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To be fair, though, most self-employed people who are complaining about taxes right now aren't savvy enough to realize that they're paying more than they would have been if they had a job.  Their complaints sound a lot more like the "Ow, ow, OW!" a kid might shout as he accidentally touches a stove burner.  In more adult terms, their complaints sound like, "But I already spent that money!"

My response to this widespread complaint is simple --- pay your estimated taxes once a month.  Although many microbusiness owners aren't required to pay estimated taxes throughout the year, especially if they are still working their day job, the federal goverment certainly doesn't mind.  To pay estimated taxes, just tally up how much tax you think you'll be responsible for next April, divide it by twelve, and log onto the federal goverment's EFTPS system to have the monthly amount removed from your bank account.  You can also pay quarterly, but I advocate paying once a month to minimize the ow factor.

By paying estimated taxes monthly, you're giving the goverment a free loan --- if you overpay like I did this year, you'll sigh a bit over the ten bucks you could have made by putting that money in a savings account.  But the peace of mind you gain from paying estimated taxes makes it all worthwhile.  Unlike my microbusiness peers, I look forward to tax time each year as it gives me a chance to play with arithmetic.  (Yes, I am a geek.)

Not sold on the merits of taxes yet?  Stay tuned for another installment in my anti-gripe series.  Meanwhile, check out Microbusiness Independence, the story of how my husband and I created a microbusiness and became financially independent with less than a thousand bucks in startup costs.