About being deaf and working as a self-employed CPA - I'm hard of hearing and have a successful practice! Here's what works for me: 1) I clearly state my preferred communication methods on my website and marketing materials (email, client portal, video calls with captions) 2) I use a transcription app during any necessary calls 3) I've structured my client onboarding to gather all info through forms 4) I emphasize the BENEFITS of written communication - everything's documented! Most clients actually prefer this approach because it's more efficient. The few who insisted on phone-only communication weren't a good fit anyway. I've found many clients appreciate the clear, thoughtful written communication that comes from someone who doesn't default to calls for everything. It's become my competitive advantage!

I'll add something about pricing since you asked specifically about that. When I started 5 years ago, I had no idea what to charge and definitely underpriced myself. What worked for me: I called 5 local CPAs as a "potential client" with a specific tax situation and asked for their rates. This gave me a realistic range for my market (which varies HUGELY by location). Start at the lower end of the range while you build experience, but don't go below 75% of the average rate you find. Clients often associate price with quality, and being too cheap can actually hurt you. Also, consider value pricing instead of hourly for some services. For example, I charge flat rates for tax returns based on complexity rather than tracking hours. Clients love the certainty, and I'm rewarded for efficiency.

Just an FYI - make sure you also sent copies of the 1099-NECs to your contractors! The deadline for giving forms to recipients is also January 31st. If you haven't done that yet, do it immediately. The penalties for not providing forms to recipients can actually be higher than the penalties for filing late with the IRS.

Asking because I'm confused - I thought 1099s were due at the same time as all other tax forms (April 15)? Is the January 31 deadline just for businesses? This is my first year with side income and I'm worried I've misunderstood something important.

Another option is to check if your parents can claim the AOTC instead of you. Since they're claiming you as a dependent, they might be able to claim your education expenses on their return if they paid for them. The rules are: - If you're claimed as a dependent, you can't claim the credit yourself - The person claiming you as a dependent can claim your expenses IF they actually paid them - There are income limits for the parents ($180k for married filing jointly) Did your parents contribute anything toward your education? If they paid for the laptop, for instance, they might be able to claim that expense as part of the AOTC on their return.

Don't forget that how you treat your scholarship/grant money affects other things too! If you choose to report some of your scholarship as taxable income to qualify for AOTC, you might also have to file a state return and it could affect other credits/deductions. In my experience, excess scholarship money reported as income is considered "unearned income" which doesn't count for Earned Income Credit purposes. But it DOES count toward your total income which could affect things like health insurance subsidies if you're getting those. Run the numbers carefully before deciding!

I'm a treasurer for a small nonprofit and we specifically DO NOT issue 1099s for reimbursed expenses. The town is 100% in the wrong here. A 1099-MISC is for services rendered, not for reimbursements. What likely happened is they have an automated system that just generates 1099s for anyone who received over $600 in payments during the year, without distinguishing between types of payments. It's lazy accounting on their part. If they refuse to issue a corrected 1099, keep detailed records of all your umpire payments. Report the 1099 income on your Schedule 1 as "Other Income" and then subtract the same amount with a notation "Reimbursed Expenses incorrectly reported on 1099-MISC." This creates a net zero effect on your taxes.

Has anyone considered that maybe the town is doing this on purpose? Our little league had the same issue and it turned out the town was trying to shift their tax burden by making volunteers responsible for reporting payments to contractors (the umpires). If you pay the umpires directly, TECHNICALLY you might be responsible for issuing them 1099s if they earned over $600 each, not the town. By giving you a 1099 for the total, they're putting you in a position where you either accept it as income (wrong) or you have to document that you paid it out (potentially making you responsible for the umpire 1099s).

One thing nobody's mentioned yet - if you're paying by crypto, remember the crypto itself is considered property by the IRS. So when you use crypto to pay a supplier, you're technically "selling" your crypto, which could trigger capital gains/losses on the crypto itself, separate from the business expense. Make sure you're tracking your cost basis in the crypto and the fair market value at the time you transfer it. You might have a deductible business expense AND a taxable crypto transaction happening simultaneously.

Don't forget about FBAR requirements if you're regularly dealing with foreign accounts! If the aggregate value of your foreign financial accounts exceeds $10,000 at any time during the calendar year, you need to file FinCEN Form 114 (FBAR). This probably doesn't apply if you're just sending wire transfers to vendors, but if you open any accounts overseas or maintain crypto on foreign exchanges, be careful about these reporting requirements. Penalties for not filing are steep!