Hi everyone. I have recently become a notary signing agent and I want to make sure that I have enough for taxes when the time comes. I am thinking it would be smart to take 20% out of all income earned from notary work to put in a savings account for taxes. What does everyone recommend? Thank you!
(I understand that most of those on here are not tax professionals, but I just want the personal opinions of those that have experience with this.)
That’s the exact % I do as you said with…it’s always worked out & I usually get a little bit back.
'Course it does depend on your anticipated tax bracket.
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That’s a good ‘guesstimate’ to begin with . . .
Once you have a year or two of tax returns completed, it’ll be much easier to accurately estimate your percentage. 
Thank you both for that information!
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Hey Madelyn! How much you should set aside depends on a lot of factors, like what tax bracket you sit in, how you file your taxes, and how your business is set up. For sure you have to set aside about 15% (15.3 to be exact) for self employment, and then for your federal taxes that varies on what bracket you sit in because the percentages vary from 10% -37% additional to the 15. I am a tax preparer as well as a notary and I specialize in self-employment taxes. If you want something more specific feel free to reach out and I’ll help you in anyway I can.
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I use Quickbooks Self-employed. It is an actual life saver! It tracks by tax quarter and was 100% correct as verified by my accountant.
It also tracks your mileage while you are driving to jobs incase you forget, it links to your business bank account so you can sort transactions, THEN you can also invite your accountant to view all your transactions and mileage when it comes to tax time! You can also print off a complete excel spread sheets by specific time frames to get better insights on your business performance. You can also take pictures and “scan” in your expense receipts and then if you ever misplace any or need a quick reference the app holds it for you! They usually have a promo for around 8.00 a month for the first couple months then around 19.00 thereafter. Also you can send personalized itemized invoices when you want and it tracks past due invoices. Ofcourse you also get to write off the cost of the app as a business expense 
I cannot tell you how organized this has me and cannot recommend it enough! Worth its weight in gold!!
In my opinion (and I am not a tax professional) The most important thing concerning taxes is understanding all of the fees that you can write off as tax breaks, and there are so many: paper, ink, GASSSSSSSS, car expenses, eating out while working expenses, any marketing expenses, classes you paid for concerning work etc. 
I’m not offering any Tax advice as each individual’s situation is different.
Take a hard look at your expenses (what you can write off) and revenue (revenue is not income). There are online calculators that will help you estimate your tax liability. Emphasis on the word ESTIMATE. You’ll also need to estimate your state and local tax liability as well.
Under the Federal Tax Code you may have to make quarterly payments depending on your income and previous year’s tax liabilities. If you fail to make quarterly payments when you should have, you may be hit with underpayment penalties.
As always seek the advice of a qualified tax professional. You get to decide if it’s worth the consultation fees to stay out of trouble with the IRS.