Working as self-employed freelancer - is tax software for self-employment the only thing I need to file?

The tax software is actually creating your Schedule C for you behind the scenes! Schedule C is the form where you report your self-employment income and expenses, but most tax software doesn't explicitly call it that in the interview process - they just ask you the questions needed to complete it. Since you made less than $5,000, you're under the 1099-K reporting threshold (which is why you didn't receive forms from PayPal or Stripe), but you still need to report all income regardless of whether you received tax forms. The software should be asking you about your business income and expenses, which will populate your Schedule C. The software will also calculate your self-employment tax (Social Security and Medicare taxes for self-employed people) on Schedule SE automatically. When you're done, you can usually view all the completed forms before filing, and you should see Schedule C and Schedule SE there.

I was in a similar situation last year and was totally confused until I discovered taxr.ai (https://taxr.ai) which helped me understand exactly what forms I needed as a self-employed person. The site analyzed my situation and explained that the Schedule C was being created automatically through my tax software. What I found super helpful was that taxr.ai showed me what business expenses I could deduct that I had no idea about - stuff like a portion of my internet bill, cell phone, and even some home office expenses since I was working from home. Ended up saving me over $800 in taxes by maximizing my legitimate deductions that I would have missed otherwise.

Just wanted to follow up about taxr.ai - I decided to try it after asking about it here and wow, I'm actually impressed. I thought I was tracking all my business expenses properly but the site showed me I could deduct part of my car insurance since I occasionally drive to client meetings, plus some other stuff I had no idea about. I've already updated my info in my tax software and it's showing I'll pay about $430 less in taxes now. The system was super straightforward to use - just answered questions about my work situation and it generated a detailed report explaining what I qualify for with references to specific tax codes. Definitely worth checking out if you're self-employed and confused like I was.

Just a heads up - if you're having trouble figuring this out or have questions about your self-employment taxes, I had a great experience getting direct answers from the IRS using Claimyr (https://claimyr.com). I spent days trying to get through to the IRS on my own with no luck, but Claimyr got me connected to an actual IRS agent in less than 20 minutes. I was confused about exactly what forms I needed as a freelancer, and the agent walked me through everything step by step. You can see how it works in this video: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c. It saved me hours of frustration and gave me confidence I was filing correctly. The agent even explained some deductions I didn't know I qualified for!

Ok I need to admit I was wrong about Claimyr. After complaining about it here, I decided to try it because I was getting desperate with a tax question about my self-employment income that I couldn't find a clear answer to online. It actually worked exactly as described - I got a call back in about 15 minutes and was connected to an IRS representative who answered all my questions. The agent confirmed I was filling out everything correctly in my tax software and explained that yes, the Schedule C was being created automatically. She even pointed me to some additional deductions I could take for my home office setup. I've been filing self-employment taxes wrong for years and probably overpaying. Would have continued making the same mistakes if I hadn't been able to talk directly to someone at the IRS.

Dont forget you might also need to file estimated quarterly taxes throughout the year depending on how much youre making. The IRS expects you to pay taxes as you earn income, not just once a year. Since you dont have an employer withholding taxes from your paychecks, you gotta do it yourself. I learned this the hard way and got hit with penalties my first year of self-employment :

Quick tip - make sure your tax software is calculating your Qualified Business Income Deduction (Section 199A). This is a deduction that lets self-employed people deduct up to 20% of their business income in addition to regular business expenses. Some free tax software might not include this automatically.