lot of people just don't realize what you can and can't write off. I'm in the US, where tax laws change regularly. In fact, years ago, you were allowed to write off up to $100K on car purchases for the business! You can pretty much be sure people who got cars for work were sitting pretty then. The OP had mentioned on trying to find ways to save on taxes. If you work from home in addition to a regular job, there are a lot of things you can deduct. I mean, most people don't also know you can write off daycare expenses as well. If suits are mandatory for your job, you can write those off too.

 

I have receipts for everything, so not really worried about that.

 

Either way, if you need to know exactly, it helps to work with an accountant.

[Wiseman2]

i could ask for singing bonus at the new company.

]

[journeynow]

Either way, if you need to know exactly, it helps to work with an accountant.

 

Right, to that.

 

Back to singing, I like the idea of singing for things rather than signing. Wouldn't that change the mood when writing checks and finishing tax returns.

[Hell_On_Heels]

Wow this is very informative. Thank you. I am just putting 5% because its the max. I think i should put in more but i dont know how much more. I pay so much tax every year. I need to find a way to minimize it. I didnt know companies have counselling service on 401k. I need to talk to one of them and figure out how much i need to put into 401k

 

You're very welcome

 

I think my wording was bad on the investment counselors. Your company will probably use an outside company like Fidelity or Transamerica to manage the 401k. The investment company offers free counseling to you. You just need to call them, and set up an appointment. With larger companies, those folks are either on site, or visit your building frequently. HR will know how to reach them.

 

Also, if you use a lot of pretax deductions, for health care, etc, that income will not be included in your social security benefits when you retire (assuming social security is still around). A lot of people don't know that. Your income is in box 1 of your W2, and your social security income is in box 3.

 

I'm not a payroll accountant, and have obviously wasted quite a few brain cells to retain this type of information, lol

 

The thing with taxes is you will pay them now, or you will pay them later. Looking over your own financial situation will help you to make the best decision for you.