HOOK: E-zine By, For, and About Men in the Sex Industry

[Publisher's Note: This article was posted several years ago. Much of the information is still very useful, but please consult a professional accountant about your specific tax needs.]

When I got into escorting, I discovered that it was great making money and being my own boss. I was truly rewarded for a JOB well done, and it came easily for me. I realized that I made my own success. With this came responsibilities that I often thought were easy to put off or let slide. Eventually this can catch up with you and affect and effect you. So in studying success I've learned how to balance things and have piece of mind whereby I don't have to HIDE. We have ENOUGH to worry about in life...

You just never know who might show up at your door. I had been seeing one of my clients regularly every few months for over a year when eventually he shared with me what his occupation was. " I am an auditor for the INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, " he said. I thought, "Why me?" I immediately became sick to my stomach when he told me this. He picked up on my being shocked and said " Don't worry, I only audit corporations."

I didn't know what to say, so I thought I shouldn't say anything. After several more visits to see me, he shared some of his personal views about taxes which I'll share with you."Mr. IRS" felt that the TAX CODE is so complicated and unfair to most. He shared that he personally looks for REASONABLE compliance. To me this made sense. Without sounding TOO PATRIOTIC, I feel we do live in a great country, and we should be willing to pay our fair share. I also see a lot of waste in government, and I don't want to pay for that.

If you look at it from a business standpoint, we are our own business. And having a business entitles us to PLENTY of deductions. Most of which are not questionable. For example. I do professional massage therapy (also escorting), and I like to travel. When I travel, I always have business expenses: hotel, car rental, gas, meals, and miscellaneous expenses. If it's an expense that is needed to make money, then it should be a deductible expense. Which, in turn, lowers you overall Income thereby reducing your taxes. Keep in mind that by keeping accurate records and receipts, this will support your claim if your ever audited.

I run money through my banking account and encourage checks from my regular clients (and only clients you have built up trust with) so it doesn't look too suspect with ALL CASH being deposited.

If you feel that your income is still too high and you're paying a lot in taxes, keep this in mind: a certain amount of your income can be deposited in some type of retirement account and other tax deferred accounts. I encourage my colleagues to be mindful that in a successful business one can retire pretty early in life and have the time and means to enjoy it. Seek advice from a financial advisor.

I do know of some Eescorts who claim some income to stay reasonably ahead of being audited. They report only ENOUGH income to cover their living expense (i.e., rent, food, and utilities). Keep in mind that if you have debt from credit cards or financial institutions, you better claim enough income to cover those personal expenses, too. If that interest is in part used to help pay for your business expenses that potion can be a Deduction, too.

One last piece of advice: in having a business, you should be making quarterly payments to "UNCLE SAM". That is to say that every 3 months, he should be getting his PAYCHECK. In the beginning, I had difficulty doing this because I would have to come up with a $1000 or more, which I didn't always have. One mistake I made was taking a cash advance from my credit cards. This is NOT A DEDUCTIBLE EXPENSE.

Here is an EASY way to budget for your TAXES: every week when you go to deposit your earnings at your bank, take and pay your taxes first. By this, I mean if you earned $1000 for the week, take 20% or $200 and deposit into your SAVINGS account. This is NOT YOUR SAVINGS ACCOUNT but UNCLE SAM'S SAVINGS ACCOUNT. The only withdrawal you should be making from this "SPECIAL" account is every 3 months to pay UNCLE SAM.

I found that budgeting my taxes with a 20 to 25% of my income allowed me to cover my taxes for the year. If we had NO business expenses we would be sending UNCLE SAM about 33%. This is why it is IMPERATIVE to keep an accurate track of your business expenses to help reduce your overall tax bill.

This can be a GAME. Make it fun by being creative with your business deductions. Just make sure that they were needed in order to earn money! By the way, that trip to the bank is a deductible expense.