As a mystery shopper, you are not a traditional employee of a company, but instead you are a self-employed independent contractor. One of the biggest difference between working in a salary or hourly position and being on your own as an independent contractor is how your taxes are handled. When you get paid through a salary or hourly position, a portion of each paycheck is usually withheld and goes toward…
Save Time & Money: End Of Year Tips for Mystery Shoppers
As the current year winds down, now is the perfect time for mystery shoppers to review their mystery shopping financial information for the year. The tax year ends on December 31, and once the clock strikes midnight that evening and 2010 rolls over to 2011, you will be starting fresh with another year of bookkeeping for your mystery shopping business. Nobody likes to have one year’s financial information stacking on…
Take Steps Now to Prevent a Mystery Shopping Tax Nightmare
For many mystery shoppers, mystery shopping is their first attempt at being an independent contractor or otherwise a self-employed worker. For people used to working in a salary or hourly position and getting regular paychecks, this can be a big adjustment. One of the biggest difference between these two types of jobs has to do with taxes. With a salary or hourly job, your employer will withhold your taxes so…
How To Save Yourself From A Mystery Shopping Tax Headache At The End Of The Year
If you are accustomed to working in an hourly or salaried position for an employer, you may be in for a big surprise when tax time rolls around at the end of the year. Employers withhold federal income taxes from each of your paychecks, saving you from the headache of having to pay taxes at all or pay as much income tax at tax day as you would have to…
What The New IRS Tax Change Means To Your Pocketbook
With the sky high price of gas that seems to be venturing to new heights by the week, mystery shoppers have been struggling with their own travel costs for doing a mystery shop assignment. The low shop pay on most assignments often barely covers the cost of gas to get to the shop, leaving little in the way of a profit for a shopper’s time and efforts. To overcome this,…