Savings for Your Business- Part 2

Last week we discussed telecommuting as a way to cut costs in your business. This may be a very viable option for some businesses and others it just may not be doable. This week I wanted to cover some other ideas that can be used to save your business money that you may not have thought of yet. There are many benefits to telecommuting and having your employees telecommute as well but one main factor we did not touch on in our last post is the tax benefits. Working from home means being able to deduct a home office along with part of the utilities and maintenance costs. If you find the concept of telecommuting is not a good fit for you or your business there are other ways to save money with taxes for your business.

• Use independent contractors instead of hiring employees. The tax benefit is that you save money by reducing payroll taxes. It also may save you time and money by not having to withhold and submit taxes to local, state and federal agencies since independent contractors are responsible for doing this themselves.
• Keep up to date on estimated tax payments throughout the year in order to avoid paying penalties. Don’t get behind on your taxes either because if you can’t pay come tax day the interest and penalties will cost you.
• If you have children old enough to work you may want to consider putting them to work for your business. This has the possibility of saving both you and your child money and I will let the PR News Wire explain how.
• Be sure to keep track of all expenses from meeting clients at restaurant or coffee shops, these are considered entertainment costs and you can deduct them. Also keep track of mileage spent traveling to meet clients, you may be able to deduct this as well.
• If you are not a business formed as an LLC, you may want to consider changing to one, the tax benefits may make it worthwhile.
• Hiring a good tax lawyer or at least an accountant may sound like a big expense but missing out on tax savings that you may not be aware of could cost you a lot more.
• More and more tax credits are being created for companies that are making attempts to “go green”. Find out ways this could save your business money.
• New tax credits for small business owners who create a new retirement plan are available. There are many qualifying factors including how many employees you have so check with your accountant.

All of these tax savings are tips to give you ideas on ways to save, for particulars of each tax credit or tax tip please check with your accountant.

Related articles

• Saving Your Business Money-Part 1 (moneymommablog.com)
• Tax Topics for Freelancers, Contractors and Consultants (turbotax.intuit.com)
• Starting a Business (turbotax.intuit.com)
• Taking Business Tax Deductions (turbotax.intuit.com)