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Tax Season is in full swing.

Are you prepared?

Or are you pulling out your hair trying to find where you left that shoebox of receipts?

Want to make sure you’re not missing anything?  Start with the source.  The IRS has a one-stop shop for managing your business taxes.  Check out this guide.

[PDF]Publication 334, Tax Guide for Small Business – IRS.gov

Okay, so you’ve taken all the usual deductions.  But maybe there are others you’re missing.  Here’s some sources to pick up some unusual deductions that you might not have thought of.

Not So Obvious Small Business Tax Deductions You Could Be Missing

Top 20 Tax Deductions for Small Business

Top 10 Tax Deductions You’re NOT Taking

 

Now this time of year may not be the time to start your tax planning.  Decisions you make throughout the year often have much more impact than end of year, last-minute actions.  But as you prepare for next year there might be a few ideas that uncover actions you did take that you might have forgotten.  Here’s some tips to deliver a better tax plan for next year and possibly capture more tax savings now as well.

Capture It!

If you didn’t track it or save records, you may be leaving a lot of money on the table.  That is where credit cards (or debit cards with similar features) can help you out.  Throughout the year capturing those expenses and categorizing them, so you can find them at year end, will ensure you don’t miss anything.

It doesn’t matter as much which system you use.  Just use something that you’ll follow through with to ensure the data is at your fingertips when tax time rolls around.

For those of you who are just starting out with a side hustle, you can use personal finance sites like Mint to track and categorize your transactions and easily sync with your credit card and bank accounts.  So you get all your expenses in one place.  Making both budgeting and tax season a little simpler.  And when tax time rolls around just export those transactions.  Each year I export my transactions as a .csv file and then group and filter those transactions by category…making capturing all those tax deductions a simple process.

Have a more established business? Using QuickBooks to track your business financials?  Like Mint, you can similarly get to the key tax transactions that helps you avoid missing any key expenses you could be deducting.

Get A Second Set Of Eyes On It

People who are starting a new business and have recently come from an employee environment often don’t think like seasoned entrepreneurs do about taxes.  Many times something you enjoy that you might have just spent money on as a hobby or for fun might have a business use.  Whether that is attending business related seminars, or business travel, or everyday items that are used in your business.

People get so used to not having things deductible, they often unknowingly leave quite a bit of money on the table.

Not aware of what some of those items are?  Check with an accountant or use some of the resources in tax software.  I’ve used TurboTax for years and find that its prompts often make it easier to avoid missing something.  However, if you have really complicated taxes then it might make sense to have a tax professional review them.

Bonus Points

So you identified all your deductions.  But after doing your taxes you find you are still going to owe some money to the IRS.  What to do?

You are in an age where a virtual cornucopia of opportunity surrounds you.  This is the era of the side hustle.  So short a few dollars  Or a lot?

Take the bull by the horns and go after some last minute income so you’re not left short.

Drive for Uber or Lyft.  Do some part time consulting in an area you have expertise.  Tutor someone.  Help a friend out who owns a business and needs extra weekend help to knock out some extra jobs that they can’t accomplish on their own.  Buy and resell products on eBay or Amazon.

Opportunities abound.  So don’t let tax time get you down.