Relocation, Remote Work, Contracts and Taxes

[UnXplainable1]

Good afternoon. I am in a tricky situation this year and I'm wondering how much I should plan to put aside for taxes in the spring. My situation:

• Worked a full-time job through May 7 in one state
• From May 10-31, I worked part-time for the same company — May 10-26 in one state, May 26-31 in another.
• Meanwhile, I started a new full-time job that's fully remote on May 10 and worked it in SC until May 26
• On May 26, I relocated to a new state and continued my new full-time work upon arrival.
• From June 1-August 30, I did untaxed contract work remotely in my current state.

All my full-time and part-time work had taxes taken out. Between different work classifications and states, plus total income, what I need to do to prepare is clear as mud, especially when consulting the IRS website. Without actual numbers and states detailed here, can anyone offer any clarity on what I should set aside?

[Akil C]

Hi UnXplainable1,

Thanks for your question. Hmmm, you have an interesting situation this year. 

How much you withhold is going to depend on other factors on your return. If you filed with TurboTax this year, I recommend contacting a TurboTax Live Expert and request that they show you how to get to the Estimated Tax Calculator of TurboTax, located under the Other Tax Situations tab.  Once there, you can enter your unique situation by adding W-2 income from different employers, adding withholding already deducted from your paychecks, etc., and you can enter how much you estimate to earn in contractor income and W-2 wages for the rest of the year. This will give you the most accurate estimate of how much tax you should set back. It will even suggest estimated tax payments you can remit to the IRS this year to offset your tax due next year. 

The easiest thing for you to do is to make sure you set aside 100% of the income tax you paid in 2020. You may not be able to estimate to the penny how much you should withhold because you haven't provided enough details about your tax situation, BUT as long as you withhold at least the amount of Tax, located on Page 2, Box 16, of your 2020 Form 1040, you'll avoid any underpayment penalties.  

For the contractor work, you'll be responsible for self-employment taxes, in addition to income tax on the NET income(Business income - Business deductions). So I would set aside another 15% for FICA taxes (Social Security & Medicare taxes), since as a contractor, you'll be responsible for paying the employer's and employee's share of FICA.

In summary, just log into your TurboTax account, Click the Live Help guy in the lower-left hand corner, and connect with one of our Credentialed Tax Experts, and we'll make sure you'll have no surprises when you file next year. 

Thanks,

Akil C. 

[Akil C]

One more thing...be sure to set aside income tax, in addition to FICA taxes, on your contractor income. Be sure and base it off your net contractor income, not the gross. Hope that helps! - Akil C.