Are you working nights and weekends to get a new project off the ground? Successfully running a small business out of your home? Embracing the flexibility of contract work? Building a team, slowly by surely?
Boy, have I been there, across every one of those phases. And you know what has turned out to be one of my favorite things about running a small business? TAX SEASON!
Today, I’m talking you through tax season as a small business owner, how to maximize deductions and minimize your stress. Having the right, strategic approach to doing your taxes as a small business owner can be the difference between success and failure, especially in the early years!
Why Small Business Tax Advantages Exist
There is nothing as terrifying and exhilarating as running your own thing. Whether you are doing it full-time, working toward doing it full-time, or just doing it for the extra income, you are part of a proud and mighty small business gang. More than most people, we know what it feels like to create and take risks with our skills and dreams.
My life changed dramatically when I left my career in nonprofit finance in NYC and embraced a more flexible life as a health coach, small business owner, and mother. I had far more time for my family, but I also was discovering more and more ways I wanted to show up in my community, and my business has slowly grown out of that.
Believe it or not, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been a great friend to me from my very first year of business building. The IRS understands that building a business involves risk and they also know how important your small business or side income is for your family and for the economy as a whole. Our tax code and the IRS are built to support small businesses and to encourage people to take the professional and personal risks that result in a healthier, stronger, more vibrant economy for all of us.
Small business tax advantages are designed to make you more comfortable taking risks and investing in your business, knowing you can write off these expenses at the end of the year.
How Shifting Your Mindset about Taxes Can Help Your Business
Filing taxes is not just the annoyingly painful hassle we all make it out to be. How you file taxes for your small business or self-employment venture can mean the difference between success and failure if you let it shape your mindset.
The most important thing to remember about your taxes is that tax refunds are YOUR MONEY that the government is returning to you. When you work to maximize your deductions, all you are doing is giving the government as much information as possible about your income and your losses and expenses so that the government can figure out (based on all their codes and calculations) how much or how little they owe you or you owe them.
If you set out to maximize all the available deductions that IRS is willingly offering to you, you will start:
- Being willing to invest more time and money INTO your business because you know you will be able to write off this investment.
- Thinking more carefully and strategically about how you spend your money, how you spend your time, how you arrange your work station, and more.
- Reaping the benefits in the form of large refunds that you can use to re-invest in your business, tuck into savings, or take yourself on a lovely vacation.
When you get excited about the small business deductions available to you, it inspires and empowers you to dream bigger for your business. Even when you are outsourcing your taxes or when you work with a CPA, you have a responsibility to ask lots of questions and ensure that whoever is filing for you understands the nuances of small business tax law so you can maximize your deductions.
Offering a New, Easy E-Course on Tax Advantages for Small Business Owners
Over the years, I’ve slowly realized just how unusual my love for tax season is and now, I want to teach you how to love it too (or at least, not hate it). This whirlwind video e-course (featuring yours truly) is my full mental download on everything I know and love about tax advantages for small business owners.
In it, you’ll learn the secrets that have resulted in BIG ($5-10K) tax refunds for me and my family over the last seven years.
You’ll finish this course in less than 2 hours and will have gained:
- a host of new information and ideas,
- concrete tools you can use to calculate your deductions
- apps and sites recommended for tracking and streamlining your record keeping
- a mindset shift around why this matters and why you need to be the one who’s informed and empowered (even if you are outsourcing your taxes or working with a CPA)
My sincere hope and goal for this course is that you grow to love tax season as much as I do. Course opens on Monday, March 15th so get on the waitlist below to be the first to see the email!
Won’t you join me?