By TobiasIf you’re trying to hunt for a job in this terrible economy that we’re all sharing at the moment, believe us — you definitely have our sympathies. It’s not easy looking for work, and it’s definitely not easy finding it when you know that the odds are against you. There are just a lot of people looking for work at the same time, and that means that you’re going to have some problems getting things under control. When you need money to live your life, trying to find a job — any job — can take months — even a whole year! That’s a lot to ask people that are used to working, used to taking care of themselves, and used to having their own money. Unemployment only stretches so far, so if you’re thinking about any other sources of relief on your tax bill; you might not realize that your job hunt itself is one big tax deduction.
Yet it cuts deeper than you think. What a lot of creative professionals are doing now is that instead of trying to just declare miscellaneous expenses — which can only be claimed if they exceed 2% of your income — they’re actually making sure that they form businesses instead.
Now, we’re normally the type of people that think that you really should make sure that you invest into incorporating your business. However, that doesn’t mean that you have to do that in order to get your starting costs taken care of. However, you do need to make sure that you are showing the IRS that you’re serious about growing a small business on the side even as you look for work. There’s nothing that says that you can’t start a business and then go ahead and work for someone else. You want to make absolutely sure that you think about taking down all of your expenses. If you don’t have receipts for your expenses, you’re running the risk of the IRS denying all of your expenses and raising your tax bill. That’s a hard road to travel if you ask us — you’re better off being as honest as possible.
If you’re a contractor of any kind, then deducting your expenses is a lot more understandable. This can actually help you in your career planning, because you won’t always be looking for full time position. It might even be a little easier to find contract positions than it would be to try to always look for something that’s going to be permanent. Keep this in mind when you’re hunting for work — you might find more opportunities than you think.
Teaming up with other people that want to run their own companies might give you the support you need to actually make this more than just paperwork. If you’re worried that you won’t be able to do side gigs and make a little extra money, don’t worry. A lot of people have created amazing businesses just from a side gig or two down the line — all while they were looking for a traditional job.
If you ask us, the life of traditional work is actually getting harder and harder to maintain. That means that if you’re really thinking about getting things done, now is definitely the time to get started — don’t delay!