Just did my taxes

[cordex]

The government is taking it, and it never passes through my hands. Thus, I see that it's a cost to the business, but not "compensation" to me. Sorry if I seem thick.

It is every bit as much compensation as the part of your salary that is withheld for taxes and SS/Medicare. Government is taking it, never passes through your hands, etc.

[ArfinGreebly]

Move tax day from April 15th to October 15th.

[Scout26]

No move it to election day.  You pay your taxes right before you step into the voting booth.   All of them, no withholding over the year.

And Fitz, generally it's not a good idea to file MFS.   And if you owe, you need to look closer at some of the other allowable deductions and the various credits.  (Deductions are worth, on average, $.25 in tax savings for every $1 in deductions, Credits however reduce your taxes dollar for dollar.) .  Pump money into an IRA now, that's deductible for last year.  (Full deduction if you and your wife have an AGI of less then $92,000, partial deduction if under $112,000 and no deduction if over $112,000 AGI.)   Also if she's got her own business, she's got five years to show massive losses which also knocks down your AGI.  Is it a sole proprietership, or Subchapter-S?  Especially if she keeps meticulous books on all income and expenses.   

I do hope that you have sought professional advice (Not Bloch or Jackson-Hewitt or any place that pops up like a weed at tax time), but a real CPA.  And have not filed yet.

 

[Fitz]

I haven't filed yet. Just used hr blocks website. I can't afford a CPA

[Nick1911]

I do hope that you have sought professional advice (Not Bloch or Jackson-Hewitt or any place that pops up like a weed at tax time), but a real CPA.  And have not filed yet. 

+1 on this.  Especially if you have a business, even just on paper.

[Sergeant Bob]

I haven't filed yet. Just used hr blocks website. I can't afford a CPA

Have you checked into a CPA? I used to use one when I was driving truck and she saved me over a thousand dollars over doing the taxes myself. She found a lot of legit deductions I didn't even know about. IIRC, it cost me about $120 to have them done.

[Nick1911]

Have you checked into a CPA? I used to use one when I was driving truck and she saved me over a thousand dollars over doing the taxes myself. She found a lot of legit deductions I didn't even know about. IIRC, it cost me about $120 to have them done.

Indeed.  I pay my CPA $80ish at tax time.  Worth the money, IMO.

[Ron]

Fitz, find a CPA by referral from someone.

The game is rigged to where you need them.

[Fitz]

Bah


Ok

[Bigjake]

Fitz, find a CPA by referral from someone.

The game is rigged to where you need them.

What this man said.

 Money well spent.

[Scout26]

Unless you've been doing your own taxes for years, and have studied the tax code in depth, the computer programs are for folks who don't have anything beyond a mortgage and medical expenses.  If you have a business, you need a CPA.  


I can pull out my camera phone and take pictures.  That does not, however, make me a photographer.



Go buy the expertise. 

[wuluf]

Scout 26 said:

You pay your taxes right before you step into the voting booth.  All of them, no withholding over the year.

This!  If we all actually had to write a check each year/month/week, taxes would come way down very quickly...

[RevDisk]

I calculated my side work tax rate.  44.37%, since it is 1099 work.  I raked in $10k last year consulting.  I kept half, basically.  I am tempted to just start up a business and have the business blow all of it.

[Monkeyleg]

An example to back up what scout26 has been saying. I'm sure I've told this before.

Back in 1990, I was expecting to pay a few thousand in taxes. When my accountant dropped off the papers, I found that I owed $32,000 more than I'd been planning for.

I called another accountant. He did a few things (took my wife off the payroll, etc), and got it down to $18,000. I hired him immediately.

[Kingcreek]

I had a CPA that wasn't worth spit, started to see red flags and hear alarms in my head. I went looking for a new one and found a retired iRS agent turned CPA that specialized in corporate tax law.
He not only saved me money but he helped me recover some. Not only that but I think somebody somewhere up the foodchain got a tip and the previous accountant got stomped by the authorities.
My current CPA has saved me more than he has charged me. I have a small S corp and a small farm.
I asked the retired IRS guy if I could trust him after working for the dark side. He said he believes everybody should pay thier fair share but his job was to see to it that I got every deduction I am entitled to. Black and white- no grey

[Ben]

Unless you've been doing your own taxes for years, and have studied the tax code in depth, the computer programs are for folks who don't have anything beyond a mortgage and medical expenses.  If you have a business, you need a CPA.  

Yup. I have rentals and stuff besides my regular working gig. A few years ago for two years in a row I went through the extra work of using Quicken (the version that is made for rentals) while I sent my taxes to my CPA, just to do a comparison. My CPA beat Quicken by a good margin both years.