As an entrepreneur, you should always be thinking bout your tax costs and benefits. The amount of money you owe the IRS can severely limit your cash flow, and at the same time getting a decent refund can really help a young business. To make sure you’re handling your accounting properly, here are nine tax breaks you need to remember.
1. Supplies
Business owners buy so many small items each year, and all those little purchases really start to add up. It might have seemed like a cheap stapler when you bought it, but when added up with everything else that you purchased, the total could be surprisingly large.
2. Home Office
If you work from your home, even just part time, you can write off a percentage of your rent, utilities, supplies, etc. This is a sizeable expense that a lot of business owners overlook.
3. Monthly Subscriptions
You probably have dozens of bills that are charged to a business card each month and you never even think about them. If those expenses are truly for work, don’t forget to include them when you’re looking through the different possible tax breaks.
4. Car Use
When you’re not just commuting a couple of miles to an office job, you should be tracking your mileage so you can write it off. If you use your vehicle for additional work-related endeavors, you should note that as well.
5. Food on the Go
Travel for work? Keep all those meal receipts. When you’re on the road because of your job and you can’t eat at home, you’re fully entitled to declare those expenditures.
6. Insurance
Whether you’re just covering your own insurance or you pay for an employee plan, you can deduct those costs when you run your own company.
7. IRA
If you’re self-employed and contributing to your retirement fund, that means you’re in line for some tax breaks. Don’t forget those savings when you’re filing your return.
8. Cell Phone
If you have a phone you specifically use for business, that’s an easy write off. If you only have one mobile phone that you use for both work and personal reasons, you can still deduct a percentage of the usage.
9. Childcare Costs
Some people have no choice but to pay for daycare. Fortunately, those costs can be reimbursed.
You have to file taxes no matter what, so you might as well make the most of it and find all the tax breaks that apply to your situation.