OT: tax question (self employed 1099)

There's no getting around the MC and SS but you can pay whatever you want to federal and state.  If you want a big refund, pay the max.  I would have a tax person figure my salary and deductions and pay that amount.  I hated waiting to get a big refund so my tax person figured out as close as he could so it would come out as close to 0 at the end of the year, that way I had more money in my pocket every week.  Try to figure out your business deductions(car, gas, rent, insurance, personel exemptions, ect.) and subtract that from your salary (estimate) and that's your tax bracket.

http://www.irs.gov/businesses/small/article/0,,id=98846,00.html

don't forget the 50% deduction on the fica (self-employment) tax you get at the bottom of pg 1 on the 1040.  it lessens the tax burden a bit.

I sometimes contract in other cities and  have to pay city taxes as well.  Don't let that bite you in the ass.  

I haven't been self-employed for a while, but I seem to recall having to cover the employer's portion of the payroll tax in addition to my income tax. The tax burden for the self-employed is fairly outrageous; you're best off having a pro look things over.

That's basically right. It sucks. Last year I incorporated as an S Corp, though, and after you take a "reasonable salary" any profit above that can be taken as a distribution that does not suffer the 15% SS tax.