Posts Tagged tax saving

Start A Home Business For Tax Purposes

If you use a part of your home for business, you may qualify to deduct costs related to your home office, including rent, heat, electric, telephone, insurance, utilities, maintenance, repairs and so-on.

There are many tax-saving benefits available to those who operate their own small business in addition to their normal job or employment. First, you have the home-office deduction which can be used to deduct up to 20% of the cost of running your home. The amount depends on how much space you are using for your home office.

Secondly, you will become eligible to deduct a portion of many of the things you’re already paying for such as your computer, your ink cartridges, your printer paper, and any computer related books or business-related classes you may be taking. If you’re using your computer as part of your home-based business, then a portion of that is considered a business-related expense.

Most expenses related to running a business are tax deductible

Having said that, let’s take a look at just a few of the more common home business tax deductions. You will be able to deduct most if not all common business-related deductions. Things like start-up costs, equipment purchases, payment for services, supplies, advertising, and other monthly fees like website hosting.

Basic Rules for a Business Deduction

Any expense that meets the IRS’s basic rules (ordinary, necessary and reasonable) can be taken. A necessary and reasonable expense according to the IRS is one that is appropriate and helpful in developing and maintaining your trade or business

With all the tax benefits offered by Uncle Sam, wouldn’t you agree that having a tax-saving, moneymaking, at home business, is worth taking a second look at.

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UK Resident Doctors And Dentists – 7 Tax Saving Tips For The Next 12 Months

Well, here we are again.

The start of a new tax year is upon us, bringing with it
many opportunities to save tax (legally) and keep as much of
your money in your hands, and away from Gordon Brown\’s.

The budget was a bit of a damp squib, so let\’s look at some of the best ways to save tax!

Now, it\’s possible you\’ve heard of some of these ideas, but
are you actually using them? I\’ve heard many clients say
they\’ve heard of something, then admit they\’ve done nothing
about it. Don\’t let this be you…

On with the tips.

1. Use an offset mortgage to reduce the amount of tax you pay
on your deposit savings. If you have, say, ?20,000 in a deposit
account and it\’s earning interest of 3% AER, the gross amount
is ?600. There\’s a further ?120 (20%) taken in income tax at
source, plus another ?120 tax if you\’re a higher rate taxpayer.
Therefore, the net interest is only 1.8%.

Now let\’s say you have a mortgage of ?100,000 at 5% interest,
meaning you\’re paying ?5,000 pa to service the loan.

Now you place the ?20,000 in an offset account, which means that
you\’re now paying interest on ?80,000, which is ?4,000 pa.

Let\’s see what you\’ve achieved. You WERE earning ?360 pa interest on the ?20,000. Now you\’re saving ?1,000 pa on the mortgage payment, giving you a net gain of ?640! You would actually need another ?36,000 in deposit savings to equal the offset savings.

The other plus is that you now don\’t have savings interest to
declare on your tax return.

2. If you don\’t want a flexible mortgage, or don\’t have a
mortgage, you can still save tax. If your spouse is not working
and has no income you should place the deposit savings in their
name. For example, if you have ?50,000 in a deposit account and
are paying 40% tax on this, you\’ll only be earning ?900 pa on 3%
gross interest. If this is in the name of the non-earner you\’ll
get another ?600 in interest. The non-earner can apply for the
money to be paid gross by completing form IR85, available from
your tax office.

3. Linked to the above tip, you should also make sure you\’re
getting the best interest rate on any deposit savings. ING are
currently paying 4.5% AER. So, if you duplicate the example
above, you\’d earn ?2250 pa. When compared to the original
figure of ?900 pa, this is an increase of 150%!

4. If you employ your spouse in your practice, there\’s a way in
which they can potentially qualify for a basic state pension,
without paying National Insurance. If you pay them less than ?84 pw they don\’t qualify for the pension. If you pay them more than ?84 and less than ?97 pw they will qualify for basic state pension.

Any employment of a spouse must be done on a commercial basis and you should qualify and confirm this with your accountant or the Department of Work and Pensions.

5. Use the new pension rules to boost your retirement funds. For the 2006/07 tax year you can contribute up to ?215,000 to your pension and receive full tax relief, or 100% of your earnings if lower. If you\’re self employed this is particularly useful to reduce your tax bill. Remember, if you\’re a higher rate taxpayer you\’ll get 40% relief on your contributions.

6. Buy Pension Term Assurance instead of \’normal\’ life assurance. If you have, or are considering buying life cover, you can now get tax relief on your contributions. So, instead of paying ?100 pm for protection, you may be able to get the same level of cover for ?60 pm. Over a 20 year term this amounts to ?9,600!

7. Observe what your accountant is doing for you. Is your
accountant simply following your orders and producing your accounts, or is he/she proactively working with you to increase your profits by either helping you to increase turnover or reduce costs?

Ultimately, it\’s YOU who signs off the accounts and YOU who the
taxman will chase with any queries, so make sure you\’re claiming
for everything you should, and not for items you shouldn\’t.

The Financial Tips Bottom Line:

Saving tax is really about being organised and working alongside
the right tax professionals over the long term. By structuring
your affairs to your advantage, it\’s possible you could give
yourself a pay increase without earning any more money. Take the
time to think how you can save more money and then take the
necessary action!

Ray Prince is an Independent Financial Planner with Rutherford Wilkinson plc, and helps doctors and dentists get the best deals on mortgages, protection and investments, as well as
helping them achieve their financial objectives.

Get your free retirement planning guide, exclusively for UK Resident Doctors and Dentists.

Just visit http://www.financialtipsonline.com/ea1 You?ll also receive the twice-monthly email newsletter ?Financial Tips? that will enable you to keep posted of all financial
issues affecting doctors and dentists.

Rutherford Wilkinson plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Writen By : Ray Prince

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Tax Help Secret: Avoiding The Entreprenuer\’s Curse

Your days as an entrepreneur and businessperson are consumed with one primary activity; making money. Whether you think in terms of growing your business, getting the word out there, or some fancy new marketing technique, your days and weeks and months in business are focused on that one group of activities. In fact, some of you are marketing machines.

Tax Secrets of the Rich Found Here

Maybe you\’ve developed a new product line. Or, set up a joint venture with a new partner. If you\’re a real estate investor, you\’re looking for another deal or strategy for locating under-valued properties.

No matter how you break it down, entrepreneurs are single-focused. MAKE MORE MONEY. You live it, you breath it and you sleep it.

Asset Protection

I call it the entrepreneur\’s curse.

Don\’t get me wrong. It\’s not completely bad. In fact, the most singly focused people I know are the most successful. But building your business up can\’t be your only focus.

There are two BIG reasons why.

Taxes and Lawsuits.

Left unmanaged taxes and lawsuits will eat you alive.
Taxes do it slowly but surely. They chip away at your net worth a little at a time. It can be so subtle, that you\’ve stopped noticing. Let\’s face it, when was the last time you looked at your pay stub (yes, even if you\’re self-employed). There\’s one line of income and three lines of taxes (Fed, State and FICA) they\’re alone. But when was the last time you really noticed it?

You\’ve been conditioned not to care.
But every dollar that you overpay in taxes is a lost opportunity to build wealth. Think about it; if someone handed you $10,000 or $20,000 to invest in your business, couldn\’t you leverage the heck out of it?

Maybe you\’d buy a piece of (almost) no money down real estate and flip it for $20,000 profit.

Or launch an ad campaign – radio or print.

Or start a web marketing campaign.

Whatever your strategy of choice, you would parlay that money into something bigger and compound the returns on top of it.
But if you throw that money away by unnecessarily overpaying your taxes, it\’s gone. (Remember, a penny saved is a penny earned) And so is the opportunity. Forever. What a shame!

Then there\’s lawsuits. They mess you up differently. If taxes steal away your money in the night, lawsuits are like a tiger. Waiting. Stalking. Circling. And then, at the opportune moment – BAM! It\’s over. They pounce on you and you don\’t even know what hit you.

It might be an angry tenant, or the passenger in a car that you ran into. It could be your spouse or a disgruntled employee. It could be any one of a thousand reasons that people can sue you (there are millions of lawsuits each year).

Whatever the reason, before you can fully regain the use of your senses, you\’re upside down and inside out. And it can take years before you can pull yourself up by the bootstraps and start over again.

Then, you find you\’re digging yourself out of a big hole.
It doesn\’t have to be that way. There is a better way. A way for you to build consistent protected wealth that lasts for generations.

Tax Strategies

That\’s what my new Wealth Accumulation program is all about.
The last thing I want to see is you work for years building a great asset base – only to have someone bring it toppling down. It\’s not necessary and you deserve better than that.
I am trained as an attorney and practiced in the State of New York for 12 years as the senior partner of my own firm, where I was admitted to both the State and Federal Bars and specialized in the areas of business and real estate.

I have benefited from the strategies he teaches and I\’ve saved thousands and thousands of dollars in the process.

Ladies and Gentleman, I give you
The Tax Saving Attorney,
Drew Miles.

P.S. It\’s the little things in life that make all the difference. Missing the details here could be devastating to you and your family.

P.P.S. Be a hero to those you love. Do it right the first time.

Drew has combined what he learned during formal education, informal education and twenty five years of business experience in the development of programs designed to teach people how to build and preserve lasting wealth. He is an author, teacher and international speaker in the areas of asset protection, and tax saving and wealth building strategies.

Writen By : Drew Miles

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Tax Tips To Save Money On Taxes – Get The

Why a Corporation Helps Save You Taxes

The Tax Rates (Notice anything unusual?):

The following tables provide a list of the tax rates for individuals and corporations:

Personal:

$0-$24,650 15%

$24,651-$59,750 28%

$59, 750-$124,650 31%

$124,651-$271,050 36%

$271,050 39.6%

Tax Secrets

Corporate:

0-$50,000 15%

$50,001-$75,000 25%

$75,001-100,000 34%

$100,001-$335,000 39%

$335-000-$10M 34%

If you examine them closely, you will see at least one glaring contrast. The individual making $49,000 per year is in the 28% percent bracket, while a corporation that earns $49,000 is only in the 15% bracket. That??s a potential 13% difference in your tax rate if you organize your finances to take advantage of this one little item.

But, that??s just part of the story. An individual who makes $49,000 in salary pays taxes on almost the entire $49,000. However, a business can first deduct its operating expenses, and only pay taxes on what??s left. As Robert Kiyosaki says ?? the corporation acts as a filter that is used to reduce the corporation??s taxable income by utilizing the tax deductions afforded by the tax code.

Basic corporate deductions include telephone expenses, equipment (faxes, computers, photocopy machines, telephones), automobile gas, repairs and insurance, travel, entertainment, seminars, etc. Do you have any of these types of expenses? Sure you do!

The difference is that businesses subtract these first, then pay taxes on the balance. You, as an individual taxpayer, pay taxes on the greater amount, then pay for these expenses (you call them living expenses) out of what??s left. Did you ever wonder why there??s not much left for living at the end of the month? Now you can see why. The question is \”Are you going to do something about it?\”

Keep in mind that there are two steps here; first you must start to shift your efforts from earning a salary to earning more money through your business. There are many ways that you can do this.

For instance, you can start with your own business concept. Maybe you??ve already got an idea that you want to pursue. It could be a product or a service or something along the lines of art and crafts. It doesn??t have to be sophisticated or high tech; it just has to have a profit motive.

Secondly, you may have something that you already enjoy doing as a hobby. You can probably convert that activity into a viable business enterprise. Just remember that there are rules that you must follow to ensure that your new-found business is not treated as a hobby by the I.R.S, and the deductions voided.

Thirdly, you can get into a network marketing business. There are many available, some of which don??t require a lot of money to get going. The older types of network marketing schemes available in the past made little money for anyone except the original promoters.

Today, Wave 3 network marketing companies offer legitimate profit potential and significant residual income streams. I will be happy to make a recommendation if you like. Lastly, you may be able to sell the services of your new company to your employer. Suppose for example that there is some aspect of your job that you think can be done less expensively or more efficiently on an out-sourced basis.
Tax Strategies
It could be anything really, clerical services, database management, sales or marketing. Instead of working overtime and on weekends to make more fully taxable income, your company could generate revenue by providing the ??outsourced?? service to your employer, and, in doing so, you could take advantage of the tax benefits.

And the nice thing is that any of the above can be done on a part-time basis. You can maintain your current job (and income) while you grow your new business.

The next step is to learn to maximize your deductible expenses. The items listed above are only a few of the many deductions that are available. We will be going into more advanced topics later in this booklet.

One of the best ways to start this process is to review your current expenses and see if there is a way to convert these expenses to business expenses. Start with your checkbook; list all of the expenses that you pay each month on a piece of paper. Next, go through your credit card bills for the last year and list them. Next, go through your cash receipts and see where your cash was spent.

Now, having done that, you want to see which of these expenses can be converted into business expenses. For instance, I??m sure that you spent money on your automobile lease or note payments, gas, insurance, repairs, etc. In many cases, a portion of these can be converted to business expenses, if properly documented. Then, take a look at your phone bill. Some of this can be converted. The same is true of travel, meals and entertainment. And work your way down the list. The key is not to add additional expenses just because they are deductible, but rather to convert those things that you are already spending money on into legitimate business expenses.

Keep in mind, that the I.R.S. has specific rules concerning each kind of deductible expense. These rules must be followed. It is imperative, therefore, that you work closely with your accountant to insure that you are in compliance with these rules. THERE ARE STIFF PENALTIES IF YOU FAIL TO DO SO.

Why a Corporation Helps you Save Taxes *

Lets look at the tax advantages of the corporation. The difference between how much or how little you pay in taxes is when you pay your taxes as an individual or as a corporation and what your tax rate is.

Your Tax Base and Tax Rate Make a Big Difference to Your Savings!
Tax Help

Individual Corporation
Your income (Your Tax Base) Your Income
Tax at 28% **

Expenditures Expenditures
Your Tax Base Tax at 15% ***
Savings Savings

Sincerely,
Drew Miles, The Tax Saving Attorney

Drew has combined what he learned during formal education, informal education and twenty five years of business experience in the development of programs designed to teach people how to build and preserve lasting wealth. He is an author, teacher and international speaker in the areas of asset protection, and tax saving and wealth building strategies.

Writen By : Drew Miles

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