Your Tax Place, Inc. - Tax Savings Strategies

How to Organize Receipts for Small Business  As a business owner, you have probably heard this statement over and over again:  KEEP YOUR RECEIPTS FOR TAXES!    Although this STATEMENT is TRUE, you should also KEEP the IRS in mind so that those RECEIPTS will count if an audit is required. Here are a few suggestions on how to KEEP THE IRS in mind when COLLECTING , STORING , AND PRESENTING those BUSINESS RECEIPTS. WHICH RECEIPTS ARE DEDUCTIBLE FOR MY BUSINESS? Owning, operating, and maintaining a business COSTS MONEY. But, when you buy things for the BUSINESS, they must be legally deductible. EXPENSES must be an ORDINARY AND NECESSARY EXPENSE  for your specific industry to be able to legally deduct it on your taxes. The WAY that you  STORE , ORGANIZE and PRESENT the receipts for business purchases as the PROOF will also be a consideration by the IRS to allow the deduction or not.  STORING and ORGANIZING...

  What is an ASSET and WHAT Makes it DIFFERENT from SUPPLIES? Purchasing an ASSET is the easy part , but when it comes to  Deducting an ASSET  on your tax return,   it must be reported differently   than the other expenses such as  SUPPLIES. Did you buy a CB Radio, Refrigerator, a Truck or anything else to be used in your business that is expected to keep its value for more than 1 year and cost more than $100? If you did, you purchased an ASSET for your business. An ASSET is something that provides a current, future, or potential economic benefit for an individual or business or other entity and has the following characteristics: FAIR MARKET VALUE EXCEEDS $100 WHEN PURCHASED IS DESIGNED TO HAVE A USEFUL LIFE AND FUNCTION FOR MORE THAN 1 YEAR IS OWNED (not leased/rented) BY YOUR BUSINESS WAS PURCHASED NEW OR USED WAS PURCHASED BY YOUR BUSINESS AND IS USED IN YOUR BUSINESS Is both ORDINARY and NECESSARY to you...

  As we approach year end, everyone begins to wonder, "HOW MUCH MONEY WILL I OWE FOR TAXES for 2022?" As a business owner, it is extremely important to have a PROFIT/LOSS statement that either you prepare for yourself or hire a bookkeeper to prepare for you. Here is how you can figure out the taxes that you may owe by using your last Profit/Loss statement for yourself. As a business owner, nobody except YOU is required to automatically withhold taxes from your pay. And unless you withhold and pay your own taxes, YOU CAN EXPECT TO OWE TAXES ON THE PROFIT THAT YOU MADE. The only way that you will NOT OWE MONEY, is if you did NOT MAKE ANY PROFIT or YOU OVERPAID YOUR TAXES with having children or with estimated tax payments. If you don't generate a profit for any 3 of the last 5 years, the IRS will not let you claim to be a business owner any longer and take a deduction for those expenses. This is VERY DIFFERENT for first time business owners to understand. So, PLEASE R...

  Do you pay your workers as EMPLOYEES or CONTRACTORS? With the NEW YEAR now here, it's TIME TO GET THIS RIGHT! One of the most recent HOT TOPICS with both the IRS and the DOL is to investigate businesses for the MISCLASSIFICATION of their WORKERS. For the past few years, businesses have misclassified their workers as contractors instead of employees in order to save 7.65% in matching payroll taxes. Because these businesses have been able to get by without being monitored and corrected, these business owners have become comfortable with this process and don't think they are doing anything wrong. In fact, because a lot of businesses have been operating this way, new business owners starting up the same business believe that it is ok to operate like this as well. The IRS has been aware of this problem and now are about to use their newly hired employees to become very aggressive about correcting this KNOWN PROBLEM to assess back withholding taxes and penalties to those ...

  2022 tax season is about to begin, here are a few things that I experienced with my clients that you will want to do in preparation of the next tax season: 1. Get your receipts organized NOW and sent to your tax preparer EARLY.  If you are the DYI type and don't use a bookkeeping service, it is better for both YOU and YOUR TAX PREPARER to get your receipts separated and totaled by expense and sent to her several weeks before the due date. This will give her time to review the receipts for deductibility and accuracy before reporting it on the tax return. 2. Create a file folder to keep your tax forms like W2, 1099, Profit/Loss statements, brokerage statements, closing documents for house purchases, estimated tax payment confirmations until tax time. 3. If you purchased a home in 2022 or earlier, locate the original closing statement for the home purchase and KEEP IT FOREVER! Or, at least until you sell it. Your tax p...

 How to Maintain Success as an Owner Operator - 2022 As an Owner Operator, have you noticed your paycheck  slowly become  LESS and LESS instead of MORE and MORE in comparison with what you have experienced in the past 2 years??? Since 2020 when COVID hit, our economy has NOT BEEN STABLE and has caused many economic imbalances that have NEVER BEEN SEEN BEFORE! I have been in the trucking and transportation industry for 17 years and have NEVER SEEN the consistent $3,000 to $10,000 NET weekly payouts to drivers that I have been seeing in the past 24 months. Most of you veteran drivers have not ever seen this before, either.   And we all  say,  IT'S ABOUT TIME! Unfortunately, these Skyrocketing Rates  that are driving up your pay are NOT SUSTAINABLE , and WILL DESTROY OUR ECONOMY if left too high for long. The Trucking industry is used by economists to predict the health of the economy and to make necessary changes, which is a BIG ...

  $45.6 billion dollars was approved by the Senate to help the IRS to IMPROVE ENFORCEMENT which is causing a lot of us to become concerned.   WHAT COULD HAPPEN?    The chances of getting audited has dramatically increased.  4 Ways to Prepare in Case You are Audited  1. Be sure that all expenses claimed on your tax return are accurately supported by receipts. 2. Review your Tax Return before you sign it. Take your time and review all income/expenses claimed BEFORE SIGNING  ONLY YOU, not your tax preparer, is responsible for the information reported on your tax return AFTER YOU SIGN IT Compare your tax return with the previous year and question any differences to be sure you can support any changes Ask alot of questions to learn the laws used to prepare your tax return Have your filed tax return amended if you catch the errors BEFORE the IRS catches them 3. Hire a Reputable Tax Preparer that has a history of Assisting with Audits Confirm th...

  A lot of people that I talk to ask me, " Who will give my business credit ?". Having business credit will help you to purchase the tools, equipment, and supplies that you may need to help you to grow your business.  But, in order to get business credit, your business needs to  Be Separate  from you.  Also, the business needs to have a proven track record of purchasing items on credit and repaying them ON TIME and/or IN FULL each month.    In other words,  Have its own Credit Score. As you know, a Credit Score is given to people/businesses and is attached to the NAME and TAX ID of the person/business for all to review and decide whether or not more CREDIT can be issued. First Step If you want to establish business credit and have established your business as a sole proprietor, the FIRST STEP  you need to take is to Separate   You from Your Business.   You can do this by forming a separate legal entity such as a...