Bookkeeping specialist Coral Springs, Florida for small businesses: There is a subtext here that we haven’t yet discussed and it’s important that we do. Because while every task the bookkeeping service completes is vital to the financial health of your business, it’s the underlying structure they apply that really makes a difference. You see, bookkeeping services implement—and maintain—a consistent financial process that strengthens the health of your company and helps to create and encourage uniformity in tracking, paying and reporting. The value of this is immeasurable as it insulates your business from many costly and dangerous risks.
Collect Pertinent Income and Expense Information: Around the end of January each year, employers, vendors, financial institutions, and others prepare and forward various tax forms and information pertinent to your filing. Create a set of files – whether that’s a large multi-pocketed accordion file, a group of large manila envelopes, or a digital filing system on your hard drive – to sort and separate the data into one of the following categories: Personal Information. This information should include your legal name, as well as the legal names of your spouse and all dependents. You also need their Social Security numbers and dates of birth. I also keep my primary bank information – account number and bank routing number – so I can request a direct deposit refund if circumstances warrant. Income. Common forms include W-2s from employers; 1099 forms for other types of income, such as self-employment, investments, and retirement distributions; and K-1s for any partnerships in which you participate. Keep a separate folder for security transactions so you can quickly determine holding periods from buy and sell dates to ensure you qualify for capital gains treatment wherever possible.
Harvest Your Capital Losses: If you own stocks that have lost money, you can sell them and deduct up to $3,000 on your federal taxes. Just be careful not to violate the wash-sale rule, which would disallow the deduction. This rule states you cannot purchase the same or a substantially similar stock within 30 days before or after the sale. “Some people think it’s OK if I do it using two accounts,” Zollars says. They may think they can sell a stock from a taxable account and then immediately purchase similar securities in an IRA. However, this is not allowed. “That’s not the way the rule works,” he says.
Your filing status can affect how much you owe in taxes each year, and whether or not you have to file at all. Consider whether your filing status will change during the year. For example, if you’re single but planning to get married by Dec. 31 of the current tax year, you may choose to file a joint or separate return with your future spouse when you file your taxes next year. Alternatively, you may be filing as a single taxpayer if you expect to get divorced during the year, or as head of household if you’re single and having a child or taking on another dependent. Find more information at https://bookkeepinghelpcoralsprings.com/florida/lauderhill-bookkeeping-and-accounting.
After the employee’s debt has been paid, the procedure for stopping the garnishment will vary depending on the type of garnishment. For federal levies, employers will receive a 668-D form, for child support the employer will receive a notice or letter from the state, and creditors will send employers a “Notice of Termination/Release of Wage Garnishment Order” for creditor garnishments. Employers should have a basic understanding of garnishments and a plan in place to respond when they occur. Consider working with a professional to ensure your plan and procedures are compliant with applicable laws based on your specific situation. Using a garnishment payment service can help you remit funds to the correct agency and help protect against undue liability and lawsuits.
Student loan interest paid by you or someone else: In the past, if parents or someone else paid back a student loan incurred by a student, no one got a tax break. To get a deduction, the law said that you had to be both liable for the debt and actually pay it yourself. But now there’s an exception. You may know that you might be eligible to take a deduction but even if someone else pays back the loan, the IRS treats it as though they gave you the money, and you then paid the debt. So, a student who’s not claimed as a dependent can qualify to deduct up to $2,500 of student loan interest paid by you or by someone else.
Business Bookkeeping Help, a Coral Springs bookkeeping and accounting firm, has a team of bookkeepers, accountants and small business experts who specialize in bookkeeping and a full range of accounting services for corporations and small businesses. Our bookkeepers are also accountants. Our accountants are here to help you understand and help educate you about the tax laws and help you find tax deductions to lower your taxes. Just give our accountants a call and we will try to answer your tax questions for free. This will help you be aware of the tax deductions to save you money on your taxes. See additional information at Bookkeeping Broward.