--- name: quarterly-tax-rhythm description: "Build the tax habit self-employment requires — the setaside percentage from day one, the quarterly calendar, the records that make filing boring, and the no-withholding mindset shift nobody explains. Use when asked how do taxes work for my side income, how much should I set aside, what are estimated quarterly payments, or set up my freelance tax system. Produces the setaside rule with its honest range, the quarterly rhythm calendar (jurisdiction-flagged), the five-minute-a-week records system, and the deduction-tracking habit — framing routed to a local professional for the numbers." --- # Quarterly Tax Rhythm Skill Employment hides taxes inside withholding; self-employment hands you the gross and a delayed bill — and the first-year story is always the same: the money felt like income, got spent like income, and April arrived like a mugging. The fix isn't tax expertise; it's a *rhythm*: a fixed percentage siphoned to a separate account the day money lands, dated quarterly check-ins (most jurisdictions with estimated-payment systems run roughly quarterly — dates and rules are local, flagged throughout), and a records habit small enough to actually survive. This skill installs the rhythm and routes every actual number to a local professional, because rates and rules are jurisdiction-specific and this skill's job is that the money *exists* when the professional names the number. ## What This Skill Produces - **The setaside rule** — the percentage band with its logic, the transfer-on-receipt habit, and the separate account it lands in - **The quarterly calendar** — the rhythm's four-plus-one dates (typed generically, verify-locally), each with its 30-minute agenda - **The records system** — the five-minute weekly habit that makes filing an export instead of an archaeology dig - **The deduction-tracking frame** — what commonly counts (typed, professional-verified), captured at spend-time not filing-time ## Required Inputs Ask for these if not provided: - **The income shape** — rough monthly side income and trajectory; steady vs. lumpy changes the setaside mechanics (lumpy = percentage-per-payment, never a monthly guess) - **The tax context, loosely** — country and whether this stacks on employed income (the marginal-stacking point is where most first-year surprises live: side income generally lands *on top*, taxed at the margin — stated as framing, numbers routed locally) - **What exists today** — separate account? Any setaside so far? Mid-year starts get the catch-up framing, calmly - **The professional status** — accountant engaged? The skill's endpoint is a clean handoff to one, and it says so ## Framework: The Rhythm Rules 1. **The setaside happens on receipt, not on reflection:** the day a payment lands, X% moves to a separate tax account — automatic-ish, non-negotiable, before the money develops opinions. The band: 25–35% covers most stacked-side-income situations *as a safety margin, not a calculation* — deliberately conservative, verified with a local professional at the first quarterly check-in; over-saving refunds itself, under-saving compounds. 2. **The tax account is one-way glass:** money enters on receipt and leaves only for tax payments — it isn't a buffer, an opportunity fund, or "basically savings." The first raid is the habit's death; the rule is stated that bluntly. 3. **The quarterly check-in is 30 minutes with a fixed agenda:** income totaled from the records, setaside verified against the band, the estimated payment made if the local system requires one (typed: many jurisdictions fine under-prepayment — the *existence* of the obligation is the check, the amount is the professional's), and the band adjusted if income shifted. Calendar all four-plus-filing dates now, with two-week warnings. 4. **Records are captured at transaction-time or never:** one place (a sheet is fine), one row per income and expense event, receipts photographed into one folder that week — five minutes weekly, forever, versus twelve hours of bank-statement archaeology every filing season. The system's smallness is its survival trait. 5. **Deductions are a capture habit, not an April project:** the commonly-relevant categories (tools and software, equipment share, workspace share where rules allow, professional services, business travel — all typed as *commonly, verify-locally*) get a tag in the records at spend-time. The skill frames what to capture; whether each deducts, and how much, is exactly the professional's job — captured-but-disallowed costs nothing, uncaptured-but-allowed costs real money. ## Output Format # Tax Rhythm: [income shape] — starting [date] ## The Setaside [The % with its safety-margin logic · the on-receipt transfer rule · the account named · the one-way-glass rule verbatim] ## The Calendar [The rhythm dates (typed, verify-locally for the real ones) · each check-in's 30-minute agenda · filing season's handoff date] ## The Records System [The sheet's columns · the weekly five minutes · the receipts folder · the deduction tags (typed, professional-verified)] ## The Handoff [What the accountant gets: the export, the receipts, the questions list — and the first-meeting agenda if none is engaged yet] > Rates, estimated-payment rules, deadlines, and deductibility are jurisdiction-specific — the percentages here are safety margins and the calendar is a rhythm; a local tax professional supplies the real numbers, and this system's job is making their work (and bill) small. Not tax advice. ## Quality Checks - [ ] The setaside triggers on receipt with a stated band and its safety-margin framing - [ ] The one-way-glass rule appears bluntly - [ ] Every date and rate is typed generic with the verify-locally flag - [ ] The records habit is small enough to survive (minutes, not sessions) - [ ] The professional handoff is the stated endpoint, not an afterthought ## Anti-Patterns - [ ] Do not compute actual tax liability — bands and rhythm here, numbers at the professional's desk - [ ] Do not let the setaside wait for month-end — receipt-time or the money gets spent - [ ] Do not design a records system that takes an evening — it will be abandoned by week three - [ ] Do not treat the tax account as accessible — the first raid ends the system - [ ] Do not shame the mid-year starter — catch-up framing, calmly; the second-best time is now ## Example Trigger Phrases - "How do taxes work for my side income?" - "How much should I set aside?" - "What are estimated quarterly payments?" - "Set up my freelance tax system."