4 Tax Tips for Small Business Owners Determined to Pay Only …

It’s long past New Year’s Day7 and that means tax season in quickly approaching. Business owners across the nation will be spending the coming weeks sorting through accounts and records in an effort to piece together a picture of their business’s finances over the past year. I know how frustrating and tedious this process can become, so here’s a few tricks to calm the chaos.

1. Prepare as you go

You would think this kind of advice should go without saying, but it’s surprising how often it goes ignored. Don’t wait until the last month to start to tally expenses, revenues and other financial records, as this will only contribute to the overwhelming and confusing nature of business taxes. Make sure your accounting department, or whoever handles your books, is keeping track of every transaction in as close to real time as possible, to prevent human error and forgetfulness.

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2. Familiarize yourself with small business tax deductions

If you take care of your own books and business taxes, this tip is for you. Having a bit of knowledge about the small business tax deductions that you your business may be able to take advantage of will be prove to be invaluable — especially one tax code in particular, Section 179. This tax code allows small businesses to deduct the cost of qualifying equipment that was purchased or financed and put into use in the same year, up to $500,000.

Business owners in all industries nationwide make use of helpful online tools, such as our Section 179 calculator, which provides users with an instant estimate of what they can deduct from that years’ taxes. Many of those business owners finance equipment to take advantage of the tax write-off.

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3. Pay attention to important deadlines

There are hundreds of different tax deductions and tax credit filing forms, many of which have deadlines in which they must be filed by. This doesn’t include any ancillary forms to these filings, which will have their own deadlines. Keep track of important dates by keeping them on a calendar, and check that calendar frequently to ensure you know what due dates are approaching — and are aware of those that are on the horizon. The last thing you want is to miss a deadline for a filing that could provide your business with a huge deduction or credit.

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