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What gig workers need to know about taxes

February 10, 2021 By Liz Weston

If you became a gig worker during the pandemic, beware: Your taxes just got more complicated.

Gig work — Uber driving, Instacart shopping, Amazon Flex delivery and so on — is on-demand, freelance work that’s typically taxed as self-employment. Instead of having an employer withhold money from your paycheck, you’re an independent contractor who is expected to pay taxes on your gig income as you earn it. You’ll also owe a larger share of your pay to Social Security and Medicare taxes.

On the plus side, you may have more opportunities to deduct your expenses and save for retirement than you do as a W-2 employee.

In my latest for the Associated Press, unraveling the mysteries of gig worker taxes.

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Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: gig workers, side hustle, Taxes

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