Home Business Expenses

As a small business owner you may dread tax time, especially if you aren't sure what to expect. Although horror stories involving the IRS do exist, there is no reason to think your business could fall victim to one. You can help protect yourself by recognizing and avoiding the following small business tax mistakes. #1: Combining business and pleasure One of the most important things you can do as a small business owner is to keep your personal and business expenses separate.

Self-employment offers many benefits, including setting your own schedule and a comfortable working environment. It also has several tax-related benefits that you can take advantage of when it is time to file. Here are just a few expenses that you can potentially use to claim deductions on your income tax return.   Utilities Since you are working at home, you are using utilities throughout your work day. As a result, you can take a percentage of your utilities costs and use it to determine if you qualify for a deduction.

Businesses have several options on how they would like to carry out their budgets. One standard choice is between a rolling budget and a static one. Here are the differences in each path and how they can affect your business. Choosing a Static Budget A static budget type is the one that most people are familiar with. You might sit down with their small business accounting team to create a budget that extends from January to December of one calendar year.

If you run a business and use a vehicle for business purposes, you need to make sure that you understand how to represent your driving on your taxes. Here are four things you need to know about representing the driving you do for business on your taxes. #1 Tracking Mileage If you use your vehicle exclusively for business, you can write down the mileage at the start of the year and the end of the year to calculate your mileage.

When you're filing your taxes, how are your minor children filed? In general, minor children become dependents -- and that increases the amount that you can deduct from your taxable income. Putting in the appropriate deductions can greatly reduce the amount that you need to pay in taxes. However, you need to know a few things first.  1. Only One Person Can Claim a Child as a Deduction Even if custody is shared between parents, only a single person can claim a child as a deduction.

Before you ever go to college, it is important that you start planning. One of the most important kinds of planning that you can do is financial planning. School is going to be very expensive, and you need to make sure that you are going to be able to afford to go. Meeting with a financial counselor and creating this plan can get you on the right track for a successful future in college.

If you work for yourself, either as an independent contractor or as owner/operator of a small business, then you're probably worried (or confused) about the effect your tax bill has on your bottom line. Here are some strategic tax planning tips to help you make smarter choices for your financial health, not just on April 15th but all year round. Paying Your Quarterly Taxes Independent contractors are supposed to report and pay their federal income tax on a quarterly basis by returning a 1099-ES form.