Business Taxes

, ,

Important reminder to most Californians; Don't forget to file new use tax filing due by April 15.

, ,

The state of California is getting even more aggressive at collecting all the taxes the law allows — no matter how small. Use tax is the latest way for the state to look for cash. The Legislature has enacted strict new registration and filing requirements for businesses with gross income of $100,000 or more.

Use tax is like sales tax but you pay it directly to the state, rather than to the retailer. The rule of thumb is: You owe use tax if what you bought would have been subject to sales tax if you purchased it at a local store and you did not pay California sales tax. You generally owe California use tax when you use, store, or consume — in California — tangible personal property purchased from an out-of-state vendor. If the vendor does not collect the California tax on the purchase, the purchaser must pay the tax directly to the state. If you don’t report and pay your use tax in a timely manner, such as with your income tax return, the state will assess penalties and interest.

, ,

Updated tax deduction worksheets now available

, ,

We've updated our tax deduction worksheets for the 2009 tax year. You can download these worksheets and use to help with your tax records.  The worksheets are geared directly to a number of professions and business types. Click any one of the following 16 profession-specific links to download your own copy.

, ,

IRS to simplify, or try too, taxpayer notices

, ,

If you’ve ever received a letter or notice from the IRS you know first-hand how confusing and confounding  the information presented can be.  All this while it has generally been my experience that the IRS really is not trying to confuse things with how they structure their correspondence -- quite the opposite actually. The IRS really is doing what it can wrestling with implementing wildly complex tax laws created not by their doing, but by the doing of our legislators in Washington -- while at the same time trying to be clear and concise to the taxpayer.

To this dilemma there just may be a little hope on the horizon.

The IRS recently announced it will will be sending out newly redesigned, less confusing notices to taxpayers that aim to improve the way it corresponds with its core constituency.

,

How to get your home office deduction

,

Have you wondered whether or not you’re entitled to a home office deduction? With tax time here again maybe you should take another look.

A few years back, more liberal rules came into play for home office deductions, allowing more people to qualify for the write-off. Specifically, the old, hard-to-meet “principal place of business” bar was lowered to a much more taxpayer-friendly level.

If you use your home office space regularly and exclusively for your sole proprietorship, LLC or partnership business, there are several ways to qualify for the deduction:

, ,

You’re being audited and you’re missing records, now what?

, ,

So you’re facing an audit and your records, or a portion of them, have gone missing. Or, you’re just a normal entrepreneur chasing from one project to another and your record keeping habits were just, well, not habits at all. You may not be able to produce receipts, bills or other written documentation for all the items on your tax return. That’s when you must turn to reconstructing your records or gathering together the best proof you have for the IRS.

The law does not require perfect record keeping habits—it’s just simpler that way. It’s perfectly legal to reconstruct your records in any way to provide adequate evidence that what you claimed on your return was, in fact, accurate.

, , ,

New deduction for sales taxes on a new car purchase

, , ,

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provides that for vehicles purchased on or after February 17, 2009 and before January 1, 2010 you can deduct, as an itemized deduction or as an addition to the standard deduction, sales taxes on the purchase of a qualifying new vehicle -- on the first $49,500 of the purchase price. Qualifying vehicles include the following.

  • A passenger car, light truck, or motorcycle the gross vehicle weight rating of which is not more than 8,500 pounds.
  • A motorhome.