• TexMexBazooka
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    5 months ago

    So a 1099 allows you to deduct work related expenses. It’s the difference between being an actual employee, which has both labor law and tax implications vs a contractor. So if you make 100k, and you spend 20k on fuel, your taxable income is actually 80k.

    The trade off is you can’t take the standard deduction which is like 12k for singles now? Double if married. If you itemize expenses, and you have to document and track those expenses. There’s also a higher risk of you getting audited by the IRS.

    So the short answer is as long as you can deduct more than you would have been able to with the standard deduction, it can be worth it. But then you get slapped with “self employment tax” or whatever bullshit it’s called.

    This is over simplified and I’m not any kind of expert.

    This is the same kinda thing the wealthy use to dodge taxes. The trump method is “lose so much fucking money that you can have net 0 income for years”.

    Quick edit: if you file a W2, there’s a 90% chance you take the standard deduction by default

    • Maeve@kbin.social
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      5 months ago

      Yeah i know what 1099 means, just not the details of deductions. I’m saying fuel costs a lot lot; it costs hundreds? to fill a big rig? So the deductions can’t possibly make up for it? Unless you’re never off the road? I know there’s long haul and local short jobs, I’m just trying to get a picture. Doesn’t seem worth it. Plus driving gets hard on hands, arms, neck, back and butt so add in medical issues from years of it.

      • TexMexBazooka
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        5 months ago

        You can deduct fuel, you can deduct t any food bought while working, you can deduct the depreciation of the truck itself which on those big rigs can be significant.

        Spending 12k in expenses wouldn’t take very long at all I imagine