5 Ways Small Business Owners Can Reduce Their Taxable Income

Taxable Income

As a small business owner, you may wish to explore strategies for lowering your taxable income. But be mindful that tax laws change frequently so it would be wise to consult a tax professional first.

Recording all deductible expenses is key to reducing your taxes. This includes deductions such as home office deductions and utilities related to your business.

WHAT IS ACCOUNT PAYABLE?

Taxable Income

Accounts Payable is a section, in the records that shows the money owed by a company to its suppliers or vendors for goods and services bought on credit. It is listed under the liabilities part of the records.

When a company buys goods or services on credit it doesn’t pay for them away. Instead, it creates a debt to pay the supplier at a date. This debt is recorded as an accounts

Accounts Payable usually include types of debts such as invoices from suppliers, bills for utilities, rent or other services and any other money owed to creditors. These debts are logged in the accounts book until they are settled.

Managing accounts payable is important for maintaining relationships, with suppliers and ensuring that the company fulfils its financial commitments promptly. Monitoring accounts payable also helps in handling cash flow and budgeting efficiently.

1. Reorganize Your Business

As tax season approaches, small business owners should start thinking about ways to lower their taxable income and decrease tax liability. There are various methods they can take – including restructuring their company – that may help.

Reorganizing your company can bring many advantages, from improved organizational structure and taking advantage of tax deductions and credits, to reducing taxable income through lower expenses overall.

C corporations generally incur higher tax bills than LLCs, partnerships or S corporations; additionally if your business doesn’t already use an approved retirement plan such as an LLC 401(k), SEP IRA or solo 401(k), now may be the time to set one up.

One way you can lower your taxable income is to purchase large equipment before the end of the year and claim its full purchase price, rather than depreciate it over several years. Furthermore, consider applying for business credits when investing in energy-saving upgrades or sustainable investments.

2. Hire a Family Member

Hire family members as employees is an effective way to pass along entrepreneurial knowledge and experience while potentially lowering taxes. However, adult family members must be treated as employees with integrity in order to avoid accusations of nepotism or violations of federal or state employment laws.

If your sole proprietorship employs children under 18, wages paid to them will not be subject to Social Security or Medicare taxes or the Federal Unemployment Tax Act (FUTA). For children 18-21, however, your company must withhold income taxes from them and include them when calculating its FICA tax obligations.

As a sole proprietorship, providing health insurance premiums through your business to your spouse as an employee benefit is fully tax-deductible as an employee benefit. However, failing to follow proper withholding, reporting, and payment guidelines could land your company in trouble with the IRS. WendroffCPA accountants can assist in helping navigate these complex arrangements – for instance, ensuring correct completion of W-4 forms by employees as well as withholding enough federal income taxes while keeping accurate records.

3. Save for a Medical Plan

Saving for future medical needs can be costly, and saving for them now may be a wise decision. Luckily, there are ways you can do so without incurring tax liabilities.

One way is to create or contribute to a Health Savings Account (HSA), which can be especially helpful for people who have high-deductible health plans as contributions and earnings are tax-deductible while withdrawals remain tax-free. Another strategy would be taking advantage of the Qualified Business Income deduction which allows small business owners to offset future tax costs.

Another way to save is by searching out discounts for services, prescriptions and procedures. Healthcare providers frequently offer discounts in order to maintain customer satisfaction in the long run – this could save money for everyone! Don’t forget to carefully examine your medical bills for errors as many hospitals and offices unwittingly overcharge patients; up to 80% of medical bills contain errors!

No matter how you save for health, planning ahead can provide many tax benefits. While recent changes to tax law have eliminated or reduced some deductions, individuals can still take proactive measures and work with an experienced tax professional to minimize their taxable income and lower their taxable income tax burden.

4. Deduct Business Losses

Business Losses

As a business owner, it’s possible for your LLC to operate at a loss while still qualifying for tax deductions. Your eligibility for such claims depends on your level of risk in the business and meeting certain requirements, such as regular involvement; IRS only permits deduction of losses when actively involved on an ongoing and substantial basis; additionally, at-risk amounts can vary depending on whether it’s a partnership or S corporation where different partners assume different degrees of risk.

As part of any successful business venture, expenses such as office supplies, utilities and rent payments should be documented through an audit trail. Furthermore, it’s advisable to keep personal and business transactions separate via dedicated bank accounts or credit cards in order to ease filing processes and avoid confusion during tax season.

Other tax deductions you should consider include bad debt incurred from loaning money to employees or customers that hasn’t been returned in full, as well as costs related to running your company such as newspaper subscriptions and books that you incur for running it.

5. Hire a Tax Professional

Attaining professional tax help is always best. Ask friends, family and business colleagues for recommendations, or visit your state CPA society or Accreditation Council website in order to locate a certified public accountant (CPA) or Enrolled Agent (EA), licensed by the IRS to prepare taxes in your location of work and residence.

An experienced small business bookkeeping services in USA understands your business inside and out and can review expenses and deductions in advance to identify changes that could reduce taxable income. A great tax preparer will also know whether or not you qualify for the qualified business income (QBI) deduction which provides pass-through owners with up to 20% of their taxable business income as tax savings.

Be sure to take advantage of deductible marketing expenses, which can reduce taxable income while helping build customer bases. Another effective way of decreasing taxable income is writing off uncollectable debts – run an accounts receivable ageing report to identify customers who haven’t paid yet and should be written off before year-end.

Back To Top