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Chapter 4: Cutting Spending and Boosting Income
Book I
Taking
Charge
of Your
Finances
When you freelance, your clients won't deduct taxes from the money they
pay you. Therefore, you owe those taxes to Uncle Sam on April 15. If you're
making a considerable amount from freelancing, it's a good idea to pay your
taxes quarterly. Otherwise, you may end up in hot water with the IRS if your
tax return shows that you owe more taxes than you can afford to pay when
April 15 comes around. Meet with your CPA to figure out the best way to
handle your taxes as a freelancer.
The skinny on business scams
Beware of business "opportunity" scams that
you may find out about on the Internet, in your
local newspaper, through the mail, and so on.
Typically, the promoters of these scams prom-
ise you'll earn big bucks after you pay them for
equipment, software, supplies, training materi-
als, and/or business leads. Typically, the value
of what they sell you is negligible and far less
than the fee you pay. Two common work-at-
home scams are envelope stuffing and medical
billing.
If a business opportunity sounds interesting,
ask the promoter to send you printed informa-
tion about its offer. Among other things, the
information should
Indicate the promoter's name, address, and
phone number.
Explain the business opportunity in detail --
what you will get for your money and what
assistance the promoter will give you.
State the opportunity's total cost, as well
as how and how often you'll be paid, who
will pay you, and all terms and conditions
for getting paid.
Ask for the names and phone numbers of people
who have pursued the business opportunity,
and contact them to find out if it lived up to their
expectations. If the business promoter offers
instead to provide you with a list of testimonials
from happy business owners, don't accept it.
The testimonials may be made up. Don't work
with a business opportunity promoter who has
no information to send you or no references you
can contact.
Also ask to see a copy of the contract you will
have to sign if you agree to work with the pro-
moter. The contact information should match
the company's printed information and what-
ever you may have been told via an email or
over the phone.
Federal law requires promoters who charge
more than $500 for a business opportunity to
also tell you how much you can earn from the
opportunity and the number and the percent-
age of individuals who have earned at least that
much recently.
Never pay any money to one of these compa-
nies without checking first with your local Better
Business Bureau and with the Better Business
Bureau where the company is located, as well
as with your state attorney general's office and
with the Federal Trade Commission. They can
tell you if they've received complaints from con-
sumers who feel that a business opportunity
promoter ripped them off. Contact these same
organizations if you get ripped off by a busi-
ness opportunity scam, and talk to a consumer
law attorney if you lost a substantial amount of
money as a result.
