The Confident Indie: A Simple Guide to Deductions, Income and Taxes for The Creatively Self-employed - Softcover

Walker, June

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1939470013 ISBN 13: 9781939470010

Publisher: Indie Power Media, 2013

Synopsis

What makes this book different? The Confident Indie is not different. It is more than different. It's one of a kind.
 
To begin with, June Walker understands that self-employed people live in a world in which the tax laws and regulations are not written for them. They are written for the 20th Century world of corporations and employees, a world that is waning as the life of the independent contractor grows. The latest IRS figures find that 41 million people are self-employed: That's 29 percent of the workforce. She knows how to interpret those laws and regulations so that the self-employed can use them to their tax advantage, not by creating phony tax shelters but by growing an authentic and vibrant business.
 
The examples of tax situations that she draws upon don't come out of a manual, they come out of the lives of indies, real situations that she has encountered in her accounting practice - and her writings are chock-full of them.
 
Furthermore, all the other books on this subject sound alike. You can leaf through them and find the same sentences written over and over again. That's because they are laborious and dull rewrites of IRS manuals. June Walker's book is written by an accountant who, unlike most accountants, knows how to write well, to explain tax matters simply and clearly, and to draw on her thirty-year experience of working exclusively with self-employed people (she calls them indies). It's a career that has developed a thorough understanding of how indies work, how they think, and what their business lives are really like. She admires them, respects their talents, and relates to their issues. That's why her readers relate to her. That's why they respond with such enthusiasm to her books, to her magazine articles, and to her website and blog. That's why thousands of people subscribe to her free e-letter, Ways Through the Maze. That's why people who attend her seminars say that they never before understood taxes so easily or heard them explained so well. That's why her readers call her books fresh, unique, irreverently funny.

About this title

From the Author

Most indies find their passion in their talent. That's only natural. It's romantic.
 
However, when you say "I am a business" you are connecting your passion to another dimension. The statement completes a circuit in which your passion connects with the business and public side of your talent. The other dimension is professionalism.
 
It is captured in the concept Indie Power Mindset. Talented professionalism means that you are a talented passionate sculptor, or psychologist, or chef, or web developer with a professional outlook and approach that may once have seemed mundane or commercial but now has become part of the romance. Like your talent, your professionalism can also be a source of pride.    
 
Take "I am a business" to the limit. Don't be so sure that there is a well-marked difference between work and family and play and chores, or that you know what the difference is. The business life of an employee has clearly established boundaries, but the business life of an indie like yourself is intertwined with your personal life. If your business is broadly defined - and it should be as broadly defined as is honestly possible - and your life is richly complicated, it can make for an intertwining that gets pretty tangled. Anyone who has a connection with your business may be a business associate even though she may also be a friend - or a parent.
 
As an indie power thinker, you will know that whenever you reach into your pocket for money, write a check, or slip out your credit card, you may be engaging in a business transaction. For example: You bought a chair at the thrift store for the kitchen, but after getting it home you realized that it would be perfect for your home office. Now it's a business purchase and you should have a receipt for it.
 
In the instant that you come to understand what it means to profess that you are a business, and that the work you do is blended into every aspect of your life - well, that may be the most important moment of your indie business life.

June Walker

From the Inside Flap

" For many self-employed people, the
line between work and personal life
isn't always clear. Tax and financial
consultant June Walker . . . argues that
the confusion often causes people to
cheat themselves out of legitimate
deductions."
-- BusinessWeek

 
PRAISE FOR JUNE'S PREVIOUS BOOK

" By far the best self-employed book on
taxes that I have read to this day! A
must read for anyone who has been in
business and would like to understand
better what the CPA is saying, and a
definite must for anyone thinking about
being self-employed."
- Jodel "The Word", on Amazon
 
" Your book rocks! I should have read it
when I first started. It has paid for itself
after only a few months. Thank you so
much...please don't stop!"
- Rachel Ridenour, Training Consultant
Arlington, VA
 
" Fantastic! As a small business owner
and a person who hates math, taxes, or
anything resembling the two, this book
is a godsend! I still can't believe I read
the entire thing! I reference it often,
and have changed my entire way of
book keeping (or lack thereof). This is
the best tax book ever! Simple to read
and understand, full of easy to use and
implement ideas. I can't say enough
about how this book has changed my
entire view of the dreaded book keeping
end of my business!"
- Colleen Mathis, "Ace", on Amazon
 
" I'm a full-time artist and bought this
book to make sense of my tax mess. It
was entertaining to read, and laid out
a clear and easy plan for me to follow.
This is EXACTLY what every artist needs
to read."
- Marni Mutrux, on Amazon

Edition details

• Publisher: Indie Power Media
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1939470013
• ISBN 13: 9781939470010
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 278