Self-employment

I agree with the others. It's worth talking to an accountant, at the very least, to make sure you're handling taxes properly. Mine also advised me on what business form to take (in my case, sole proprietor). You don't want to get it wrong and it's best to turn to the professionals from the beginning.

Your best bet is to do some research on IRS.GOV for basic info. I personally think you need very good tax and legal counsel to help make sure you don't make mistakes.

We have an LLC. I run payroll and pay payroll taxes monthly through EFTPS, quarterly I file a 941 report and the TWC paperwork and any money due.

It is a lot to keep up with since I am not an accountant but I do all the accounting for our company. I have a Quickbooks tutor who owns her own bookkeeping business and she walks me through details and then my tax counsel checks everything.

I find it easy to work through Quickbooks. You get prompts on when it is time for something which helps me.

Again, I don't know how big your company is but my opinion is don't mess with the IRS and I pay my tax and legal counsel to help make sure everything we have is on the up and up. It is worth that extra money to me.

We only have hubby, myself and daughter with our company but it is getting fairly large and we're probably looking at moving the business out of the house and into an office. We have warehousing and a trucking company set up in Dallas and Houston with our products. I am constantly making sure all the t's are crossed just right and i's are dotted just right, especially when I am producing invoices, etc.

Good luck

The short answer is: NO. There isn't one catch all place that will just tell you what you need to do. I went through this a couple of years ago as I went from an employee to a freelancer and I can say this was the biggest fear of mine (and still is!). Start at IRS.gov They have a form you can fill out that will let you know if you need to file quarterly estimated tax payments. Like all IRS forms, it is confusing and has to be done step-by-step. You'll need a copy of your last couple tax returns, an idea of how much income you expect to have, and (if your husband is working and you file jointly) how much tax is withheld from his paycheck and has been withheld so far this year. Once you have the federal gov't figured out, you will need to go to your state government to figure out that part. Sorry I can't help you with that -- I'm in UT and they don't require quarterly estimated payments.
I will say, this year it was much easier than last year because we used the small business and personal version of TurboTax. It filled out the estimated tax and printed out the quarterly stubs to send in as part of our tax return for 2010.
Also, you need to know what kind of business you are. I run a sole proprietorship because there's not much liability involved with what I do. If you sell a physical product or have liability then you might want to set up a limited liability or a corporation. And to get that done you'll need the help of a lawyer and possibly an accountant. Spending the money for those is not a fun consideration at the start of a business, but it is money well spent if it keeps you square with what you need to do.
Good luck in your business ventures!

In our town they have information and classes about starting a business at the library. Maybe your local library can help you with some information. Also the Chamber of Commerce, City Hall or the local community college may be able to give you some further assistance regarding starting a business.

you can go to IRS.GOV - that will give you information on 1099 status, quarterly filing..

I would talk with a lawyer and an accountant - a lawyer for the business plan as well as getting LLC status and an accountant to ensure you are properly withholding and getting the most out of your business.

Get the book....Lower your taxes big time. It's by Sandy Botkin. He was an IRS attorney that left the IRS and wrote this book. It will tell you what you can write off and exactly how to do it.
:)

Make your accountant read it too.