The only sure thing (besides death)

With only seven days before the 15th, The Wall Street Journal's The Wallet blog reminds us that it's tax time. For those persons who work "non-traditionally" as freelancers (or "permalancers"), tax time is fraught with pitfalls, as in "Can I claim it/should I claim it as an expense on my return?" The danger lurks as well for the ranks of the unemployed, as in "How has the change in my status screwed with my tax return and financial sanity?"

Though we're certainly not accountants, we're always quite generous with advice. (You're welcome.) So when filling out those forms, remember the following extremely general points:

• The name of the game is documentation. The better it is, the better you'll feel (and with any luck, the less you'll have to pay).

• Review all your pay stubs carefully. It's likely that any unemployment checks you received didn't deduct nearly the amount of tax (federal or state) you owe. If you were responsible, you would've socked away extra bucks (what extra bucks?) to account for this.

• For those who were laid off and have no insurance (or use COBRA), your medical expenses are higher, so it may make sense for you to itemize. Job hunting expenses may be deductible in certain circumstances.

• If you did any freelance work, aside from the usual taxes, you probably owe the government self-employment tax. This is basically the Social Security and Medicare taxes that would come out of your regular pay if you were working -- times two. (Just. Can't. Get. A. Break.)

The ultimate authorities on filing issues should be the IRS and your state tax bureau (and your conscience). However, all this information is probably irrelevant now, since Pink Slipped knows you didn't save any of your receipts (or money), and are now trying to pull the real-life equivalent of a pre-exam all-nighter. So…good luck!

--Posted by Todd Obolsky, Vault News & Commentary