POSTS TAGGED : business taxes

7 Little-Known Tax Deductions for Small Businesses

Many small businesses dread filing their quarterly taxes, but deductions help owners lower their tax burden. In addition to the standard deductions that most businesses take, there are lesser-known write-offs that can reduce tax bills even further.

Small business tax deductions

1. Home Office

If you run your business out of a dedicated home office, you may be able to take the home office deduction. The catch with this deduction is that the space must be used exclusively for business purposes.

There are two ways to deduct a home office:

  • Deduct actual expenses. You’ll need to have records for the cost of painting, repairs, utilities, rent, insurance and other expenses you want to write-off.
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Business Taxes That Small E-Commerce Businesses Should Be Aware Of

Managing taxes for your business is, well, taxing. It involves a lot of paperwork and several receipts, all of which you need to properly sort out and file. Even if you’re running a small business, taxes are still part of your responsibility, and this same goes for small e-commerce businesses.

Calculating taxes

Are Online Businesses Required To Pay Taxes?

One common misconception is that selling online does not involve paying taxes. Some e-commerce store owners may not know this, but paying taxes may be required in the area where your business market is operating.

In some places, taxation includes Internet marketplaces – that is, e-commerce websites like Amazon and eBay whose products are sold by individuals and not by the websites themselves.…

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3 Accounting Tools to Drive Your Small Business

Small business owners often scramble come tax season. There is a lot to worry about as a business owner, and the last thing most businesses want to think about is paying their taxes. Keeping the lights on is far more important to a business owner.

Using online accounting software

But you don’t have to scramble last minute to figure out your taxes.

There are tools that can help make tax season a little less taxing on a small business owner.

1. QuickBooks Online

Quickbooks website screenshot

Quickbooks offers an online version that is ideal for small businesses. The “standard” for small businesses, this software makes bookkeeping systematic. The good news is that you can use QuickBooks and then allow access to the account to your accountant.…

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Tax Tips for Overseas Companies Operating in The U.S.

The US has one of the most complex tax systems in the world, with local, state, and federal-level obligations creating significant challenges for overseas companies. Making sense of the administrative process, navigating it, and mitigating the risks involved is a huge task in itself, and pitfalls can be difficult to foresee and hurdle even if you conduct due diligence.

While tax is often confusing, it’s incredibly important in today’s business environment to have a mastery of the processes involved. Here are some tips for getting to grips with tax in the US.

Understanding state and local tax

Foreign enterprises operating in the US often fail to recognize the wide-reaching nature of taxing powers as business activity can trigger state-level and federal taxes, which they may not have much experience with.…

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3 Steps to Take This Year to Avoid Another Tax Season Scramble

Tax season is the enemy of small business owners. Small business owners wear a lot of hats: accounting, marketing, sales – you name it. The small business owner often fills the void in his business.

Doing small business taxes

TurboTax and other online services even allow owners with no accounting experience to file their taxes and take advantage of tax breaks along the way.

But there’s also the anxiety of:

  • Gathering receipts
  • Outlining all expenses
  • Cycling through billings and invoices

Businesses that opt to pay taxes annually and incur the small penalty also worry about having enough money come tax season.

If you’re a freelancer or contractor, chances are you were more focused on staying afloat this past year than worrying about tax season.…

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SME VOICE: Making Tax Digital (MTD) – How Your Business Can Prepare

It’s official. By January 2018, the majority of individuals and businesses will be on a digital tax reporting system. This change was arguably inevitable as many other aspects of our surroundings make this digital switch, but it may create difficulties for those who are not prepared.

Make Tax Digital (MTD)

While there are those that denounce HMRC’s move as an invasion of privacy, most countries have had a digital option or requirement for filing taxes for quite a while. Even with the criticism that HMRC is struggling to get this all implemented, the change is definite. Their belief is that by 2020 paper tax forms will be virtually extinct.…

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A Taxing Endeavor: 3 Tips to Take the Stress Out of Tax Season

Benjamin Franklin famously quipped that only two things are certain in life: death and taxes. Given that inevitability, it might seem surprising that so many business owners struggle during tax season.

Tax season stress

Entrepreneurs are typically so focused on growing their companies’ products and services that taxes become an afterthought. Most people don’t think about taxes until the last minute, so they’re not ready when it’s time to file. This ends up making the process more stressful than it needs to be.

This minor annoyance can morph into a major issue, disrupting day-to-day business activities in the process. A survey of small business owners found that 73 percent felt federal taxes had major to moderate effects on their routine operations.…

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Taxes And Your Small Business

Debt is a pain, and if you run a small business your personal debt could have an effect on your business and your taxes. Freelance and contract workers have enough to deal with when it comes to tax time, so it’s not fun to learn that there are other things that can mess with you when tax time rolls around.

Doing taxes

One depressing thing is knowing that if you get a good deal paying off a debt it could come back to bite you when you file your taxes. You just might get a 1099-C in the mail for the money you saved, which will make it count as part of your income for the previous year.…

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7 Safe And Effective Tax Deductions That Every SME Should Be Claiming

HMRC collected over £533 billion in taxes during the 2015-16 tax year but we think it’s possible that many SMEs, business owners, and employees are currently paying more tax than they need to. They simply aren’t aware of a number of different tax incentives offered by HMRC that could reduce their tax bill. It’s no surprise that HMRC are not very good at letting people know about these incentives, so we are happy to introduce 7 safe and effective tax deductions that you should consider.

1. Tax free Christmas office party, panto or concert

When a company throws a party for all of its employees and the cost is less than £150 per head then it is a tax and NI-free benefit.…

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Common Payroll Tax Pitfalls

If you have employees, then payroll taxes are one of the costs of doing business. Unfortunately, they can also be a potential minefield. The IRS is cracking down on businesses that don’t properly file or report their payroll taxes – and they are paying especially close attention to small businesses, which are the largest source of uncollected taxes. Even if it’s an honest mistake, the IRS could leverage huge penalties, audit your company, and even initiate a criminal investigation if you do your payroll taxes wrong.

Sloppy tax preparation

Below are some of the common payroll tax pitfalls that small businesses face, as well as suggestions on how to avoid them.…

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