Evolution Magazine December 2013 8 | Page 25

Every year, I watch at least a few, slowacting, small business owners who wait until the last minute, or the next year, before they finally start saving thousands of dollars on taxes. In some of those cases, TENS OF THOUSANDS of dollars! For many of you, these tips are urgent because it might take at least a month or so to get everything in order with your business to get these tax deductions/ advantages. In my experience, about 94% of small business owners are unnecessarily paying too much in taxes each year! If you can picture overpaying by just $5,000 a year (for many, it's more!) would still cost you $100,000 in just 20 years!!! So here are just a few tax-saving ideas that my CPA will find with my clients (Remember, I am not an accountant. I am just giving you commonly missed tax deductions that my accountants run into): 1. Not tracking mileage or travel costs - Did you know that you can write off mileage, even if you have a side job? Also, did you know that, if done legitimately, you can write off family vacations? Yes, even Disneyland can be used as a legitimate business write-off! 2. Not having the right business entity - This is a big one! I just had one of my clients save $10,000 a few weeks ago because of this ONE strategy! I have another client that is a leader in a direct sales company that I believe will save at least $25,000 this year because of this one thing! jobs, such as marketing/advertising, cleaning, and even modeling. It just has to be a reasonable wage for the work. Imagine paying your kids the same amount of money to cover their sports, hobbies, clothing, etc and it was all a write-off! 4. Home office - Some of you may do something similar, but if you have the right entity and structure in place, there are ways you can write off over $10,000 per year without lowering your pay, and not get taxed on it! That could be a tax savings of $2,000 - $5,000 per year while still taking home the same amount!!! These are just a few ideas that could work in your situation. My experience has shown me that the more money you earn, typically F?R??&R??R&P????r?VVF?W76??F?B?VVG2F?7F?????VF?FV??F?R?W?F?F??2??"??F???rF?B??P??V&???2&V??r&?RF????V?V?B?B?f??@?&??7F?fR5??W2?F?W?&RfW'??&@?F?f??B?F?Bv???7GV??FV6???Rv??6??7G&FVv?W26?v?&?????W"6?GVF?????v&???r( 2??RD???Bv?B5?F?BFV??2??RF?6fR???W???F?W0?'?'W???rV??V6W76'?F???w2f?"??W ?'W6??W72?"( ??fW7F??~( ????$gV?G2??F??6RGv?7G&FVv?W2f?"'W6??W70??v?W"?2??Rf?W6???r???W?F?v???W ?F???WB??"v?f??r?BF?F?Rv?fW&??V?B???RF??( ?Bv?B?66?V?F?Bv??????f??W2??W"F?W2v???R??BVGV6F??r??P???rF???&?fR??W"6?GVF????F?N( ?0?v?????fRF?R5???W"FV???bF?W&R?0?v?F?vWBF?&V?Vf?B??Rv???f??B?B??&R7W&RF??W''???F??26???&V6W6RF?P??V"?2???7B?fW"?F??( ?B?WB??R??&P??V"72v?W&R??^( ?&R?fW'???r???F?W2v????Wf??WF????v???P?wwr?Wf??r?6???v?B&RF?R?V"?V?BF?F?2F?B??P??TTB6?F?B??RF??( ?BV?BW???p?F??W6?G2?bF???'2?VVF?W76?F??2?V#???2?????&??r6???G&V??????v???@?7VvvW7F??rf???F??r6???B?&?"?w2??v?B??F???r&?WB?W&R?2F?B??W ?6???G&V?6?&R?Bf?"F???rf&??W0?wwr?Wf??r?6???#P??