Claiming self employed / getting financed .

[NikkiLuv92]

So ... i am trying to purchase a new car and am needing "proof of income " and trying to getting financed . I need advice on how to go about this.

[Guest083119]

A couple of suggestions since I don’t know your specifics.

Last time I bought a car, I just put more down and showed my bank statement that I had money coming in and it wasn’t a problem getting financed by Bank of America at a good rate.

Another time, I had a DBA for a consulting business and put that as my employer and said i owners it and again, they didn’t ask - and at that time my credit wasn’t great.

There are some shady things you can do as well, but something closer to honestly, to me is better. Entertainers and bartenders buy cars all the time.

Why can you not show proof of income? That is probably the root of your question. If they want pay stubs, then tell them you are a ________ and get paid in cash and would they accept your bank statement as proof.

If you never deposit money anywhere and you have no obvious means of support, then you may have to pay cash. But if you set up a simple business account and put money into it and go legit, you won’t have an issue. Just find out about all the deductions you can take at tax time and carefully plan for that.

Good luck!

PS. Make sure you are buying something that you can easily afford...including maintenance. No used Range Rovers!

[Unique_Carpenter]

Nowadays banks frequently ask for copies of tax returns for self-employed folks.
Although perhaps to late for this time, consider running some of your income through your tax return on the Self employed business income part of your tax return. And as a side benefit, this would also support a real world cover "business" for your activity.

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by B Three

A couple of suggestions since I don’t know your specifics.

Last time I bought a car, I just put more down and showed my bank statement that I had money coming in and it wasn’t a problem getting financed by Bank of America at a good rate.

Another time, I had a DBA for a consulting business and put that as my employer and said i owners it and again, they didn’t ask - and at that time my credit wasn’t great.

There are some shady things you can do as well, but something closer to honestly, to me is better. Entertainers and bartenders buy cars all the time.

Why can you not show proof of income? That is probably the root of your question. If they want pay stubs, then tell them you are a ________ and get paid in cash and would they accept your bank statement as proof.

If you never deposit money anywhere and you have no obvious means of support, then you may have to pay cash. But if you set up a simple business account and put money into it and go legit, you won’t have an issue. Just find out about all the deductions you can take at tax time and carefully plan for that.

Good luck!

PS. Make sure you are buying something that you can easily afford...including maintenance. No used Range Rovers!

There are so many tax deductions for having a business is is unbelievable. It is so easy to set up a business as an S corp or an LLC. But you get hit as a penalty as an LLC if you don't have your taxes done turned in on time.

Now that you have a business, set up a bank account and deposit every penny into it that you bring in. You only get taxed on what you pay yourself, and have a payroll company do that for you so all of the taxes are taken out and turned in. Hey Look, you have a real pay stub. Need to pay for a driver, give him a paycheck with the deductions already calculated and sent in. Need a car, let the company pay for it, along with all of the gas, repairs and insurance - all tax deductible. You will need to log some personal miles and pay a per mile charge (about 50 cents per mile, or something close to that, I don't remember where it is at this time.) If you get several people working for you, you can almost say that most of your miles are for work.

Need an office? Let the company pay for it. Working out of your home and claiming a home office is more difficult because there are quite a few rules that need to be followed.

But, got a lot of hotel bills? Well, there are a lot off those and you should be able to write off all of them as work related, especially if you take it out of town. When charged to a company card, there are a lot of points and other perks that add up.

The real concern is that one should already be keeping tract of the income and expenses related to any income to understand how much is really earned.

Not ready to move to an S corp or LLC, keep track of your cash flow and report it on a Schedule C and file it with your 1040 as extra income.

Say you saw 10 guys this month:

Income 10 x $200 for personal consulting and secretary work = $2000.00
Hotel room: Office expense for data entry 10 x$50 = - $500.00
Supplies for data entry = - $ 50.00
Travel, cab receipts to get to the hotel = - $ 100.00

So, after expenses you really made $350 for seeing 10 guys. You report that for maybe about $20 in taxes on $350 instead of the worry about the taxes due on $2000.

[Massagejunkyie69]

i have a friend that started his own business (no, he's not a hooker - at least not that I know of! LOL) .

Anyway, he got with ADP the payroll company, he deposits anything he earns in there, then they pay him a check every 2 weeks just like a normal job. He did that on purpose because he plans on buying a house next year and its a whole lot easier to show a couple of the latest check stubs to the mortgage company than trying to prove his income via self employment.

Being that its a company, he also gets to take off all of his business expenses. ADP charges a percentage of what he deposits to them, I don't know their charge rate. But if you make enough, its a good way to go to avoid the hassles of credits scores, bank info, etc.

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by Massagejunkyie69

i have a friend that started his own business (no, he's not a hooker - at least not that I know of! LOL) .

Anyway, he got with ADP the payroll company, he deposits anything he earns in there, then they pay him a check every 2 weeks just like a normal job. He did that on purpose because he plans on buying a house next year and its a whole lot easier to show a couple of the latest check stubs to the mortgage company than trying to prove his income via self employment.

Being that its a company, he also gets to take off all of his business expenses. ADP charges a percentage of what he deposits to them, I don't know their charge rate. But if you make enough, its a good way to go to avoid the hassles of credits scores, bank info, etc.

Both ADP and Paychex offer good services for payroll. Both offer a service called taxpay where the pay all of your taxes. On payday, the IRS gets the money wired directly to them by about 8 AM, and you don't have to worry about that. The accounting company can take it directly and deposited in their account along with your payroll removed directly from your bank account.

But it is not wise to give them control of all of your money, just the payroll and taxes. All you have to do is deposit everything (note, I said everything - so that there is no IRS hassle) into your business bank account. Have separate personal accounts for both checking and saving.

Now your money is kept separate from the business account and you can use your business checking to document business expenses, like auto expenses: the big one is auto insurance. Get business cards and a business credit card to handle the business expenses, like travel expenses - hotels and food. Business cards and business credit cards make you look legit; if you act like it and don't show stupid tattoos or low class clothes. Why do I say that about clothes and tattoos, because the object of both is to stand out in society: all the normal/regular people are trying to blend in.

Now you get a rebate when using the business credit card. I take that rebate directly into my personal account, instead of the business. Maybe you could argue that is should belong to the business, but $20 here or their is not a big impact on your taxes. That part is just a little fun to get the extra to me.

You now can build a credit history.

By the way Paychex is the better choice for the business with just a few people. ADP may be a better choice is you have 100 or more people. Both offer discounts if you switch back and forth every few years. The real expense for both (especially ADP) comes when you add all of the Human Resources (HR) documentation to the program: employee handbooks, health benefits, and retirement/investment benefits.

[Nebman]

You have some good advise here. Especially from B three. Her post is solid top to bottom

[Audrey Astor]

You can use Quick books and do your own payroll.

Do you need paycheck stubs?

[NikkiLuv92]

Originally Posted by Audrey Astor

You can use Quick books and do your own payroll.

Do you need paycheck stubs?

I do

[JRLawrence]

Originally Posted by Audrey Astor

You can use Quick books and do your own payroll.

Do you need paycheck stubs?

The real question is, why would you want to? Even if you are just one person, the amount of things that one has to know to be able to submit a payroll is not worth the effort. Do you want to wire the tax money to the IRS each payroll, or let someone else do it. If you are listed as a contractor, even one person, you must have workers compensation for injury on the job. Do you want to do that too?

This is all about two things, making sure that taxes are paid and making sure that all of the regulations are followed. Get to work and do the one thing that you can do. If you knew enough about accounting to do it right, you would't be in the hobby.

[LilithGilman]

I've bought several cars while in this business, and it's really not too difficult as long as you have some sort of proof of income and you have decent credit (680+). The couple of dealerships I went through have their own finance companies they work with, so you can forego the extra step of trying to secure a loan on your own via your own bank or credit union.

A lot of businesses use the cash accounting method, so don't worry about the fact that your business is mostly cash. Bank statements are usually a good indicator of income, but even better, prior year's tax returns.

With the business we are in, the income can be so irregular that I don't even see the point in paying yourself via paystubs. Paystubs are usually the go-to method for proving income, but as mentioned, for your particular situation, there are better alternatives.

As mentioned above, incorporating into an LLC could be an option to help compartmentalize your business as separate from you but from what I hear it's best if you make over 65-100k/yr. Prior to the most recent Trump tax overhaul, a sole member LLC and sole proprietors were basically almost one and the same, with the latter requiring less paperwork and less financial investment to draft and maintain. Now, I think a lot of what you were able to deduct as a sole proprietor is no longer eligible for the deduction UNLESS you are incorporated.

If you want to get your finances in order, there are several accountants (some better than others) who work specifically with ladies in this business, or you can also choose to do all this yourself as I'm trying to do via do-it-yourself tax and accounting programs.

If you choose to buy a car off of craigslist, none of this financial stuff is of relevance. There is also ebay. But if you want to go through a dealer, you'd definitely at least need to have bank statements and prior year's tax returns, as well as decent credit.

[rexdutchman]

Self employed if good , just whatever you report <pay the tax on>

[NicoleBBW]

Hello,
I have bought a few cars and one good rule of thumb is to always have legit business name to tell the dealership. I highly recommend carmax specifically they were way easier on me than any buy here pay here and I got a big loan. Many dealerships at buy here pay here will try to screw you over and take advantage of you being self employed giving you the highest interest rate. They actually didn't even verify my income, as I confidently told them how much I make per month and per year when they asked, and I was approved. However certain BANKS will require proof of income, so use deposits as proof if needed. Make sure you deposit into your bank for at least 3 months worth of statements. Tell them you've been working at said business for a year or more. Can always tell them you are an independent contractor for a company such as: maid service, computer repair, tutoring, rental agent, clothing production, designer. Also helps if you actually do own a business such as one of the above, as that makes everything legit.
Good luck!!!