7 Small Business Tax Deductions – The Do’s and Don’ts

Small business tax deductions decrease your taxable income. This means more of the money you earn stays in your pocket. You can deduct expenses you make throughout the year for your business from your taxable income.

Some expenses are obviously not deductible (e.g., you can’t claim your dog as a dependent). But sometimes, the line between a valid small business tax write-off and a “that’s so wrong” deduction gets blurry.

To help you out, here are seven deductible expenses to look for in youraccounting for small business

1. Home office deduction

做:注销your home office expenses

你可以deduct costs associated with the parts of your home that are dedicated to your business. Costs besides your office might include your rent, insurance, and utilities. Only claim the portions of your home used solely for business operations.

Space in your home must be regular and exclusive to business operations. It also needs to be the primary place you operate your business from.

To write off home office costs, allocate the expenses using one of two options. If you use the regular method, you claim the percentage of all your home’s expenses that you use for your business.

您也可以将费用分配给简化方法。每平方英尺扣除$ 5的家庭办公室。您最多可以扣除300平方英尺(或$ 1,500)。

不:要求您的整个房屋作为扣除。

Chances are, you don’t fill out paperwork in your bathroom. Personal expenses, including the costs of your living space, are never tax deductible.

2. Business use of a car deduction

做:Deduct the business use of your car.

If you use your car for every aspect of your life, be sure to only claim the use related to your business.

你可以deduct business use of your car with two different methods. To use the actual expense method, you need to add up all the costs associated with your car (e.g., gas, tires, insurance) for the portion of use dedicated to your business operations.

If you choose to use the standard mileage rate, a certain amount of money for each business-related mile you drive. Thebusiness mileageallowances change each year, socheck with the IRSbefore deducting.

不:Claim business use of your car for your commute to and from work.

某些与汽车相关的费用不可扣除,即使是用于业务使用。例如,您不能宣布上班和下班。您也不能注销自己的停车费或交通票。

3.旅行扣除

做:注销travel expenses与商务相关的旅行。

旅行成本(例如机票,酒店费用)属于营业费用扣除额。业务费用必须是普通,必要和合理的。在扣除旅行成本之前,请确保它们符合此条件。

不:记下您的个人假期与经营业务无关。

当您不开展业务旅行时,您不能扣除旅行费用。即使您在当地的全能自助餐中提出了一个新产品的想法,您的海滩度假也不是减税。

4. Employee expense deduction

做:扣除适用的员工费用。

您可以注销全年支付的员工工资。您还可以扣除对员工福利的雇主捐款。

不:要求对员工支出的2%规则索赔。

员工费用是允许的业务费用that fall under miscellaneous deductions.根据国税局, you can claim expenses that are more than 2% of your调整后的总收​​入。如果您的费用小于此数字,则不能扣除它们。

5. Charitable contribution deduction

做:注销慈善捐款you made.

The IRS sets limitsfor deducting charitable donations to a qualified免税业务。In most cases, you may deduct your donations using the 50% limit. The amount you write off must be less than 50% of your adjusted gross income.

Depending on what the type of property you give and the organization you donate to, your deduction may be limited by 30% of your adjusted gross income.

Corporations cannot claim more than 10% of taxable income for charitable donations.

不:自愿捐赠慈善时,您可以扣除您可以赚取的收入。

You could lose out on sales if you cancel a meeting with a client or close shop for a day to do volunteer work. You cannot estimate the money you might have made and write it off. The IRS only deducts expenses that you actually, and already, incurred.

6.商业坏账扣除

做:Deduct business bad debt expenses.

您是否以信用额出售给客户并尝试未成功收取欠款?在某个时候,您知道您没有机会看到付款。那是应收账款变成不良企业债务的时候。债务已经变得毫无价值(几乎)。

你可以注销业务坏账作为小型企业税减免。但是,您必须向国税局证明您已经采取了合理的步骤来收取债务。

不:如果未产生任何费用,则将销售额的预期收益视为坏账。

只有在您实际将产品移交给客户(或为客户完成服务)时,您才能最终出现坏账,并期望客户以后向您付款。如果客户从未收到您的利益或服务,则不会有坏账。

例如,假设您拥有一家印刷公司。客户想雇用您在500个T恤上打印徽标,您告诉他它的价格为750美元。

He calls later to tell you he decided to work with another company. You have not spent any money to begin printing the shirts, and the customer doesn’t owe you anything. You cannot claim the $750 you missed out on as bad business debt.

7. Legal and professional fee deduction

做:Claim legal or professional fees related to your business.

您可以扣除普通,必要且与您的业务直接相关的法律和专业费用(例如,从会计师那里)。小型企业主可以扣除与试图筹集资金相关的费用。

For example, if you took a customer who refused to pay you to court, you could receive a tax deduction for your legal fees.

不:Deduct personal legal or professional fees.

个人法律费用不可扣除。您不能扣除与写下遗嘱,离婚或刑事纠纷相关的费用。

Small business tax deductions

The IRS sets guidelines for tax deductions。上面的列表并不详尽。例如,对于合格的有形财产,您甚至可以通过safe harbor electionor Section 179.

You must follow the rules carefully and keep accurate records of your expenses. Be sure to consult with a tax professional before you deduct expenses.

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