The Tax Center: Year-End Prep, Sales-Tax Returns, 1099s

A Schedule C view of your year from the books, an estimate of what to set aside, sales-tax worksheets and returns by state, 1099 preparation, a knowledge base of federal, state and city rules, and an assistant grounded on all of it.

Accounting → Tax Center is the page your accountant would build if they had your books open: the year on Schedule C lines, the tax to set aside, every sales-tax period with its worksheet and return, who needs a 1099, and the rules behind each number with their citations. Nothing here is typed in — it is read from the journal entries your invoices, receipts, expenses and bank feed already posted.

Readiness

The ring at the top scores six checks: every invoice and receipt has reached the books, bank transactions are categorised, accounts are reconciled through December, every 1099 vendor has a W-9, receipts are attached to expenses of $75 or more, and every closed sales-tax period has a filed return. Each unmet check links to the screen that fixes it. "Repost to books" re-runs the posting for any contractor document that failed to post — a closed period or an unseeded chart is the usual reason.

The estimate

Self-employment tax is computed from the statute: 15.3% on 92.35% of net profit, with the 12.4% Social Security half stopping at the wage base and the 2.9% Medicare half uncapped. Enter your own W-2 wages and they consume the wage base first, which is what actually happens when you also hold a job — a contractor with a day job often owes only the Medicare half on their contracting profit. Above $200,000 ($250,000 filing jointly) the additional 0.9% Medicare is added; it is not deductible, so only half of the other two comes off your income.

The income-tax half uses the published federal brackets and the standard deduction for the filing status you pick, not a flat guess. It shows your effective and marginal rates, and you can still switch to a flat effective rate if that fits your return better. It is federal only and remains a cash-planning number: it knows nothing about credits, itemised deductions, a spouse's withholding or any state return, and it says so under the total.

The figures that change every year

The mileage rate, the Social Security wage base, the 1099 threshold, the §179 limit, the retirement caps and the brackets themselves all move, and the Tax Center resolves each one for the tax year you are looking at rather than the year it was written. The "Key figures" card lists them with the year and the citation. Two 2026 changes catch people out: the standard mileage rate is 72.5 cents for January to June and 76 cents from July, so a single rate applied to the whole year is wrong either way; and the 1099-NEC threshold rose from $600 to $2,000 for payments made after December 31, 2025, which the 1099 screen applies by the year the payments were made. Where Seayora holds no figure for a year, it uses the most recent one it has and labels it on screen — a carried-over rate never renders as a current one.

Sales-tax worksheets and returns

Every state you are registered in shows its filing periods (your assigned frequency, or the state default) with the due date and a status.
A period's worksheet totals gross, taxable and exempt sales by jurisdiction, lists every exempt sale with its reason and exemption ID, and adds use tax on parts you bought tax-free and consumed and the credit for tax you paid on parts you resold.
"Create return" freezes the worksheet as a draft; "Mark filed" records the confirmation number after you file with the agency; "Record payment" posts the payment against Sales Tax Payable (and Use Tax Payable) so the liability clears from your balance sheet.
Seven days before a return is due and unfiled, the account owner is emailed once.

1099 prep

Everyone you paid in the year, with the total, whether a 1099-NEC is due (flagged, or paid at or above the threshold, and not a corporation), whether a W-9 is on file, the last four of their TIN, and their entity type. The threshold is a knowledge-base figure with its year and citation, and it is the threshold for the year the payments were MADE — $600 for 2025 payments, $2,000 for 2026 and later. Switching the tax year at the top of the page switches the threshold with it. The export is under Reports → 1099.

Deductions and the finder

Every expense account is mapped to a Schedule C line, with meals at the deductible percentage. The deduction finder reads your uncategorised bank transactions and suggests an account and a line for each — with AI when a provider is configured, by keyword rules otherwise — and nothing is categorised until you accept it.

The knowledge base and the assistant

Federal, state and city rules a contractor's return turns on — mileage, home office, §179 and bonus depreciation, QBI, estimated taxes, 1099 thresholds, each state's sales-tax filing, New York City's UBT, Philadelphia's BIRT and NPT, Washington's B&O — each with a summary, the figure, the tax year and the statute or bulletin it comes from. The assistant answers only from that base and your own books, cites the topics it used, and says so when the base does not cover a question.

What it is not

Seayora computes from your books and its knowledge base as a planning estimate. It does not determine your liability, it is not tax advice, figures marked "verify" have not been confirmed against the current source, and Seayora never registers you with an agency, transmits a return or remits a payment. Your accountant does that with what this page gives them.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my net profit here differ from my invoice totals?

The Tax Center reads the journal, not the invoice list. An invoice that has not posted (see Readiness) is not in it; an expense you recorded is. That is the point — it is the books.

Can I file the return from here?

No. Seayora prepares the worksheet and records what you filed; you file with the agency through its own portal. The agency link is on the state card.

Is the federal estimate what I will owe?

It is what to set aside, not a return. It ignores other income, credits and deductions on your 1040 and uses the effective rate you enter instead of the brackets.

Related guides

Related features and guides

Invoices, Receipts & Sales Tax for Contractors — Documentation. How a contractor invoice is built in Seayora, how sales tax is worked out for the job site line by line, what the customer sees at checkout, and when a receipt is issued.
Parts & Materials: What Gets Taxed and What Does Not — Documentation. The parts catalogue, why "tax paid at purchase" matters, what buying on a resale certificate changes, use tax, purchase-tax credits, and the parts tax report.
Uploading Bank Statements: CSV, OFX, PDF and Photos — Documentation. Banking → Statements takes a statement in any format, imports the transactions once, runs your rules and the AI categoriser, and keeps the file, the period and the balances as the paper trail.
Landlord Bookkeeping and Tax Prep: Get Organized Before April — Guide. How landlords can keep rental income and expenses organized all year, track deductible costs, and walk into tax season with clean records.
Financial Reports & Tax Exports — Feature. Generate profit and loss, balance sheet, and portfolio reports, and export Schedule E tax reports in a single click across every property you own or manage.
Sales Tax Basics for Contractors and Service Businesses — Guide. A plain-English introduction to sales tax for service and trade businesses — when it applies, the idea of nexus, and how to track what you collect.