Freelancers’ taxes are complicated, but doing them does have its rewards. As one Freelance Success member said on the forum: “I hate the paperwork, but I love the opportunity it gives me to analyze my business.”

Her comment resulted in about a dozen people sharing what they had learned from giving the government its due. Here are five of the highlights:

1. Playing well with others pays off: “Every new client I got this year came from a referral rather than a query or a letter of introduction.”
2. Selling words is like selling anything else. You’ve got to remind the editor you’re still there: “Many of my assignments came after I sent ‘Hope you’re doing well; I’d love to write for you again’ emails to previous clients.”
3. Putting all your freelance eggs in one basket is very risky: “My income was down 21 percent from 2008. I need to diversify much more, as one client that was 35 percent of my business shut their magazine.”
4. Freelancing is work and you’ve got to have time to do it: “I need to send my kids to summer camp programs. No camps last summer = ouch at tax time.”
5. Freelancers are leading employment indicators. We get busy before full-timers go back to work: “I saw a big upswing in work beginning Aug. of 2009, in part due to new pubs and existing pubs coming out of hibernation. My 4th quarter of 2009 was my best ever. “

By the way, any editors who are looking for last-minute tax content, should try our writer search on the Freelance Success homepage. We have several knowledgeable tax writers among us –and at least one very literate CPA.