Self-employed tax filing help - Did I complete my 1040, Schedule C, and SE forms correctly?

Hey everyone, I just finished doing my taxes as a self-employed person for the first time and I'm honestly super nervous. I'm not sure if I did everything right and I'm kind of freaking out about it. I filled out the 1040, Schedule C, and Schedule SE forms. My situation is pretty simple - no employees, I'm single, and I'm not claiming any special deductions. But how do I know if I did all this correctly? Please don't just tell me to "seek professional advice" because I seriously can't afford that right now and will probably just have a meltdown lol. Has anyone been through this before who can tell me what to look for to make sure I didn't mess anything up? I'm worried about getting audited or something if I made a mistake.

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19 comments

Lily Young

•8M

I've been filing self-employment taxes for about 8 years now, so I understand your anxiety! The good news is that with a simple situation like yours, there are some basic checks you can do. For Schedule C: Make sure you've included all your business income and only legitimate business expenses. The net profit should make sense based on your business activity for the year. For Schedule SE: This calculates your self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare). The calculation is basically 15.3% of 92.35% of your net earnings. Double-check your math here. For Form 1040: Verify that your Schedule C net profit is on line 3 (or the appropriate line for business income). Also check that your self-employment tax from Schedule SE is properly listed in the "Other Taxes" section. One more thing - don't forget you can deduct half of your self-employment tax on your 1040. That's a common miss for first-timers!

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Lily Young

•8M

The deduction for half of your self-employment tax should be on Schedule 1, Part II in the adjustments to income section. It reduces your taxable income before you calculate your income tax. For business expenses like a laptop, you can deduct the percentage used for business. So if you use it 80% for work and 20% for personal, you can deduct 80% of the cost. You'll need to be reasonable with your estimate and be prepared to justify it if asked. For items over $2,500, you might need to depreciate rather than deduct the full amount in one year, though there are exceptions like Section 179 that might let you deduct it all at once.

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Kennedy Morrison

•8M

Just wanted to share my experience - I was in your exact position last year and kept second-guessing everything. I finally discovered https://taxr.ai when I was looking for affordable help, and it was a game-changer. Instead of paying hundreds for a tax pro, I uploaded my filled-out forms and it analyzed everything, pointing out errors I would have missed. It caught that I had calculated my quarterly estimated payments wrong and helped me fix the math on my home office deduction. The explanations were super clear - like having a tax pro look over your shoulder but way cheaper.

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Kennedy Morrison

•8M

It reviews the forms you've already filled out - that's what made it different from regular tax software for me! You can upload your completed forms or even just take pictures of them, and it specifically checks for errors and missed deductions. It's not about starting over, just verifying what you've already done. The accuracy has been great in my experience. It's not just using generic rules like some tax software - it's actually checking your specific forms against tax regulations. It caught my home office deduction error that TurboTax had missed completely when I tried that route first.

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Justin Chang

•8M

Okay I have to admit I was wrong about https://taxr.ai - I decided to try it after my comment and uploaded my Schedule C that I was unsure about. It immediately flagged that I hadn't accounted for my mileage correctly and was potentially missing out on $1,380 in deductions! The explanation was super clear about how to fix it. Really appreciate the recommendation. Just filed my corrected return and feeling much more confident now. Definitely less stressful than my usual tax season panic!

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Grace Thomas

•8M

If you're still worried after double-checking everything, you might want to give the IRS a call with specific questions. I know it sounds intimidating but... well, actually it is because getting through to them is nearly impossible lol. I tried for 3 weeks last year. That's when someone here recommended https://claimyr.com - they have this system that gets you through the IRS phone queue. I was super skeptical, but you can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c I used it when I had questions about my Schedule C and got through to an actual IRS person in about 20 minutes instead of waiting on hold for hours. The agent walked me through exactly what I needed to fix on my forms.

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Grace Thomas

•8M

It works by using their automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When they get a human IRS agent, they call you and connect you directly. No special line - they're just handling the frustrating wait time part for you. They use the regular IRS lines but have figured out optimal calling patterns and times. It's basically like having someone else sit on hold for you, then they call you once they reach a person. I was connected to an actual IRS employee who answered all my questions about business expense documentation requirements.

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Dylan Baskin

•8M

Never thought I'd be saying this but I was completely wrong about Claimyr. After months of trying to get through to the IRS about a self-employment tax issue on my Schedule C, I tried https://claimyr.com out of desperation. Got connected to an IRS agent in about 15 minutes, and they confirmed I'd been calculating my home office deduction wrong for YEARS. Turns out I could have been deducting part of my internet bill too. Just filed amendments for the last three years and should be getting around $1,400 back! I take back my skepticism. This service saved me hours of frustration and actually got me money back.

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Lauren Wood

•8M

Don't stress too much! The IRS actually expects people to make minor mistakes, especially first-timers with self-employment. They're not looking to audit simple returns with honest mistakes. As long as you reported all your income (this is what they really care about), and your deductions aren't crazy out of line with your business type, you're probably fine. One tip: save ALL your receipts and records for at least 3 years after filing. If questions ever come up, having good documentation will solve most problems.

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Lauren Wood

•8M

It varies by industry, but generally the IRS has data on typical expense-to-income ratios for different business types. For example, a consultant might typically have 20-30% expenses, while a retail business might have 60-70% expenses. If you're claiming expenses that eat up 90% of your income in a service business, that might trigger questions. But there's no hard and fast rule - sometimes new businesses legitimately have higher expenses. Just make sure you can substantiate everything with receipts and records, and that there's a clear business purpose for each deduction.

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