Tag Archives: Small Business Tax Help

You’ve traveled for business, and now it is time to figure out your business travel deductions. What is “ordinary and necessary” and can be deducted on your business tax return? Transportation Flight, train, and car travel to and from the convention or meeting is deductible. Travel by boat, such as an ocean liner or cruise ship, has a daily limit of twice the highest federal per diem rate allowable. Cabs are also deductible to and from the airport and conference or meeting. Lodging Hotel costs for days that you attended the conference and reasonable stays before and after are deductible. … Click to Read More

If you’ve traveled for a conference or visited a client, what can you deduct as costs for your business? Here are some tips to help you separate your personal and business travel expenses, so your business tax preparation will not be hampered by what to count. The purpose of the trip must be primarily business oriented. You may do non-business activities such as sightseeing while on trip, but the main focus must the primary reason for travel. For conferences, travel within North America is deductible if it can be shown that your directly attendance benefits your business. There are special … Click to Read More

While many congressional observers predict that no significant tax legislation will be passed before the November election, several important measures have been introduced that would provide tax relief to small businesses. Three significant pieces of tax legislation that are currently under consideration in Congress are outlined below: Startup Act 2.0 This legislation would allow small businesses that are less than five years old and with annual receipts of less than $5 million to offset their payroll tax liability through the use of a refundable research and development tax credit. It would also increase the financial stability of these young companies by … Click to Read More

Why wouldn’t you take advantage of a tax credit for small businesses? In the case of health care tax credit enacted in the 2010 Affordable Care Act, the answer is if it is too confusing or if the cost to receive it is more than the credit is worth. This health care tax credit was supposed to be helping millions of small business to be able to provide health insurance for employees, paying out a budgeted $2 billion dollars on tax returns for 2012. Instead, as the Government Accountability Office reports, only 170,300 companies out of the 1.4 million to … Click to Read More

You’ve started your own business, and now it’s time to file your first tax return. Even if you hire a business tax preparation specialist, you will need to have your files in order and make some decisions on how you want to file your return. In continuation from last week’s post, here are 3 more tips to help with your first business tax return. Figure out which depreciation method you want to use. The IRS allows a deduction in your first year of up to $100,000 for most equipment and furniture purchased for your business. The alternative is writing off … Click to Read More

You’ve started your own business, and now it’s time to file your first tax return. Even if you hire a business tax preparation specialist, you will need to have your files in order and make some decisions on how you want to file your return. Here are 3 tips to help with your first business tax return. Make sure you carefully review the entire form. It can be easy to miss what you enter where, so make sure to completely review your business tax return to avoid mistakes. There may be questions about the nature of your business, how many … Click to Read More

A recent survey of a broad cross section of leading tax executives indicates that there is a low expectation within the business community for the passage of any important tax legislation during the remainder of 2012. Those surveyed believe that the main reason for this is the upcoming general election, along with the split in the houses of Congress. The Policy Forecast Survey under discussion was completed last month by top business tax executives selected from a wide range of US and multinational corporations. Most of the business tax executives polled in the recent survey indicated that they thought the … Click to Read More

Early last month, the California Board of Equalization (BOE) sent letters to 16,738 retail business owners stating that the Statewide Compliance and Outreach Program (SCOP) Team would be paying them a visit. The purpose of the visit is to educate them on sales and use tax reporting, tax compliance, and make sure their businesses are properly registered with the correct permits and licenses. Along with trying to collect what the BOE claims is $2 billion in owed taxes that have not been collected, the BOE said that the 2% of California businesses that are not operating with the correct permits … Click to Read More

What are the most common tax mistakes for small businesses? Four small business tax mistakes topped the list of a recent Xero survey of 500 accountants. Failure to separate business and personal expenses  Mixing business and personal expenses was the top mistake noted by 45% percent of those polled. Without professional help, you may trigger an IRS audit or be noted to have excessive income deductions. Forgetting to count the home office  A small business’ most commonly overlooked deduction is the home office, said 29% of the accountants. Some home expenses can be deducted and lower your taxable income, but … Click to Read More

The assistance of a qualified business tax resolution professional can be a valuable tool in attempting to resolve any type of tax issue. However, selecting a reputable tax professional can be a difficult task in itself. It is important to verify any and all credentials before hiring someone to help. Many individuals and companies who advertise business tax resolution services are actually marketing agents and salespeople with no professional qualifications. Tax law is intricate and the policies and procedures of the IRS can be so complicated that it takes an individual who is both knowledgeable and experienced to successfully negotiate … Click to Read More