Times of Faith, TaxStreet & Olden Tales 🧙‍♀️

Investors have called it a “land grab” happening right before our eyes.

Reasons: 

Unsurprisingly, the global lockdown caused religious revival. While religious affiliation in the U.S. has declined over the past decade, 28% of Americans said their religious faith had been strengthened by the pandemic, according to a Pew study published in January. 

Church attendance has fallen by almost 50%, prompting religious leaders to plan for a “hybrid future” with permanent online services, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Between January and June 2022, no other region even came close to matching the Africa’s startup funding growth.

If this growth rate persist till December, 2022 will be a new record year for the amount of venture capital investment raised by African startups. The magic number? $7 billion.

Last year’s number was a record high of $5.2 billion. 

Globally, VC funding reduced by 3% in the first half of the year, producing what some have deemed a “silent crash.” Meanwhile Africa’s increased by 133%. Why?

Countries have been putting in focussed efforts to increase their position as a startup and innovation friendly place. 

• The Zanzibar government is setting up ‘Silicon Zanzibar’ with tax incentives and easier work visa requirements to attract tech companies. 
• A similar low-tax initiative is underway in Zambia, with the aim of making it the “Estonia or Singapore of Africa”.

On the flip side: The record dollar investments still make up only 1% of global VC funding within the period, a stark reminder that Africa still gets the bare minimum share of the world’s startup funding largesse.

McKenzie Schwark, a freelancer and independent contractor, owed about $25,000 in taxes on her 2021 freelance earnings.

How’d a 28-year-old freelance writer rack up such a bloodcurdling tax bill? 

• She didn’t pay her estimated tax quarterly (common practice among small business owners, independent contractors, and freelancers), choosing instead to set aside a lump sum based on her projected annual income. 
• She over-exceeded her projections by roughly $20,000. The higher earnings bumped her up a tax bracket.

Good news: she had enough cash saved up to pay the bill all at once. 

Bad news: it cleaned out her savings. 

Eventually, Schwark took on a full-time position at an ad agency for a stable income and savings. This highlights the travesty that is freelance taxation.

While there are ways to escape the freelance tax bloodbath, more workers believe they need to set aside at least 25% to 30% of every freelance payment that lands in their bank account to keep them from bankruptcy due to taxes.