初创公司如何搭建开发框架

One of the main reasons that developers choose not to go the freelance route is their fear of “business” issues. Perhaps the most intimidating of these issues is how to handle their federal income taxes. This is understandable, since many developers have no idea how the payment or application of taxes will work once they’re self-employed.

开发人员选择不选择自由职业者的主要原因之一是他们对“业务”问题的恐惧。 这些问题中最令人生畏的也许是如何处理他们的联邦所得税。 这是可以理解的，因为许多开发人员不知道自雇后如何支付或应用税款。

I’m writing this post to let you know that you don’t need to let that fear of the tax man prevent you from striking out on your own as a freelancer. Like anything else, you can learn what you need to know in order to deal with such issues. I’m going to talk about how we manage our taxes in our business so you can see that there are actually quite a few benefits to being a freelancer.

我写这篇文章的目的是让您知道，您不必让对税务员的恐惧阻止您以自由职业者的身份罢工。 像其他任何东西一样，您可以学习处理此类问题所需的知识。 我将谈论我们如何在业务中管理税款，这样您就可以发现，成为自由职业者实际上有很多好处。

I’ve also recorded a video lecture on this that goes into even more detail here:

我还录制了与此有关的视频讲座，在这里进行了更详细的介绍：

One BIG thing I want to make clear is that I’m not a licensed tax professional, nor am I holding myself out as one. I’m simply sharing what we do, upon the advice of our tax accountant, in our business. I’ll also break down what we do and why we do it. Let’s look at the following:

一个大的事情，我想澄清的是，我不是一个授权的税务专业人士，我也没有抱着自己离开为一体。 我只是根据税务会计师的建议，分享我们在业务中的工作。 我还将细分我们的工作以及我们为什么这样做。 让我们看以下内容：

1. Why there are tax advantages in being a freelancer为什么成为自由职业者有税收优势
2. How to utilize a “flow-through” entity如何利用“流通”实体
3. How to handle reimbursement of mileage and other expenses如何处理里程和其他费用的报销
4. What to do about reimbursement for equipment and other services设备和其他服务报销该怎么办

One thing you should understand is that an important goal of being in business is keeping as much of your revenue as possible. There’s no point in working if you’re not actually keeping any of the money you earn. One of the best ways to keep more of what you earn is through tax management. This is why going about things the right way can help you look like this:

您应该了解的一件事是，开展业务的一个重要目标是保持尽可能多的收入。 如果您实际上没有保留所赚的任何钱，那就没有任何工作意义。 保留更多收入的最好方法之一是通过税收管理。 这就是为什么正确处理事情可以帮助您看起来像这样的原因：

While freelance developers who don’t pay attention to tax management can wind up having to ask for handouts just like this poor guy:

虽然不注意税收管理的自由开发者可能会像这个可怜的家伙一样要求发放补助金：

You should know that this article was written after speaking with our company’s tax accountant in regards to the legislation which was passed for the 2018 tax year. Upon the advice of our accountant, we are continuing to operate our business as an S Corporation for the reasons explained in this article.

您应该知道，这篇文章是在就2018纳税年度通过的立法与我们公司的税务会计师交谈之后写的。 根据会计师的建议，出于本文所述的原因，我们将继续作为S Corporation经营我们的业务。

Now let’s get to it.

现在开始吧。

自由开发人员可以利用“通过”实体节省就业税 (Freelance developers can save on employment taxes by utilizing a “pass through” entity)

There are several ways you can structure your freelance business. You can be a sole proprietor and file a “Schedule C.” This will have you breaking down your business revenue and expenses on your personal tax return.

您可以通过多种方式来组织自由职业。 您可以是独资经营者，也可以提交“附表C”。 这将使您分解个人税收申报表上的业务收入和支出。

You can also start a separate business entity, such as an LLC. An LLC will file its own tax return on which it will report revenue, expenses, and net income. The LLC, however, will not pay taxes itself even though it is a separate entity. The LLC’s net income will be reported on your personal tax return.

您也可以启动一个单独的业务实体，例如LLC。 有限责任公司将提交自己的纳税申报表，并在其中报告收入，支出和净收入。 但是，即使它是一个独立的实体，LLC也不会自行纳税。 该有限责任公司的净收入将在您的个人纳税申报表中报告。

In our business, we formed an LLC and filed an “S Corp election” with the IRS by filing IRS Form 2553. This means that our LLC, for tax purposes only, is considered an “S Corp” by the IRS. The reason we did this is that it allows us to save on self-employment taxes.

在我们的业务中，我们成立了LLC，并通过提交IRS表格25​​53向IRS提交了“ S公司选举”。 这意味着我们的有限责任公司仅出于税收目的，被IRS视为“ S Corp”。 我们这样做的原因是，它使我们可以节省自雇税。

Let’s look at what self-employment taxes are and how we save money using a flow through S Corp. This is going to sound complicated — but read through it and I’ll provide some tips to help simplify everything.

让我们看看什么是自雇税，以及我们如何使用通过S Corp.进行的流动来省钱。这听起来很复杂-但请仔细阅读，我将提供一些技巧来帮助简化一切。

If you’ve gotten a paycheck from a job, then you’re used to paying 6.2% of your salary to the government for Social Security and Medicare. These are your employment taxes. Self-employed individuals still pay these taxes in the form of “self-employment tax.”

如果您从工作中获得薪水，那么您就习惯于将薪水的6.2％支付给政府，用于社会保障和医疗保险。 这些是您的就业税。 自雇人士仍以“自雇税”的形式缴纳这些税款。

Say, for example, that you freelance as a sole proprietor and after expenses, you clear $100,000. When you file your taxes with the government, you’ll owe roughly $6,200 ($100k x 6.2%) in self-employment tax on top of your normal federal income taxes. You’ll pay this self-employment tax if you’re a sole proprietor, an independent contractor, or if you are an LLC with no S Corp election.

举例来说，假设您是自由职业者的独资经营者，扣除费用后，您清除了$ 100,000。 当您向政府报税时，除了通常的联邦所得税外，您还应欠大约6200美元(100kx 6.2％)的自雇税。 如果您是独资经营者，独立承包商，或者您是没有S公司选举的有限责任公司，则需要支付此自雇税。

If you start an LLC and do the S Corp election as we did, then you will need to classify yourself as an employee of the business. You will run regular payroll and you must pay yourself a reasonable salary. You will have Social Security and Medicare taxes (6.2 percent) held out of your paychecks.

如果您像我们一样成立了LLC并进行了S Corp选举，那么您将需要将自己归类为该公司的雇员。 您将运行常规薪资，并且必须向自己支付合理的薪水。 您将从薪水中扣除社会保障税和医疗保险税(6.2％)。

Any profit, on top of your salary, however, will be exempt from self-employment tax. This means that you will be saving an extra 6.2% of your profit. That profit will still be subject to regular income tax. Let’s put down some numbers to show how this works.

但是，除了薪水以外的任何利润都免征自雇税。 这意味着您将节省6.2％的利润。 该利润仍需缴纳常规所得税。 让我们记下一些数字以显示其工作原理。

• Say you’re an independent contractor or sole proprietor with $100,000 in profit (you get no salary because you’re not an employee). You will pay federal taxes on $100,000 plus $6,200 in self-employment taxes.假设您是拥有$ 100,000利润的独立承包商或独资经营者(您没有薪水，因为您不是雇员)。 您需要支付100,000美元的联邦税以及6,200美元的自雇税。
• Say you own an LLC that did not make the S Corp election. You clear a profit of $100,000. Again, you would have no salary. Your tax obligations are the exact same as the independent contractor or sole proprietor.假设您拥有未进行S Corp选举的LLC。 您清除了$ 100,000的利润。 同样，您将没有薪水。 您的纳税义务与独立承包商或独资经营者完全相同。
• Say you own an LLC with the S Corp election. You pay yourself a $60,000 salary and have $40,000 in additional profits. This is the same $100,000 as the individuals above. You would pay federal income tax on the entire $100,000. You would have 6.2 percent withheld from your salary for Social Security and Medicare. The $40,000 profit, however, is exempt from self-employment tax. This means you save $2,480 (6.2% x $40,000) over the other examples discussed above.假设您在S Corp选举中拥有一家LLC。 您付给自己$ 60,000的工资，并有$ 40,000的额外利润。 这与上述个人的100,000美元相同。 您需要为全部$ 100,000缴纳联邦所得税。 您会从工资中扣除6.2％的社会保障和医疗保险费用。 但是，这40,000美元的利润免征自雇税。 这意味着您可以比上述其他示例节省$ 2,480(6.2％x $ 40,000)。

This S Corp election is one of the ways in which being a freelancer allows you to keep more of your money than if you simply got a job somewhere. If you get a developer job and take a salary, then you’ll pay the 6.2 percent tax on all of your earnings.

这次S Corp选举是自由职业者可以让您保留更多金钱的方法之一，而不仅仅是在某个地方找到工作。 如果您获得开发人员的工作并获得薪水，那么您将对所有收入支付6.2％的税。

It’s very, very important to note that the recently passed tax legislation changed some of the ways in which “flow through entities” are taxed. After talking to our accountant, however, we are still taking the “S election” route in our businesses (as I stated in the note above). Again, I am not a tax professional or financial advisor of any type. It’s best to discuss your situation with a CPA.

非常非常重要的一点是要注意，最近通过的税收立法改变了对“流经实体”的征税方式。 但是，在与会计师交谈之后，我们仍在业务中采用“ S选举”的方式(正如我在上面的注释中所述)。 同样，我不是任何类型的税务专业人士或财务顾问。 最好与CPA讨论您的情况。

I know the above process sounds complicated — starting an LLC, making the S Corp election, and managing payroll. But it’s not overly hard. Most states allow you to easily form an LLC online as we did. The S Corp election is a simple matter filling out IRS form 2553 and following its instructions. We manage our payroll through Intuit’s Payroll Service. We use their “full service” option which means that they file all the necessary paperwork, stemming from payroll regulations, for us.

我知道上述过程听起来很复杂-启动有限责任公司，选举S Corp和管理工资。 但这并不太难。 大多数州都允许您像我们一样轻松地在线创建LLC。 S Corp的选举很简单，只需填写IRS表2553并遵循其指示即可。 我们通过Intuit的薪资服务管理薪资 。 我们使用他们的“全方位服务”选项，这意味着他们为我们归档了所有基于工资规定的必要文书。

As complicated as the process above sounds, it was actually pretty seamless for us. We have Intuit hold out some extra cash from our paychecks to cover the federal income tax which will be applied to our business profits. We then pay our accountant to handle everything for us at the end of the year. At the end of the day, we come out ahead by doing things this way — and it’s not much hassle at all.

尽管上述过程听起来很复杂，但实际上对我们来说是无缝的。 我们让Intuit从薪水中拿出一些额外的现金来支付将用于我们的营业利润的联邦所得税。 然后，我们会在年底支付薪金给我们处理所有事情。 归根结底，我们以这种方式取得了成功–一点也不麻烦。

自由开发人员应跟踪与其业务相关的所有里程和费用 (Freelance developers should track all mileage and expenses related to their business)

Mileage driven for your business is tax deductible. For 2018, the IRS allows you to deduct this mileage at a rate of 54.5 cents per mile. To keep things simple, we track all of our work mileage and our LLC writes a reimbursement check each month.

为您的业务驱动的里程可免税。 对于2018年，美国国税局允许您以每英里54.5美分的比率扣除此里程。 为简单起见，我们会跟踪所有工作里程，LLC每月都会写一张报销支票。

If we drive 100 miles in a month for work then the LLC will write a check at the end of the month for $54.50. We don’t have to pay taxes on this money when it goes into our personal account, and the LLC takes it as an expense (which means that our flow-through income is lower).

如果我们在一个月内开车行驶100英里，则LLC会在月底开出54.50美元的支票。 当这笔钱进入我们的个人帐户时，我们不必为此纳税，而LLC会将其作为支出(这意味着我们的流通收入较低)。

It’s important to remember what constitutes “business mileage.” Every time you drive to and from a customer’s location, that’s for work. Driving to a networking function? That’s likely a work expense. Having lunch or dinner with other developers? That may well be a work-related networking event. These are just a few examples of how your mileage can add up.

重要的是要记住什么构成“业务里程”。 每当您开车往返客户所在地时，这都是工作。 开车去联网吗？ 那可能是工作费用。 与其他开发人员共进午餐或晚餐？ 那很可能是与工作有关的社交活动。 这些只是您的里程如何累加的几个示例。

And, by the way, money you spend at those networking functions may also be tax deductible. Make sure you track those expenses as well.

而且，顺便说一下，您花在那些网络功能上的钱也可以免税。 确保您也跟踪这些费用。

自由开发人员经常可以注销计算机和其他必要的设备 (Freelance developers can often write off computers and other necessary equipment)

Buying a new computer for work? Sounds like a work expense. Need to buy a scanner, some toner, or other similar equipment? That may be a work expense as well. The laptop I’m using to type this was purchased through our LLC/S Corp.

购买新计算机上班？ 听起来像是工作费用。 是否需要购买扫描仪，一些碳粉或其他类似设备？ 那也可能是工作费用。 我用来键入此内容的笔记本电脑是通过我们的LLC / S Corp购买的。

When you’re working for yourself as a freelancer, and have properly set up your business, you start to realize that there are a number of tax advantages in doing so. If the primary reason you’re buying something is for work, then there’s a good chance that it will be a write-off.

当您以自由职业者的身份为自己工作并适当地建立自己的业务时，您会开始意识到这样做有许多税收优惠。 如果您购买商品的主要原因是工作，那么很有可能会被冲销。

结论 (Conclusion)

This was just a quick overview of some of the tax issues we deal with as a small business. Once you start running your business, you really will see that these things aren’t complicated. Don’t let apprehension over these types of issues prevent you from striking out on your own. Are you currently freelancing? What do you do to deal with tax issues? Let me know in the comments.

这只是我们作为小型企业处理的一些税收问题的快速概述。 一旦开始经营业务，您实际上会发现这些事情并不复杂。 不要对这些类型的问题感到担忧，以防您自己罢工。 您目前在自由职业吗？ 您如何处理税收问题？ 在评论中让我知道。

I owe thanks to James R. Cloyes, CPA for taking the time to speak with me regarding this article.

我要感谢注册会计师James R. Cloyes抽出宝贵的时间与我就这篇文章进行了交谈。

You may follow me through our businesses at SEO For Lawyers and Cincinnati Website Builders or on Twitter.

您可以通过SEO For Lawyers和Cincinnati Website Builders或Twitter上的业务来关注我。

翻译自: https://www.freecodecamp.org/news/managing-your-taxes-as-a-freelance-developer-or-startup-3c7dd3d55ffe/

初创公司如何搭建开发框架