Tax season is upon us! You may have already started receiving your 1099’s, Schedule C’s, and other tax documents. Maybe you’ve even made an appointment with your accountant!
Everyone approaches tax season differently, some go to their CPA for all of their needs, some turn to TurboTax and some go back and forth between doing their own taxes each year and hiring a professional to guide them through the process.
Either way, you’ll want to make sure you’re taking advantage of the tax credits and deductions that are applicable to you and your business so that you can lower your tax bill.
You may be thinking to yourself, ‘well what are these tax write offs that we should be taking advantage of?’ While it depends on your situation, the work you do and your employment status, business owners are allotted several enticing tax deductions that they should be taking advantage of! You probably already know about deducting qualified business equipment and startup costs, but here are three other deductions that may apply to your business and could lower your stress around tax time:
Business Property Rent & Utilities
If you rent office space for your business, you can deduct your rental payments from your taxes. Alongside this any utilities that you use for business are also tax deductible. This can be heating and cooling, water and even the phone bill! If you work from home, a portion of your home office may be deductible on your taxes as well, work with a CPA to learn more about this and find out if you qualify.
Marketing Expenses
Marketing is vital for any growing business. People in the community need to know who you are, what you do, and what you have to offer. But, as you probably already know, marketing is expensive! Between CRMs, social media ad’s, events, and professionals this area of your business can quickly add up. Luckily, marketing and advertising expenses that are directly related to your business are tax deductible!
Legal and Professional Fees
To own a legal business, you’ll probably need to consult an attorney at least a couple of times. Whether it’s to form your entity from the get go or to get contracts written for your products and services, you want to make sure that the way you run your firm is within the law. Furthermore, as things change, and you need to make updates and adjustments to contracts, terms, or legal structure you’ll probably find yourself working with attorneys more often than you think! Fortunately, this is yet another deductible expense in the eyes of the IRS, so if you’ve found yourself with some more legal bills than expected, make sure to keep the receipts and mention this to your CPA.
Being a business owner is hard work, especially if you’re just starting out. Between forming your entity, perfecting your products, finding space to work from, building a team and creating efficiency, you’ll rely on many other services to help you succeed. When it comes time to do your taxes, make sure that you’re saving as much money as you can by deducting those expenses that make your company run smoothly and qualify for write offs. If you have questions on this, your accountant and your wealth advisor are two professionals who are there and ready to help!
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.