3 Ways You Should Treat Your Business Taxes A Little Like A Vacation

If you want to give a business owner a headache, whisper the words "file your taxes" and watch what happens. Pretty much every business owner dreads the dreaded tax-filing season, but maybe things don't have to be that hard. In fact, filing your taxes can be comparable to taking a vacation—seriously! Here is a look at how that is the case. 

You should be planning well in advance. 

Few people ever really hop on a plane to a random destination and hope when they get there everything goes good. Taxes should be treated in precisely the same way. If you are waiting until February or March to think about getting a business bookkeeper to help you file your taxes, it is about like waiting until you are on the plane to your destination to book your hotel stay when you prefer a penthouse suite; you may or may not get the result you want. You should actually be preparing to file your taxes throughout the year by: 

  • Keeping proper records of expenses, profits, and payroll 
  • Understanding how to avoid tax audits due to illogical expenses
  • Staying focused on your profit margins and tax filing bracket to plan for the eventual tax payments

You should save every last receipt you get. 

You could go on vacation and never save a receipt, but what happens when you get home and you see you've been overcharged for something that was supposed to be free? Vacationers tend to be pretty wary of hanging onto receipts when they travel outside of their hometown, and you should be wary of hanging onto receipts for your expenses throughout the year so you can prove those expenses when you file your taxes. 

You have to keep your expenses in check. 

During vacation, you're going to spend money; there's really no way around it. Your business is also going to spend money throughout the year. In either case, you have to keep your expenses in check whether you are on a beach getaway or planning to file your taxes. Spend money in ways that will reap you the biggest reward or tax deduction, just as you would spend money on a vacation that will grant you the most enjoyment. For instance, if you have the option between buying an automated machine for your business or hiring a new employee, you may get a better deduction by bringing on a new employee. 

For more information, contact business bookkeeping services.


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