<prompt> Human: Hello rpersonalfinance, and thank you in advance for your help.A couple weeks ago I got an AMAZING job working as a freelance makeup artist for a well known makeupskincare brand. I was hired on as an independent contractor, and my wages arent taxed. This is how nearly everyone who works my position for any brand is hired as well, so I didnt have an issue with it. The pay is nearly double what I was making before, as I am a young college student 21 and have never made over 11hr before this. I have absolutely no experience dealing with taxes like this. In the past, I have always gotten hefty returns because I work a lot and am a full time independent student. Last year my return was about 2k. Ive heard from other people in my position that when you are taxed as an independent contractor, you pay 14 of what you made I live and work in AZ currently. Im wondering if I should put 14 of my paychecks into a savings account my roommate recommended trying to find one that accumulates interest, which I also have no idea about, or if my return from being a student, as well as working my other job I work another job that is taxed normally will even it out, or perhaps make it so that I dont have to save quite as much. I also got married this year, and my husband and I were tossing around the idea of filling jointly, but now we are thinking that might not be the best idea since Im going to get taxed significantly. This is my first post on rpersonalfinance, so Im really sorry if I left important info out. Im also really new to dealing with my finances, since the first tax season my mom didnt claim me as a dependent was just two years ago. Any advice or info would help tremendously, thank you in advance!  <response>: The 14 is only the FICA portion of your taxes, you still have your income taxes from both the state and fed. Most likely, you need to save 30 or more.Its almost always better to file jointly rather than separately. Also, between here and rtax, your questions get asked about 4 times a day. A little searching will answer most of your questions and probably answer questions you didnt even know you had. 