What’s better than a free lunch? Free. Money. Well, in our case, pre-tax money. Tip #1 today – the key to tax planning is to spend as much as you can of your pre-tax money. Tip #2 – make sure to separate your business money from your personal money. Tip #3 – document your business expenses.
Are you a business owner who also has another job or wants to hire your child in your business? Check out these tips on how to use these jobs in your tax strategy.
Many business owners forget that some their business assets have interest that can be claimed on their tax returns. These interest payments can make a huge difference for business owners, especially sole proprietorships. It’s in your best interest to claim the interest.
As a business owner who has a home office, do you write off your office space? The IRS will not flag your home office if you’re a Schedule C or Sole Proprietorship. If you’re a corporation, you can rent your house or home office to your business. Anything you can do as a deduction and save money on your business taxes is a really good thing to do. It’s all about the small details that add up to a bigger number.
Having your business grow is amazing and tricky at the same time. Nothing eats cash faster than growth. Growth should be factored into your tax plan so you can invest back into your business. Each tax plan should be individualized for each situation, not many business owners truly understand this and end up paying extra in taxes that could have been invested back into the growth of their business.
Did you know that if you pay your dependents $12,000 of income for working for your business, they can technically file a zero return? Many parents do not know they can hire their children as early as 7 years of age as a way to set aside money (TAX FREE) for their future.
Creating a tax plan for a business owner is very important. It can save on your taxes by having the proper tax plan in place. If your tax person is not asking you a lot of questions, especially about the details of your life, you may need a new tax person.
Depreciation is a great tool to use to save money on taxes because it can shield your cash flow from taxation. Many business owners forget to tell their CPA or tax preparer about their major fixed assets like cars, equipment, buildings, trucks, etc. Business owners should be using their pretax money instead of after-tax money to make these purchases to grow their business to essentially save money on their taxes.
Last week I had a conversation with another CPA that wasn’t taking the time to truly care about tax planning for their client. One thing I see far too often is these tax preparers who are box fillers instead of caring about analyzing the profits for business owners to maximize deductions for year-round tax preparation. Does your CPA ask you questions about your business and are they taking time to examine your business?
Business owners should really look at their budget to really be able to put together their tax plan. Taxes are a big part of the bottom line for many business owners, yet many business owners leave tax planning for the end of the year and essentially pay the government instead of reinvesting in their business.
We’re launching our new video series today called the ABC’s of Effective Tax Planning for Small Business Owners. Today’s topic – Accuracy. Business owners who don’t have accurate numbers for their business cannot make good tax planning decisions that will help them save on their taxes. One thing we’ve noticed is business owners waiting until December to find out where their numbers are and what tax planning moves they need to make. Wouldn’t it be great to know year-round?