Setting money aside for taxes when nothing is withheld
Keep a taxes line on your list as organization, with the amount coming from someone qualified to say.
3 min read
With a regular job, taxes are usually withheld before the paycheck reaches you. With freelance, gig, or marketplace income, that usually does not happen. The whole payment lands in your account, and any taxes connected to it are left for you to handle.
This guide is about the organizing part only: how to keep money set aside so it stays apart from spending. It is not tax advice, and it does not tell you how much to set aside.
Where the amount comes from
Nilvo does not tell you what you owe, and neither does this guide. The amount depends on your situation, and the right places to get it are a licensed tax professional or the IRS's own guidance for people who work for themselves. Get the amount there. Then use your list to keep it.
If you are not sure yet, that is a reasonable place to be with a new income stream. You can still create the line now and change the amount once you have a clearer answer.
Taxes, on a line of their own
The simplest step is a separate category with a plain name, such as Taxes, set aside. Every time a payment comes in, part of it goes to that line. Keeping it on its own line means it never blends in with money you can spend.
Some people also keep that money in a separate account at their bank. That is a choice you make with your bank. Nilvo only keeps the list; it never holds or moves the money itself.
Filling it first, if you like
Some people put the taxes line first and fill it before the others, since money is easier to set aside before it has been spent than to find again later. That order is optional. If you use it, the amount you chose is already in place when you sort the rest of the payment.
Example: $260 from a week of marketplace sales
- Taxes, set asideThe amount you chose$70
- Supplies and shipping$45
- Savings$30
- PersonalYours to spend$115
You choose the amounts. Nilvo keeps the list, never the money.
In the example, the taxes line holds whatever amount you settled on. The list does not suggest it and does not check it. It simply keeps that part of each payment labeled and apart, so it is never mistaken for spending money.
Keep a running total
Because a little is set aside from each payment, the line builds over time. A running total shows what has accumulated across all your logged payments. That total is useful when you sit down with a tax professional: you can show what came in and what you set aside from each payment.
Keep the records with it
Alongside the amounts, keep the basics for each payment: the date, the source, and any invoice or payout statement. Whoever helps you with your taxes may ask for them, and they are much easier to gather as you go than all at once.
What Nilvo does, and does not do
- It keeps a taxes line with the amount you choose.
- It shows what you have set aside across your logged payments.
- It does not calculate taxes, tell you what you owe, or prepare anything for the IRS.
- It never holds, moves, or connects to your money.
That division is on purpose. Your list stays yours, and the answers about amounts come from someone qualified to give them.
Try it, with your own numbers.
Split a payment right on the page. No account, and nothing is sent anywhere. When you want to keep the list, the free plan is complete on its own.