Hey Everyone ! lets start out with saying its not impossible to find the search button and I used it before making this post. - Glad we got the covered . Now on to business,
Ok I switched from notary gadget to notary assist.
as some of you know it lists a place in each entry for you to enter how many stamps you did .
Currently I haven’t filled that in on any of my entries. Here is some background as to why not yet, and some questions -
Ok right now I am independently trying to finance a vehicle . This is my first year doing loan signings but I’ve been a notary since 2017. I need to obviously show as much income as possible to secure financing . in my state there is no set amount to charge for a notarial act as long as it’s agreed to before hand.
-I don’t fully understand how counting stamps will affect my income tax wise at the end of the year , nor in the recent past in the app.
what dollar amount do I choose to best benefit me tax wise ? do I enter them at all to benefit myself ? or do I not enter them at all?
for example lets say I did a signing for 200, and did 7 stamps. we all know and expect stamps to be a part of loan signing. so are the stamps "included " in the total price?
if I enter my 200 signing into the app to show income will the stamps subtract from the total of $200? or will it add to my total that I made ?
I know that’s a lot and hope it makes sense . Thank you.
Your net income from notary work is subject to federal and state income tax (and maybe a city or town tax, I don’t know). That’s figured by taking the total you receive from your customers and subtracting your expenses, like auto mileage, paper, toner, E & O insurance, etc. Mostly it doesn’t matter what you call your fees when you give invoices to your customer or record it in your accounting record. Notary fee, travel fee, fee for dropping at FedEx, it’s all the same.
One thing that might matter is if you charge a printing fee, and the customer is keeping the document package, or you are shipping the document package to a destination in your state. Then you might have to charge your customer sales tax and pay that tax to the state. Check with your state or an accountant. Since signing companies aren’t used to paying sales taxes, you might not want to call anything you charge a printing fee.
There is an IRS rule that notary fees are not subject to self employment tax (in other words, the social security and medicare tax). Some people would rather pay this tax so they will have higher retirement income, or be eligible for disability insurance. Some people interpret this rule to mean you don’t have to pay the self employment tax on notary fees, but only if your state specifies exactly what the fees are. Your state (like mine) doesn’t specify fees, so according to some people, we don’t have the option of not paying this tax.
The purpose of recording the number of stamps is to figure out the amount of the state-regulated notary fee for each appointment. But since AZ and VT don’t regulate the fee, there is nothing to calculate and recording the number of stamps isn’t useful for us.
When it comes to making your income look impressive as possible for your auto loan application, I would go to a credit union, who are supposed to be on the side of the member rather than trying to make a profit. Maybe go to one that you aren’t a member of, so they can’t use anything you say against you. Ask what kind of information they’re interested in when a self-employed person applies for a loan.
ok thank you , now I understand the purpose of recording the stamps . I was worried it would detract from from my “income” and make my chances at securing a loan less. you completely nailed my concern. Thank you for a clear, concise and kind answer . truly appreciate the time you took to answer my question. good point on the printing fee too. glad somone from a no set fee state understood what I was asking
Notary Gadget also has a tab to enter how many stamps/notarizations you did per order. If you’re tax as an LLC you can deduct that but no if you’re tax as an SCorp
