Owe NO! » From: Santa Barbara, CA Dear TaxMama: Help! We owe $14,000.00 in taxes this year. My husband has a small business and after all said and done, only made $61,000.00. What happened? How can one live and provide for a family of four on that? Now our savings is gone. Is our accounting professional awry? Every other year I get to claim my older daughter I share this with my ex who pays but doesn't visit her or call her. We provide more support then he does but in our 1997 divorce decree I stupidly agreed to take even years him odd. Would this have even helped? I'm just devastated. Please help. Dina Dear Dina, RUN, don't walk to the nearest good tax pro to do some planning for the future. Had you already done it, you wouldn't be facing this tax bill right now. You're probably out of luck on this year, unless you could afford to put money in retirement accounts, which you clearly cannot do. Leave your ex out of this. The additional exemption won't make that much difference, since you're already married and filing jointly. Besides, most of those taxes are due to the 15.3% SelfEmployment (SE) tax on your husband's business profits. Two things you and your husband really need to understand are: His business income is subject to taxes an he needs to be paying them quarterly. If you understand it's not your money in the first place (like payroll withholding) you'll find it easier to deal with. Put 1/4 of his monthly profits aside NOW. Being in business, he does have some interesting planning options that can cut those taxes dramatically. One of them is an SCorporation. Handled properly, it could eliminate most those SE taxes and cut over $6000 from your taxes. You're moaning over not being able to live on $61,000????!!!! I know families, even in California, who manage to live reasonably well on $40,000 even less. It's all a matter of perspective. Rethink your budgets and 'musthaves.' They're way too high if you can't manage on that. You're living beyond your means. Or, better yet, help your husband increase his sales/profits. Good luck. Best wishes, Eva Rosenberg Your TaxMama