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CONGRATULATIONS to our Golden Heart Finalists
Donnell Ann Bell and Jean Willett in Romantic Suspense
Jen McAndrews and Shea Berkley in Young Adult
New Releases:
JENNY GARDINER has new book out: SLIM TO NONE. The book has a Kindle exclusive till July, then will be available through all e-readers.
Here's the Amazon link:
The book has lots of yummy recipes in it!
LongandShortReviews.com published VICKI BATMAN’s short story, OUCH on April 15., click Free Short Story in the box on the left, and voila! the story appears.
Her A CAKE FOR ALL SEASONS will appear in the July 2010 True Love
CAROLYN MATKOWSKY w/a CARA MARSI’s BREWED IN LOVE will be published as a short coffee story in the June True Romance. Her short story, REUNION OF HEARTS is now available in the April True Romance.
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RWA National Conference – July 28-31, has moved to Orlando Florida
- Published Authors Network
During the March meeting, the RWA Board of Directors amended policy to clarify that, if a chapter wishes to include "PAN" in the name of its published author groups/functions, it may do so only if the chapter's PAN membership criteria are consistent with RWA's PAN membership criteria. Allowing differing criteria for PAN membership at the chapter and national levels causes confusion and dilutes RWA's purpose. RWA is not prohibiting chapters from having a program to recognize published authors in some other manner. However, if your chapter program uses the term "PAN," eligibility requirements must be the same as RWA’s standards. The definition of PAN and eligibility requirements can be found on the RWA website at
http://www.rwanational.org/cs/pan_membership.
The RWA PRO Community is pleased to announce HelenKay Dimon will be awarded the 2010 PRO Mentor of the Year during the PRO Retreat on July 29, 2010 at the RWA National Conference in Orlando, Florida.
Do your members know about RWA University? RWA U is a self-directed program, meaning you can read through the available information at any time after it’s posted. We plan to have industry professionals give presentations online, and lots of links to other sources on the sub-topics will be available. We’ll also run periodic RWR articles on these topics as well. Visit RWA U at www.rwanational.org/cs/RWAU. Tell us what you think or any program topics you’d like to see covered by sending an email to RWAUniversity@RWA.org.
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JEN McANDREWS placed Second in the YA category of the 2010 North Texas RWA Great Expectations Contest.
MARY JO SCHEIBL w/a CASEY CLIFFORD’S October 2009 Romantic Suspense finaled in WisRWA's Write Touch Readers' Award.
MICHELLE MILES’ sci-fi, ANGEL AND THE DEADMAN, finaled in the Stroke of Midnight contest in the Futuristic/Fantasy/Sci-fi category.
SANDY JAMES’ ALL THE RIGHT REASONS is a mainstream finalist in the Colorado Romance Writers Award of Excellence
Also, Both TURNING THIRTY-TWELVE and FAITH OF HEART are finalists in the Write Touch Readers Choice Awards.
MAGIC SCHOOL DROP-OUT by LIESE SHERWOOD-FABRE placed first in the Young Adult category of the The 2010 Linda Howard Award of Excellence contest for unpublished writers.
MISTY EVAN’S OPERATION SHEBA placed first in the 2010 New England Reader's Choice Bean Pot Awards and is a finalist in the URWA Great Beginnings Contest in Romantic Suspense.
NANCY NAIGLE’s OUT OF FOCUS placed First in the 2010 Write Stuff Contest’s Mainstream with Romantic Elements.
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FREE-LANCE WRITERS AND TAXES
Hobby or Business?
by
Linda Burke
You must decide whether you are writing as a hobby or as a business. This decision determines which federal income tax forms you will file.
The IRS presumes the business is an activity for profit if it makes a profit during three of the last five years. If the activity does not make a profit during that time, the activity may still be considered a business depending on certain factors. I have reworded the questions to fit writers.
1. How much time and effort do you spend writing? (This includes writing, researching, taking classes, reading “how-to” books, etc.). Do you spend enough time to make a profit? (For example, two hours a week is probably not enough but it might be.)
2. Do you conduct your activity in a business-like manner? Do you keep receipts for your purchases? Do you keep your business records separate from your personal? If they are mixed, do you identify which purchases are for your business of being a free-lance writer?
3. Do you depend on the income for your livelihood? (Do you or your spouse have another job that pays for your living expenses?)
4. Have you changed your method of operation to improve profitability? (Have you taken any classes, joined a writers’ critique group, or changed genre? What have you done to increase your ability to make a profit?)
5. Do you have the knowledge needed to carry on the activity as a successful business? (Have you taken classes, entered contests, read “how-to” books by successful authors/editors? Have you attended a Small Business Tax Workshop?)
6. Have you made a profit in a similar activity in the past? Have you been successful in your past/present occupation? Do you use some of the same skills?
7. Have you made a profit in some years from your writing? (Have you made some sales during the years even though you haven’t made a profit yet? Are the sales increasing each year?)
8. Did the losses occur during the start-up phase of your writing?
If you are audited, you will need to prepare a statement answering these questions in great detail so you can to verify your free-lance writer business is an activity-for-profit.
You must be able to prove the expenses are ordinary and necessary for the production of income in your business as free-lance writer. Don’t try to claim personal expenses, such as cruises and spa visits. You must keep receipts for every expense you claim on your tax return.
Forms Used to Claim Expenses
Business. If you are a business (activity for profit), you report income and expenses on Schedule C (Form 1040), Profit or Loss from Business. If your expenses exceed your income, if any, you can claim a loss for your business on Form 1040, line 12. This loss can reduce your gross income.
Hobby. If you are not a business (activity not for profit/hobby), you report your income on Form 1040, line 21, Other income. Your expenses are divided into three groups.
Category I includes all non-business deductions such as home mortgage interest, real estate taxes, and casualty losses. These are reported on the appropriate line of Schedule A (Form 1040), Itemized Deductions. You do not allocate between personal and hobby.
Category 2 includes expenses that do not result in an adjustment to basis. Most hobby deductions, such as supplies, stamps, fees for writing classes, etc., are included in this group. Category 2 and 3 expenses are combined and may be claimed up to the amount of income reported on Form 1040, line 21. The expenses are claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 23.
Category 3 includes deductions that decrease basis (depreciation, casualty loss, etc.). These expenses are claimed up to the amount of income reported on Form 1040, line 21, in the category order. Category 2 and 3 expenses are claimed on Schedule A (Form 1040), line 23.
The IRS website (www.irs.gov) has a series of articles concerning activities-not-for-profit. Enter the word “hobby” in the Search window for more information.
Not-For-Profit-Activities are discussed in Publication 535, Business Expenses. This publication discusses the expenses you can claim as a business. Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business, discusses all aspects of being self-employed: income, expenses, and taxes. These publications are available free from your local IRS office or they can down loaded from the IRS website.
***
Linda Burke is a former IRS tax auditor and writer/reviser/initiator of business forms and publications. She retired two years ago and is learning how to write fiction.
"The Four Agreements for Writers"
by Misty Evans here
"What's on Your Roadblocks List?"
by Cara Marsi here
(AKA Carolyn Matkowsky)
"The Three I's of Query Writing" by Misty Evans here.
"Ten Life Lessons I Learned" by Cara Marsi (aka Carolyn Matkowsky) here.
"Don't Quit Your Day Job" by Lois Winston here
Free-Lance Writers and Taxes Hobby or Business?
by
Linda Burke here.
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