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Hey! American-turned-Aussie here who went through this exact process 3 years ago for my YouTube channel. Some quick tips: 1) For business activity codes, use 57000 for Internet Publishing or 55700 for Motion Picture and Video Activities if you're mostly doing video content. 2) KEEP A SEPARATE BANK ACCOUNT for all business transactions once you get your ABN! Biggest mistake I made was mixing personal and business finances. 3) If you're planning to work with companies outside Australia, make sure you understand how GST works for international services (hint: generally not charged for services to overseas clients). 4) You'll still need to file US taxes with the IRS using form 2555 for Foreign Earned Income Exclusion. This lets you exclude up to ~$120k of foreign income from US taxes. 5) Set aside 30-35% of your income for taxes if you're earning decent money. The ATO doesn't play around with quarterly tax installments.
Those business activity codes are super helpful! Do you know if there's a specific one for social media management? That's mainly what I do and I wasn't sure which category fits best.
Another important thing: figure out your tax deductions right away! As a content creator, you can claim: - Portion of rent/mortgage for home office - Internet (business %) - Phone (business %) - Camera gear - Lighting - Editing software - Computer/tech - Website costs - Subscriptions for research - Music licenses - Stock photos/videos - Travel to filming locations Start tracking EVERYTHING from day 1. I use an app to track all my expenses and keep digital copies of receipts. The ATO requires you to keep records for 5 years. And dont forget income protection insurance! Its tax deductible and super important if youre a sole trader since you dont get sick leave or workers comp.
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Honestly the reasonable compensation issue is the biggest trap for S Corp owners. I learned this the hard way during an audit. If your business is making $500k+ and you're working in it, the IRS absolutely expects you to take a W2 salary that reflects what you'd pay someone else to do your job. Form 1125-E is required, but the bigger issue is that you need to start paying yourself a salary like yesterday. I'd recommend looking at industry standards for what someone in your position would earn and documenting how you arrived at that figure.
Do you have a rough guideline for what percentage of profits should go toward reasonable compensation? I've heard everything from "at least 30% of profits" to "whatever the market rate is for your position regardless of profitability".
There's no fixed percentage rule that the IRS follows - it's more about what would be reasonable market rate compensation for the services you provide to the company. Different industries have different standards, and factors like your experience, time commitment, and responsibilities all matter. Document your research into comparable positions in your industry and region as justification for whatever amount you choose. The key is having a rational basis for the compensation level that you can defend if questioned. In my experience, trying to set compensation as a simple percentage of profits doesn't hold up well under scrutiny.
Quick question - does anyone know if there are any exceptions to the reasonable compensation requirement? Like if you're running the S corp as a side business and have a full-time job elsewhere?
There's no specific exception for side businesses, but reasonable compensation is based on time spent and value added. If you're minimally involved (like just a few hours monthly), your reasonable compensation would be proportionally less than someone working full-time. The key is documenting your actual involvement and justifying the compensation level based on that.
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Something important that hasn't been mentioned yet - make sure your operating agreement for the real estate LLC has appropriate language about special allocations if you're planning to distribute the actual cash differently than how the tax impacts are allocated. The IRS can challenge improper allocations. Also, document the fair market value of the rent carefully. If the IRS determines you're paying above-market rent to shift income from the food truck business to the real estate LLC, they could recharacterize some of the payments.
Thanks for bringing that up! Our lease agreement was actually drawn up by our attorney to reflect fair market rent for similar properties in our area. We're not trying to shift income - we're paying what we'd pay anywhere else. Does the operating agreement need specific language about the tax treatment being different for different partners? Or is that just handled on our individual returns? Our current agreement just specifies the ownership percentages.
You're already ahead of the game by having documented fair market rent - that's excellent. The operating agreement doesn't need to specifically address the different tax treatment since that's determined by tax law rather than your agreement. However, if there are any special allocations of profits/losses that differ from the ownership percentages, those definitely need to be spelled out in the agreement with substantial economic effect language. For example, if your silent partner gets a preferred return or if there are special allocations for tax depreciation, those need to be documented. But the passive/nonpassive characterization happens at the individual level on your personal returns, not at the partnership level.
Quick tip from someone who got audited on exactly this issue: Keep METICULOUS records of your material participation in the food truck business. The IRS specifically targeted my return because of this self-rental situation, and I had to prove my material participation in the business. The auditor wanted to see my calendar, time logs, emails, texts, and other evidence showing I actually materially participated. If you can't prove the material participation, they'll treat all the rental income as passive!
How much documentation is enough? I work in my business every day but I don't keep a formal timesheet or anything. Would bank records, emails, and calendar invites be sufficient? Or do I need to start tracking hours specifically?
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Lots of good advice here but I wanted to add that if you do your own taxes, you can also deduct things like tax publications, tax software, and even a portion of your computer expenses if you use it to prepare your Schedule C. My accountant showed me how to properly document this stuff last year and it added up to a decent deduction.
Does this apply to online tax courses too? I took a short course specifically to learn about self-employment taxes for my Etsy shop.
Yes, courses specifically focused on business taxes for your self-employment activities would generally be deductible as a business expense. A tax course that teaches you how to handle Etsy shop taxes would be considered an ordinary and necessary business expense since it directly relates to your business operations. Just make sure to keep good documentation of the course, including the syllabus or description showing it was focused on business tax topics relevant to your specific situation. Also save your receipt or proof of payment.
I'm in exactly the same boat - regular job plus Uber driving. My accountant charged me $350 and said I could deduct 40% of her fee on Schedule C. She said she bases this on the extra forms and time required for the self-employment portion. Been doing it this way for 3 years with no issues.
Your accountant gives you a specific percentage? Mine just tells me "some of it is deductible" without any clear guidance. Maybe I need a new accountant lol.
Emma Garcia
I'm surprised your tax person doesn't know this. It's Roth IRA 101. You absolutely CAN withdraw your contributions (not earnings) at any time without penalty or tax. That's one of the main benefits of a Roth IRA vs Traditional! The issue is probably that your 1099-R doesn't specify whether it's contributions or earnings being withdrawn. The IRS assumes it's proportional unless you document otherwise. Make sure you file Form 8606 with your taxes to properly indicate these were contribution withdrawals.
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Ava Kim
•What's Form 8606? My tax software never prompts me for this when I enter my Roth info. Is this something I need to fill out separately?
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Emma Garcia
•Form 8606 is used to report nondeductible contributions to traditional IRAs and distributions from Roth IRAs. Most tax software should prompt for it when you enter a 1099-R for a Roth distribution, but sometimes you need to specifically look for it or indicate you want to file it. It's important because it helps track your "basis" (the amount you've contributed) in your IRAs, which determines the taxable portion of future distributions. For Roth withdrawals, it helps document that you're taking out contributions (not taxable) rather than earnings (potentially taxable). If your software doesn't automatically include it, you can usually find it in a forms search and add it manually.
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Ethan Anderson
Quick tip for the future - keep meticulous records of all your Roth IRA contributions by year! I've been doing this in a simple spreadsheet since I opened mine in 2010. Makes it super easy to prove to the IRS that withdrawals are from contributions. My brokerage's year-end statements don't clearly track cumulative contributions vs. earnings, so having my own records has saved me several times. Just note the date, amount, and tax year for each contribution. Takes 30 seconds each time but saves major headaches later.
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Layla Mendes
•Do you know if there's any way to get this historical info if you haven't been tracking it? I've had my Roth since 2017 but never kept records myself.
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