Devs Are Not Tax Experts

For the 2014 tax year, I have an unusually high tax bill. It’s a tax bill I wasn’t prepared for. Like many independent developers, I have income from various areas. It’s hard to make a living just making apps, so I diversify. For 2014, our family had the following income.

• iOS sales
• I sold a few of my apps
• My wife now has a full time job (didn’t work full time in 2013)
• She also had income as an independent contractor and taught a college course (neither was taxed)
• I had an increase in pay at my regular day job

Making more money as a family in 2014 versus 2013 is definitely a good thing. So, I knew we had more income and would be paying more in taxes. What I had not anticipated was moving to a higher tax bracket.

Sometimes we can get so caught up coding, releasing, marketing, and planning that we don’t pay attention to the boring stuff. I’ve always done my own taxes. I’m pretty sure this will be the last year of that. I’m not a tax expert. I don’t want to be a tax expert. I think the money to hire someone that is would be money well spent.