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    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide: Understanding Taxes for Your Sole Proprietorship, StartUp & LLC
    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide: Understanding Taxes for Your Sole Proprietorship, StartUp & LLC
    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide: Understanding Taxes for Your Sole Proprietorship, StartUp & LLC
    Ebook110 pages1 hour

    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide: Understanding Taxes for Your Sole Proprietorship, StartUp & LLC

    By ClydeBank Business

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    About this ebook

    Taxes for Small Businesses, Simplified

    A business that neglects its taxes is a business living on borrowed time. But there’s no need to despair. Getting your business on the right side of its tax burden is easier than you think. This QuickStart Guide from ClydeBank Business will help you lay the groundwork of a sustainable business tax strategy. You’ll learn how to proactively minimize your tax obligations and how to maneuver your way out of trouble should you ever fall behind. 

    This best-selling QuickStart Guide form ClydeBank Business—still in its first year of publication—has already helped countless small business owners and managers boost their tax IQs and protect their bottom lines. Following in tradition with other titles from ClydeBank Business, the Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide beautifully simplifies complex ideas and presents on-point information using a style that’s accessible, easy to follow and easy to reference. 

    To help you further hone your newfound skills as a business tax expert, we’ve included an interactive tax deduction quiz at the end of the QuickStart Guide, along with a comprehensive glossary of terms for easy reference.

    You'll Learn...
    • How Your Business Entity-Type Affects How You’re Taxed
    • How To Capitalize on the Shockingly Humane Tendencies of the IRS
    • How To Exercise Your Rights And Survive An IRS Audit
    • How Multiple Levels of Government Authorities Can Tax Your Business
    • How To Convert Your Administrative Tax Burden Into Real Business Value
    • How To Best Manage Your Business’s Payroll Taxes
    • How To Spot, Claim and Maximize Your Tax Deductions

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherClydeBank Media LLC
    Release dateDec 20, 2016
    ISBN9781945051371
    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide: Understanding Taxes for Your Sole Proprietorship, StartUp & LLC

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    • 4/5
      This book isn't bad, just a little lightweight. It admittedly provided me with a framework for doing our first LLC-based taxes but I've had to find out the hard way -- really hard way -- about some things that weren't covered or weren't sufficiently covered. A good place to start, but if your startup LLC has some complexity to it, be prepared to discover some things this book doesn't prepare you for. I'd buy it again if starting over just for, like I said, a basic framework, and of course it's impossible for this type of book to cover every type of contingency, but I'd be looking for a more comprehensive resource to refer to when done with this one ... and consider hiring a good business accountant.
    • 5/5
      Thanks I loved it . And learned so much. And thanks for the examples.

    Book preview

    Taxes for Small Businesses QuickStart Guide - ClydeBank Business

    BusinessTax_cover.jpg

    TAXES FOR SMALL BUSINESSES

    Understanding Taxes For Your Sole Proprietorship, Startup, & LLC

    Contents

    ACCESS YOUR FREE DIGITAL ASSETS

    Introduction

    | 1 | The Basics

    Cash vs. Accrual-Based Accounting

    The Federal Level

    The State Level

    The County Level

    The City Level

    Reasons to Prepare Your Own Tax Returns

    Choosing the Right Tax Preparer

    | 2 | Choosing the Correct Entity

    Basic Entities

    | 3 | The IRS & Your Small Business

    Dealing with the IRS

    Remaining in Good Standing with the IRS

    Understanding Your Rights

    What the IRS Auditor Wants

    The IRS Statute of Limitations

    | 4 | How to Keep Good Records

    What to Keep & For How Long

    The Mileage Log

    Keep a Journal or Daily Planner

    Keep Accurate Financial Records

    A Final Note About Records

    | 5 | Handling Payroll Taxes

    Federal Unemployment Tax

    What if I Don’t Pay My Payroll Taxes?

    Independent Contractors vs. Employees

    Reporting Obligations

    | 6 | The Most Important Deductions

    The Home Office Deduction

    The Pros & Cons of Working from Home

    Business-Related Meals & Entertainment

    Travel Expenses

    Section 179 Deductions

    Deducting Self-Employment Tax

    Deducting the Cost of Health Insurance Premiums

    Interest Expenses

    Software Expenses

    Family Employees

    Retirement Contributions

    Every Deduction Under the Sun

    | 7 | Common Business Tax Mistakes

    Receipts Aren’t Enough

    Don’t Borrow from Designated Tax Accounts

    Don’t Celebrate your Tax Refund

    Don’t Take Too Much Salary from the Business

    Get the Retirement Plans Up & Running

    Stay in Regular Touch with your Accountant

    Know When to Call it Quits

    Conclusion

    Bonus Quiz

    Glossary of Terms

    About ClydeBank

    Terms displayed in bold italic can be found defined in the glossary.

    BEFORE YOU START READING,

    DOWNLOAD YOUR FREE DIGITAL ASSETS!

    Visit the URL below to access your free Digital Asset files that are included with the purchase of this book.

    DOWNLOAD YOURS HERE:

    www.clydebankmedia.com/taxes-assets

    Introduction

    Taxes are a significant expenditure for any business, large or small. They must be readily considered and incorporated into your business plan from the very beginning. Understanding them, however, can be a chore.

    Benjamin Franklin said, In this world, nothing can be certain except death and taxes, and taxes can be a whole lot more complicated than death.

    The typical small business owner works three to four months just to earn enough profit to pay taxes. As a matter of fact, the largest single expense for most small business owners is their annual tax bill. But that’s all part of operating your own business, and the process of planning for, collecting, and paying taxes needn’t be complicated. The basic information offered in this book will provide you with the material you need to maximize your understanding of a variety of tax laws and to keep you in compliance and out of trouble.

    Though you may be inclined to want to turn all of your tax questions, issues, and problems over to an accountant, it’s still important for you - the small business owner – to understand the ins and outs of the U.S. tax system. However, it’s also essential to recognize that this is an ever-changing system, full of modifications that seem to come out almost annually. That means staying in the loop might require some regular education and research as well as consultations with any tax professional you might hire.

    | 1 | The Basics

    Simply put, you’re required by law each year to complete the tax forms that pertain to your business. You MUST complete these forms or you face penalties from the various entities that demand the reporting. There are deadlines for filing each as well, so it’s important to get a handle on what’s due and when it should be submitted.

    It all starts with good accounting.

    Cash vs. Accrual-Based Accounting

    Formally speaking, it is proper for businesses to choose and rely on accrual-based accounting rather than cash-based accounting for generating financial reports to submit to banks, partners, and other parties, but, when it comes to reporting tax liability, cash-based accounting is the preferred method. (If you’re not clear on the difference see the Glossary of Terms at the end of this text.) The important thing to know is that many well-run businesses need to maintain two distinct accounting record systems: an accrual system for their business and financial management and a cash system to determine their appropriate tax liabilities.

    Just as is the case when filing personal taxes, you’ll be filing your business tax returns at various levels.

    The Federal Level

    Federal taxation is primarily focused on taxing the profits (or income) of your small business. Though the state you live in may also collect income tax (not all states do), the largest income tax you pay is to the federal government.

    If you have employees, you must submit your employees’ tax withholdings to the federal government, along with your share of payroll taxes, including 50% of the Medicare and Social Security taxes, as well as FUTA-based taxes, which are reviewed in detail in Chapter 3.

    If you’re filing on your own without help from a tax preparer, you may find yourself a bit confused about which forms to use.

    Here is a quick overview:

    •

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