The Forms Are Coming! The Forms Are Coming!

by Sandra Napoleon-Hudson

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 Own a business?            

If you are a sole-proprietor or a single-member LLC (not taxed as an S Corp), you report your income and expenses on Schedule C. (Farmers report on Schedule F.) Remember that even if you do not receive a 1099 from someone for whom you worked, you are still required to report the income! All income must be reported.

Organize your business expenses in good order, preferably using a software package or on a spreadsheet. If you are operating a business, you should have been tracking your income and expenses throughout the year. If you purchased new assets for your business, they will have to be separately reported on Form 4562 to determine depreciation.

Want to save money? 

By organizing your documents and related expenses, I can almost assure you that you have found savings by locating contributions that you forgot you made or mileage that you forgot to total or education expenses in addition to your tuition.

You now have also accounted for all of your reportable income, thereby saving on interest or penalties from the IRS for under-reporting income. And if you use a professional tax preparer, I can guarantee that you made him or her VERY happy by being so well organized and that your fee will reflect it.

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