savings through taxes?
March 11, 2011 § 2 Comments
It’s fairly easy to call up AT&T & the cable company to figure out how to save money. Taxes, on the other hand, are a complicated endeavor to try to figure out on your own. Unfortunately, for most of us they are our biggest expense.
In the past, when my income was much more straightforward and simple I’ve used TurboTax, typically getting a decent return. Last year I started using a tax accountant and the savings were significant. I think it’s vital to have someone who understands the system to help you figure out how to save. Last year I learned that many of my technology purchases and entertainment purchases were business write-offs because I work in advertising. Cha ching!
This is the first year I’ve been a freelancer, so I’m learning the ins & outs of small business savings. Â I want to save every penny I can because I never know when the work will be coming in. I found a number of great small business tips online and will use these when preparing my info for our accountant:
1) organization – getting receipts together for business expenses from lunches to equipment
2) self employment tax break – this year there is a payroll tax break that trims 2 percentage points off of the employee portion of the tax.
3) maximize home-office deductions – I can write off a portion of our rent, utilities, insurance, etc by working from home
4) deduct health insurance costs (doesn’t count for me as I’m on husband’s insurance)
5) travel & mileage – last year I was traveling to and from the Denver airport each week, will be interesting to see how much that cost
6) IRA – something I need to look into this year.
7) hire family – hmmm. not sure about that one.
I won’t know how much I’ve saved until I submit all of my tax info and expenses, but I hope in staying on top of what’s going on a little bit, I’ll be in a better position to save money. If anyone knows of any good resources to check out, please send them along!
52 To Do 
Thanks for giving me the beautiful lace bookmark, you did a really good job. Rafferty came into our family a the result of a wining ticket from a therapeutic riding program -he was a good horse. Keep up the good work. Mom
you are more than welcome, best Mom in the world.