Tax Matters - The Top Tax Defenders Blog

When much of your livelihood is wrapped up in your small business, you may dread ever being contacted by the IRS about missing returns or a tax debt. Nonetheless, the IRS will contact your business if you do in fact owe the government money. Your first instinct may be to ignore these communication attempts in a bid to protect your business. However, doing so only will make the matter worse and even put you in a more suspicious light. Rather than draw the ire of this agency, you can remain proactive and use these strategies to resolve your tax delinquency.

With tax laws continuously changing, business owners may find it difficult to know what expenses they can claim at the end of the year. Even more, they may not remember what funds they are supposed to claim to avoid incurring penalties and fines. One of the most confusing aspects of filing taxes as a small business owner involves knowing whether or not to claim bonuses as a business expense. They can appreciate why it may be necessary for them to declare the bonuses they pay to employees and what qualifications call for them to include these funds on their returns. 

Getting laid off from your job can be an extremely difficult thing to deal with. But finding out that you may have to deal with an unexpected tax bill can make it worse. Here are a few pointers about layoffs and taxes you'll want to keep in mind as you manage your time between jobs. 

Do you own a rental property? Are you currently leasing or looking to lease it to someone? If so, you may be eligible for certain tax deductions based on the expenses you incur during the course of your rental business. However, you'll need to acquaint yourself with several provisions in the IRS tax code to make sure that you claim your expenses correctly, document them properly, and adjust them as necessary.

If you own a business and you have employees, then you are no doubt familiar with the requirement to withhold payroll taxes and submit them to the IRS. According to federal tax regulations, employers are required to deposit their employees' payroll tax withholding amounts, as well as their matching deposits, once every three months. For bosses who neglect or refuse to comply with this payroll tax requirement, the IRS has instituted a penalty called the Trust Fund Recovery Penalty (TFRP). 

Some taxpayers may think that they can simply close a business without having to take any additional steps relating to IRS regulations. While it is completely up to each business owner to decide when to close up shop, there are a few procedures they must follow to make sure that they inform the IRS of their plans and that they issue the appropriate forms to any employees. 

Employment taxes vary widely, depending on the withholding allowances and filing statuses employees claim. They may also vary, according to the state and city in which the employer and worker reside. Employers must remit the withheld income and FICA taxes to the government every quarter. They must also send in their share of FUTA and SUTA taxes. Self-employed individuals, though, are responsible for remitting their taxes themselves, since self-employeed taxpayers have no employers. 

College students have been using work study as a way to earn additional income for school for many years. While work study provides a regular stream of income, it is not actually classified as a job because it is a form of financial aid provided for needy students. Despite this classification, though, receiving work study income can have an impact on your federal income tax liability at the end of the year. For this reason, it's important to know why work study is significant and how to include this school related tax on your tax form. 

taxpayers are required to travel during the course of their employment. While the IRS allows individuals to write off business expenses related to travel, doing so can be a veritable minefield of tax issues, meaning you may need assistance from IRS Revenue Officers. For example, can you deduct the cost of gas if you're making a stop along the way to go sightseeing? What about engaging in pleasure while you're away on business? Is there any way to prevent being audited by the IRS for claiming travel expenses? To answer these and other questions, here's an introduction to help you learn how to write off business travel costs. 

If you operate a home-based business, you're probably familiar with the large number of home office expenses you can deduct. However, one of the most valuable deductions available to self-employed taxpayers may also pose the highest number of tax pitfalls: the home office deduction. Due to some IRS problems with tax audits in the past, some taxpayers who are legitimately entitled to claim this deduction refrain from doing so. To be clear, people who are qualified for the home office tax deduction should use it, but they must make sure that their records and use meet the IRS guidelines.