Little Known Tax Deductions That Can Save You BigWritten by Diane Hughes
When you say "end of year", most small business owners think of two things immediately. The *second* is holidays. The *first* is taxes! While almost all of us pay taxes quarterly, we still have to file in January. That means November and December are spent getting ready. When you're gathering all your information together for your accountant, don't forget about these regularly overlooked deductions.Mileage Sure, most of us already know that we can deduct a mileage allowance from our taxes. However, many of us (especially dot coms who don't travel much) don't bother to keep track of our travels thinking it won't be worth trouble. Oh, but it is! I had same mind-set, but - at urging of my accountant - decided to keep track and see for myself. I'll never neglect to do it again! Even though almost every place that I travel is nearby, when I added up all 10-mile trips to office supply store, bank, etc., it turned out to be a hefty total. Haven't kept track this year? Start now. Go back and look for deposits in your check register. This would have meant you traveled to bank on that date... write it down. Do you have receipts from office supply store? You must have traveled on that day, too. Write that down. Keep all your information on a log sheet with date, number of miles traveled round trip, and purpose of drive (i.e., office supply store, bank deposit, etc.). You'll be pleased to find that even short, weekly trips all throughout year can add up to 800 - 1,000 miles or more. Multiply that times 2002 allowance of 36.5 cents per mile and you get a $292 - $365 tax deduction! Bad Debt Did you sell products or services to someone who did not pay you? Have you tried to collect money without success? You can write those losses off and get a deduction for them. No, it won't equal total amount of money you lost, but it is better than nothing.
| | Think You Can’t Afford the Help You Need? Think Again!Written by Diane Hughes
So many small business owners - especially those who work from home - are very pressed for time. After all, as an independent professional, you must wear hats of: accountant, salesperson, customer service representative, marketing manager, distribution manager, tax professional, and countless others. While you may need help desperately, you probably think you can’t afford to hire someone. The truth be known, you can actually SAVE money by using an assistant.Think of it this way. How do you make your money? Providing a product? Offering a service? Soliciting memberships? Regardless, you have to DO something (promote product, perform service, solicit membership) to get that money. When you must be all things to all people, it takes valuable time away from one thing that brings in cash for you. Hiring an assistant can free you up to make more money. Here’s an example: Let’s say you spend 10 hours a week on actual moneymaking ventures. Your average income in one week is $1,000. You spend other 30 hours per week answering emails, doing bookkeeping, providing customer service support, and so on. If you could delegate many of duties that don’t absolutely require your attention to an assistant, you could devote possibly 20 more hours to making money. That would give you 30 hours a week to make money and only 10 hours per week to do other things. Don’t think you can afford an assistant? Oh, sure you can! Virtual Assistants perform a wide range of duties at very reasonable rates. They work via phone, email, fax, and postal mail rather than being a full-time employee of your business. This way, you only pay for services you need.
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