Blog | The Tax Prep Team, Inc.

As weather interrupts some parts of the country and business owners have to scramble and fill in the gaps of employees, supplies, deliveries and the like, it’s easy for them to worry about taxes later, after all, there’s “plenty of time.” That often comes back to bite them though, sometimes hard. If they run their business as a sole proprietorship then yes, they have until mid-April to file, and until mid-October if they file an extension.  However, the majority of small businesses under pay tax estimates, if they pay them at all, and the first filing date (mid-April) is when the taxes are due, even with an extension to file. The penalties and interest are based on what’s owed and

Dear Santa, I feel like you put me on the naughty list every year. When I file my tax return you impose taxes on me that I don’t want to pay. It feels like tons of coal are being unfairly put into my very little stockings. I try to be a good person all year, so I’m not sure why you are singling me out and treating me this way. Dear Suzie, You are not on the naughty list. In fact, you’re not on any list at all. You’re not being watched by me or my elves, unless you are doing things you ought not be doing. Every year I actually provide you with lots of presents, the following just

People often struggle with record keeping and are typically so busy that they are simply unaware of tools or services that have been developed that could greatly improve the recording of tax deductible expenses, mileage, etc. There are many topics we could cover here, but two that are universal. If you are in business, you have a phone and a car. Cell phones are pretty typical for smaller companies. What we usually see is a personal cell phone bill of about $150-200 a month, and of course the business owner wants to deduct it all. When you start asking questions however, it’s almost always a family plan with the spouse and kids on it, so 80% of the cost and

When people save for retirement they almost automatically use accounts that avoid tax now. IRAs, 401(k)s, 403(b)s, 457s, all pretax retirement savings plans. Certainly, long term savings uninterrupted by withdrawals and the effect of compounding interest on interest earned is unarguably valuable, but doing that in pretax accounts is NOT the only way to have that happen! Non-qualified annuities and Roth IRAs allow the same mechanics of compounding to happen, and in retirement both can be as valuable depending on the circumstances and actions of the retiree. Annuities are underappreciated as a tax planning tool, because of the way earnings are treated as ordinary income upon withdrawal. However if annuitized at retirement (an option the advisors that distribute them don’t