Form a Business, Save on Taxes

Many of you have probably heard this before, but there are significant tax advantages to having your own business. Of course, the best way to safely take full advantage of these deductions is to hire an experienced accountant to handle this for you, but it is useful to know some of the various strategies you can take advantage of so that you can hold a conversation with your accountant or tax preparer without feeling like an idiot.

Basically, the more deductions you can take on your taxes, the less taxes you will owe or the bigger the refund you will get. It works like this: You pay taxes based on the amount of deductions you have claimed on your W-4 (if you work for someone else) or the amount of money that you estimate you will earn this year (if you have your own business or make quarterly estimated payments). At the end of the year, the purpose of your tax return is to report the actual amount of your earnings so the IRS can collect any extra money it is due, or if you have overpaid, they can return to you the amount that you have overpaid. Your tax return is also your opportunity to report any deductions from money you have spent throughout the year. Your deductions are subtracted from your gross income, and the final result is your adjusted gross income, or the amount left after deductions. That number is actually the income that the IRS taxes you on. So the object is to make that number as low as possible, to increase your refund or reduce what you will owe.

The biggest misconception laypersons have about tax deductions is that you get 100% of what you deduct returned to you, which is not true. What you will save is the amount of taxes you have paid on your deductions. Therefore, the higher the tax bracket you are in, the more money you will save from your deductions. So, for example, if you are in a 35% tax bracket, and you have an additional $10,000 in qualified deductions, you would save (or receive in your return) 35% of that $10,000, or $3500.

There are far too many deductions that are available to list them all here, and there are different deductions allowable for different business structures. We will go over some of the major deductions you are allowed to take. The benefit to having your own business is that you can take advantage of additional deductions that are available only to businesses. Some of these deductions you can take are actually portions of what you would have spent anyway, if you did not have a business. For example, if you have a home-based business and have a home office that you work out of, you could (depending on your state tax laws, and assuming that qualifying criteria are met) deduct a portion of your monthly mortgage payment equal to the percent of square footage of your office to the total square footage of your home. You could also deduct that same percentage of your electric and heating bill, even your phone bill (100% if you have a dedicated business line).

You can also deduct any expenses for office furniture and supplies. Depending on the total cost of the item, you may deduct 100% of the cost in one year or depreciate the cost over several years. If it is an item that cost more than, say, $500, and is something that you will use over the course of several years, sometimes it is better (and may even be required) to depreciate the cost of the item, meaning that you would deduct a percent of the purchase price over a given number of years, until you reach 100%.

If you must drive your car for business purposes, keep close tabs on the mileage that you use, because you can deduct 44.5 cents for each mile that you go for business purposes. This is one deduction that really can add up quickly, but keep in mind that you have to pay for gasoline, repairs and upkeep on the vehicle. The other option here is to keep all your gas receipts, and receipts for all repairs and routine upkeep and deduct those in lieu of the mileage reimbursement. It may be beneficial to keep track of both until you determine which method will provide the most savings, because you cannot change your method until you purchase a new vehicle.

And finally, any expenses you have related to marketing are deductible. This can include gifts to your clients (of course there is a maximum to this, currently I believe $25 per person per year), travel expenses, entertainment, meals and any advertising costs. You are only permitted to deduct 50% of a meal, so avoid overuse of the tried and true take all of your prospects to lunch marketing strategy.

Retirement contributions, social security, interest on loans, health insurance premiums, and some other financial services deductions are some other deductions you may be able to take (at least part of the cost), but the laws are too complex and detailed for me to cover here, so I will reiterate that the best way to take full advantage of these benefits is to hire a qualified accountant who is experienced in small business. As you can see, being in business can provide you with many ways to save money on your taxes, but you also must be very careful to avoid taking any inappropriate deductions. The last thing any of us needs is a visit from the IRS auditors, and the fines for trying to trick the system are very expensive. So be cautious, and hire an expert so that you can maximize your savings while avoiding time-consuming and nerve wracking audits.