Student freelancer (sole proprietor) and taxes

Question

(I have researched online for more than 12 hours now, and still have some questions. Please don't be hard on me if they are too basic.)

I am starting my part-time freelance career now (too late for calendar year, I know). My main concern is taxes.

Based on my research, I found out that I need to send the IRS the following:

Annual basis (by April 15 for the previous year):
- Schedule C-EZ - Profits and losses
- Form 1040 - Individual taxes
- Schedule SE - Self employed tax

Quarterly (for the previous quarter):
- Form 1040 ES

Is this correct?

Do I send the first payment for Q4 2014 before January 15, or do I wait until April 15 to send that with the rest of my 2014 tax forms?

I do not expect to make (from freelancing) >$1k in 2014, and >$10k in 2015. IRS says that I only pay quarterly if I expect to pay at least $1k in taxes during the year. Should I still pay quarterly now?

Thank you.

Answer 1

You asked in Nov '14. It's now Feb 12th 2015.

Yes to the following due April 15th:

Sched C-EZ
Sched SE + potentially others..
Form 1040

Sched 1040 ES Q1 payment for 2015

The ES payments can be left at minimum required (90% of prior years), but unless you are fastidious in keeping the proper amount aside, you may be faced with problem on April 15, 2016. Making ES payments that are proportional to what you expect will help you on that day.