Tag Archives: Tax Planning
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
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
There has been some confusion with the what is included on the new Form 1099-K form and what belongs elsewhere. Here is an update for clarification on credit card payments that may be useful in your business tax preparation. On the directions to Form 1099-MISC, the IRS has made it clear that payments made with a credit card or through any third-party payer, are not reported on Form 1099-MISC. The indicated amounts are now reported on Form 1099-K. As a result, if a business pays a service provider with a credit card, debit card, gift card, or electronically via a service, the … Click to Read More
While taxes for 2011 are due in April, it is important to take care of any IRS notices and bills from past years that were not paid when due, called back taxes. Here are some frequently asked questions about back taxes in relation to business tax preparation. What back tax issues are commonly encountered by small businesses? · Due to the complexity of tax law, many small business owners do not know how to use available deductions to reduce their lax liability and therefore end up with tax balances that are more than the business can afford to pay. · With the current … Click to Read More
Due to the complexity of tax law as it applies to self-employed individuals, the best tax strategy available is often to enlist the help of a qualified tax professional to handle all business tax preparation. Many self-employed taxpayers do not know how to use available tax deductions to reduce their tax liability and therefore end up with tax balances that are more than they would otherwise be required to pay. In addition, self-employed individuals have certain tax obligations which, if not met according to the strict guidelines outlined in governing tax codes, can result in unwanted consequences including interest, penalties, … Click to Read More
When starting or expanding a business, it is important to know how to deal with employment taxes. While they seem to be automatic when you are an employee, employment taxes are calculated and withheld by the businesses and then paid to the IRS. Here is more information on employment taxes for your business to help your business tax preparation go smoothly. What are employment taxes? Employment taxes are a variety of federal, state, and local taxes that must be withheld by business owners from the paychecks of their employees. What types of employment taxes are businesses required to pay? Employment … Click to Read More
Are you never quite sure what original information to save after you file your annual tax return? In this article, we discuss what business tax documents you must keep and how long to keep them. Good bookkeeping is difficult to manage for many businesses. Let’s face it—your priority is to keep the business running from day to day. It might not seem like it but now, as you prepare to file your business taxes for 2011, is actually the perfect time to develop good record keeping habits. Keeping organized records throughout the year is vital to making sure you have … Click to Read More