Taxes Got Your Stressed?

The new year brings about new resolutions, goals, and opportunities to take our businesses to the next level. However, it also brings about the tax season . . . a time notorious for causing many entrepreneurs new levels of stress. Today, I’m pulling all the stops when it comes to small business taxes and your business’s success.

Ron Ratliff, CPA

I’m not a tax guru or anything so I decided to ask Ron Ratliff, a certified public accountant, a few questions about entrepreneurs and taxes. Ron has been a CPA for over 25 years with a career that spans both public and corporate accounting in a broad spectrum of businesses and industries. He’s also a certified Dave Ramsey counselor so he knows what he’s talking about.

There were 6 major things I took from our conversation;

• Define your company structure – you maybe a Blogger or a solo-preneur, but how is your business defined legally?

• Separate your business from your personal life – you may work from home, but you still need a separate bank account from your business.

• Organize and track income – keeping good records of where your money comes from is key to staying out of legal trouble.

• Prepare and organize your tax info – take the time out of the week to get yourself organized. It’s hard to do when you’re constantly “working” the business, but doing so will save you tons of time and money!

• If you get audited, don’t ignore, communicate immediately! – “nuff” said!

• Seek professional help when the business starts to grow – really, you should seek a trusted tax adviser throughout the life cycle of your business. It only helps you “get back to work.”

For more golden nuggets of tax wisdom for your business, listen to our full 30 minute conversation below. Show Ron a little love by visiting his website as well. As a bonus from Ron, check out his article, “4 Ways To Grow Your Business”

Here is a collection of resources that will help you survive tax season;

Videos

Home Office Deduction – find out everything you need to know when it comes to deducting that garage of yours you call an office.

Hobby or Business – do you know if your entrepreneurial activities are a hobby or a full fledged business? Do you know when you should start filing your taxes? Get the answers here!

Watch more small business tax videos straight from the IRS, here!

Articles

Top 10 Tax Tips for Small and Growing Businesses

14 Last-Minute Small-Business Tax Tips

Other Resources

IRS Small Business and Self-Employed Tax Center

IRS – A-Z Index for Business

I hope this information is helpful to you as it has been for me. This tax season, be bold, courageous, and tackle it head on. Don’t wait to the last minute and be confident in filing your small business taxes. Did I miss anything? Do you know of any other resources that could help an entrepreneur out? Feel free to share them and your thoughts in the comments below.

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