| 19 minutes is all it takes me per week to have a | | | | a lot of small businesses as well, especially if you keep |
| worry-free tax season for my small businesses. I | | | | a home office as well as a regular office. The best |
| timed it, literally. You see, I've been studying up on how | | | | way to figure out how IRS laws apply to your |
| to maximize my small business tax deductions, and I've | | | | business to get help from "Cliff Notes" tax interpreters |
| discovered what it takes to keep the IRS happy: | | | | like Ron. I've also gotten great information from other |
| 1. Know the rules as they apply to your business and | | | | tax books for some of my businesses that are very |
| follow them | | | | specific, like my horse business. |
| 2. Keep orderly small business tax documents | | | | Small Business Tax Documents - Maintaining Order |
| 3. Have a great accountant | | | | If "location, location, location" is the key to success in |
| Now that might sound like a lot of work, especially the | | | | real estate, then "document, document, document" is |
| part about knowing the rules and documenting | | | | the key to success in reducing your tax burden and |
| everything, but it doesn't take long, really. | | | | defending your position, should the IRS ever inquire. |
| | | | While documentation sounds like a lot of work, it's |
| Discovering Small Business Tax Deduction Rules | | | | really not if you get into a routine. As I said earlier, it |
| So everyone knows that the IRS has rules, lots of | | | | takes me on average about 19 minutes per week |
| them, and that if you don't follow them you will get in | | | | maintain my small business tax documents. |
| dutch. What most people don't know, though, is how to | | | | For anything you want to claim as a business expense |
| interpret those rules so they apply to you and your | | | | or tax deduction, you basically have to document the |
| small business. And being that the tax code is some | | | | who, what, when, where, and why. If you keep a |
| 18,000 pages long, it's going to be pretty hard to figure | | | | strong business calendar or activities diary, most of the |
| out which small business tax deductions apply to your | | | | documentation can go in there. The rest can go into |
| organization, and how, just by reading the tax code. | | | | Quickbooks or some other similar bookkeeping |
| That won't do at all, which is why you need an | | | | software. If you do your documentation during the day |
| interpreter. I like Ron Mueller's tax tips and books | | | | or at the end of each work day, it literally won't take |
| because they are easy for me to understand (check | | | | you more than 19 minutes. I have three small |
| them out at his HomeBusinessTaxSavings website). | | | | businesses, and it only takes me that long. |
| The website is for home businesses but they apply to | | | | |