It’s that time of year again when magazines and media outlets everywhere post their obligatory, “[INSERT ODD NUMBER] Tax Tips for Year End.” It may be tempting to gloss over these posts, but do yourself a favor and read them. Sure, taxes are the least glamorous aspect of running your own show, but they’re a necessary one (unless you’re this guy, apparently).
And the rules are always changing. So what you thought you knew about taxes last year may not apply this year. For example, there’s a new rule that payments made to independent contractors must be reported to the IRS of Form 1099-MISC by January 31, 2017. In previous years, you had until March if you were reporting these electronically. The PATH Act of 2015 also made some significant changes to what kinds of businesses can take immediate advantage of the R&D tax credit.
This is not an exhaustive post outlining all the tax changes this year. Rather, it’s a reminder to get in touch with your accountant or read all those end-of-year tax planning posts so that nothing falls through the cracks. If one things is certain, it’s that things are pretty uncertain right now. So tax breaks that you could take advantage of this year may not be available to take advantage of in the future.
Here are some good places to start:
5 Key Tax Tips for Small Business Owners, CPA Practice Advisor
4 Year-End Tax Planning Tips for Startups, EQSTL.com
5 Year End Tax Tips: Startups & Freelancers, daveburton.nyc
Year End Tax Planning for Capital Gains and Losses, Forbes
10 Year-End Tax Planning Actions, Small Business Trends
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