|
|
|
Direct Marketing Strategies for Holiday Email Promotions
Tis the season to leverage customer interest data for successful email marketing.
All of the information gathered throughout the year from customer purchases, customer feedback surveys, and other behavior offers direct marketers necessary...
Follow-Up Marketing: How to Win More Sales with Less Effort
Copyright 2005 David Frey A study done by the Association of Sales Executives revealed that 81% of all sales happens on or after the fifth contact. If you’re a small business owner and you’re only doing one or two follow-ups imagine all the...
Office Networking: Are You Ready to Connect Your Small Business Office?
Thinking about networking your office computers, printers, modems to share your key office computer equipment? Think the job is simple and that you can handle it yourself? Maybe so, but most small business owners have a business to run and may...
PR: The Thrill of a Good Idea
The notion that a business, non-profit or association manager can actually hold a big key to success in his or her own hands IS a thrilling idea!
And it becomes more thrilling as the manager actually alters individual perceptions leading to...
Small Business Statistics | Which are the riskiest and which are the safest?
Before starting a small business of your own, you should know
the risk factors. Which small businesses are the safest to start
and which ones are considered a risky business? With a few facts
in hand you can make a better business startup...
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
Tax Strategies for Those with a Home or Small Business
These are some tax strategies frequently overlooked by many tax preparers. Keeping up with the many tax law changes that are made each year is quite a job. You can help yourself and your accountant by making yourself familiar with how some of these fairly simple strategies can reduce your taxes, sometimes by thousands of dollars each year. The key to staying out of trouble with the IRS is consistent documentation. These strategies can be used even if you don't claim the home office deduction on your home.
Tax Tip 1 Reduce the taxes withheld by adjusting the number of exemptions on your w-4 form.
Avoid getting a large refund each year; you are simply making an interest-free loan of your money to the government. If you need help saving, set up an automatic withdraw from your paycheck into a money market account and earn some interest.
Tax Tip 2 Writing off family medical expenses
This strategy is a little more complicated but well worth the extra effort. Our family saved by deducting over $5,000 in out-of-pocket medical expenses from our home business income last year. With two kids in braces and an unplanned surgery, medical expenses can add up quickly.
·To use this strategy, first, you must hire a spouse or other trusted family member to work for your home or small business, full or part time will work.
·Next you need to set up and sign a medical reimbursement plan. You may need the advice of an accountant to help you with this. This plan allows any sole proprietor too convert all family out-of-pocket medical expenses into legitimate business deductions
·Finally, your spouse or family member pays all out-of-pocket medical expenses for the family keeping receipts and documenting miles driven for medical purposes. At a specified time, your business reimburses your spouse or family member for these expenses and deducts them as a business expense.
Tax Tip 3 Writing off your Child's College Education Expenses
If you put your child on the payroll of your business for performing office chores etc., you can pay each child up to $4,400 a year (2001) and that amount will be canceled out by the child's own standard deduction. Your child can pay for or save for their college education with the deductible wages you pay them, and there will be no payroll taxes for your child under age 18.
Tax Tip 4 Deducting auto mileage to and from your job.
Do a few minutes of work for your home or small business before you
leave the house for your job and when you return to your house after work. Document this activity (a few email messages, letters, or phone calls) each day in your day planner, journal, etc.; and also keep a written record of your mileage. This allows you to deduct this mileage as miles between jobs, (34.5 cents per mile for 2002).
Tax Tip 5 Deducting Vacation Travel Expenses.
Try to combine business (a meeting with a client or possible client, checking out some material or resources for your business, etc.) with your vacation travel. As long as your trip is documented in advance showing an intent to, in some way, build up your business, your travel expenses become business expense deductions. Meals, hotel rooms, plane tickets, car rentals, even certain expenses for entertainment are deductible as business expenses with proper documentation.
Tax Tip 6 Deducting phone, internet service, and utility bills
If phone calls, Internet service, or utilities are used for legitimate business purposes, then, with proper documentation, they become tax-deductible business expenses. If you have a credit or debit card solely for your business, and you probably should, the annual fees and interest payments are also tax-deductible business expenses.
Tax Tip 7 Cutting your taxes when selling appreciated assets
When you are planning to liquidate appreciated assets such as stocks, give them to your child or other trusted family member in a lower tax bracket than you. When they sell the assets, they will pay taxes at their lower tax rate.
Another excellent method is to donate your appreciated assets to your favorite church or charitable organization. You are allowed to deduct the full value of the assets as a charitable contribution, and neither you nor the organization will pay any capital gains taxes on the assets.
It would be advisable to consult a tax professional or accountant for proper planning and documentation for some of the more complicated tax strategies, but using these strategies could save you thousands of dollars in taxes.
Next time we will take a look at some of the less familiar tax strategies useful for the individual and family.
Article by: Naomi Knudsen
Do you like to SAVE on shopping, medical bills, taxes..?
http://ahealthyyou.tripod.com
About the Author
Webmaster of Healthy Living at:http://ahealthyyou.tripod.com
I like to save money like some like to shop or collect antiques.
|
|
|
|
|
| United States Small Business Administration |
| An electronic gateway of procurement information for and about small businesses. Search engine for contracting officers, marketing tool for small firms, ... |
| www.sba.gov |
|
| SBA |
| The Small Business Planner includes information and resources that will help you at any stage of the business lifecycle. ... |
| www.sba.gov |
|
| Main Page - SmallBusiness.com - Small Business Resources |
| Find Small Business plans, advice, tutorials about organization, corporations, entrepreneurship, and smallbusiness. |
| www.smallbusiness.com |
|
| Yahoo! Small Business: Domain Names, Web Hosting, E-commerce ... |
| Yahoo! Small Business provides products and services that enable you to establish and grow your business on the Internet. Services include domain name ... |
| smallbusiness.yahoo.com |
|
| Small business advice business start up small business finance ... |
| business start up small business finance start up advice. |
| www.smallbusiness.co.uk |
|
| Smallbusiness.gov.au redirect to business.gov.au |
| Business Entry Point - Helping small business in big ways. An Australian Government initiative. The content from this website has now been consolidated into ... |
| www.smallbusiness.gov.au |
|
| Business & Small Business |
| Online and print small business publication. Information to help start, grow or manage a small business. |
| www.entrepreneur.com |
|
| Microsoft Small Business Center |
| Your home for information about Microsoft's small-business products and services, tailored business advice, technology tools, and more. |
| www.microsoft.com |
|
| The Small Business Advisor - advice for starting and operating a ... |
| Advice and assistance for starting and operating a small or home based business. |
| www.isquare.com |
|
| SCORE "Counselors to America's Small Business" |
| A nonprofit association dedicated to encouraging the formation, growth, and success of small business nationwide through counseling and mentor programs. |
| www.score.org |
|
| Small Business and Self-Employed One-Stop Resource |
| IR-2006-2, January 3, 2006 - Temporary and proposed regulations will significantly reduce tax filing burden for nearly 950000 small business owners. ... |
| www.irs.gov |
|
| Welcome to Small Business BC your business resource in British ... |
| BC Business Services offers assistance and resources for those running or starting a business in British Columbia and Vancouver. |
| www.smallbusinessbc.ca |
|
| Small Business Service | Home |
| Provides information and advice to help small businesses realise their potential. |
| www.sbs.gov.uk |
|
| NSW Small Business |
| A site developed by the NSW Department of State and Regional Development for small businesses. Topics include management, resources, current issues and ... |
| www.smallbiz.nsw.gov.au |
|
| Business Management & Advice: Small Business Resources & Information |
| Looking for business management and advice? Our website includes small business resources and information that can help you. Visit the small business ... |
| www.businessweek.com |
|
| Small Business Lawyer, Attorney, Law, Legal Help - FindLaw for ... |
| Information and legal sites relevant to small business. |
| smallbusiness.findlaw.com |
|
| Small Business Funding Opportunities (SBIR and STTR) |
| Links to Small Business Funding Opportunities and SBIR / STTR Applications. |
| grants.nih.gov |
|
| Microsoft bCentral Small Business Directory |
| Directory categorized by industry with company business card feature. |
| sbd.bcentral.com |
|
| Our site has moved! Please update your bookmarks! |
| Facilitates the sharing and exchange of information among small business development centers, the small business administration and other business-oriented ... |
| sbdcnet.utsa.edu |
|
| Small Business Development Corporation |
| Our business information services provides guidance to improve business skills and knowledge on advice on starting, buying, selling and expanding a small ... |
| www.sbdc.com.au |
|
|