Hi Sweetness, try not to be too bummed before you get the whole picture - no sense borrowing trouble, right ? If you don't mind me asking, how many children are you caring for ? Which province are you in ? I am located in Ontario. The first year that I did home daycare I only made (approximately) 18,000 dollars. (We had just moved to our new home, and I only worked for 9 months of the year, and I was only caring for 2-3 children as I was just getting my client base established) It may have been even less after I deducted my toys/food/office supplies/utilities/housing costs/home insurance. CRA has a fairly good list on their web site listing what you can claim as a business expense. Hopefully you've kept receipts - taking off your expenses can make a big difference in what you "make" annually.

I'm almost sure that you won't be paying 4000 dollars in taxes - it sounds a bit high. That said, just remember even if you can't pay the entire amount at once, you can send post dated cheques and pay it in "installments" over whatever period of time works best for you and your budget. Lastly, we would still be paying taxes even if we worked another type of job - and we'd have to pay all of the other expenses that come with it. (parking/transportation/lunches/office "gifts" etc. /) I know when I worked in an office that this kind of stuff was a real pet peeve of mine. There was always somebody having a birthday, or a baby, or looking for a donation for a walkathon. Don't get me wrong - my husband and I donate to a number of charities and I fully recognize the good work that they do. BUT....a toonie here, a fiver there - it all adds up and it really eats away at your bottom line when money is tight. I often wished that people would be more observant - if someone is brown bagging their lunches, and bringing their own tea bags as opposed to buying a drink maybe they really don't have 20 or 30 dollars a month to donate to different causes. (Okay - vent over)

Try not to panic - taxes are never very satisfying to pay, but they're just part of life. Would it make things easier for you if you just took 20% of each week's earnings and set them aside in a separate account earmarked for your taxes ? That way you wouldn't see the income, and hopefully even after you paid the taxes there would be a little bit left over for something for you. (that's what I do)