by Sherron Lumley. If you’re like many small business owners, tackling your company’s federal taxes falls somewhere along the panic-procrastination continuum. You want to do the job right, but dread the possibility of an audit after filing. Three U.S. tax professionals discuss some common mistakes small businesses make at tax time, and how best to avoid them.  File Fail #1 - Miscalculating Mileage, Auto Use and Depreciation Tax expert Paul Bardaro, founding partner of Rucci, Bardaro, &...

by Reed Richardson. Tax law changes that get overlooked the year they first take effect often end up costing a small business not only money but strategic opportunities as well. To avoid this fate and keep your cash flow robust, it’s a good idea to brush up on the already approved tax law changes for 2011 going forward. So here’s a rundown of the new tax provisions and how they could affect you in the coming year. Section 179 Expensing and Bonus Depreciation: For 2011, the increased...

Which tax prep method makes sense for your small business? By Reed Richardson How do the costs/benefits break down among tax preparation choices? This is a point of lively debate within the tax community. In the 2005 Form 1040 filing instructions, the IRS included a controversial table that compared time and cost estimates across the three filing categories (self-prepared without help, self-prepared with tax software, and prepared by tax professional). According to the IRS's estimates,...

For many entrepreneurs, the same go it alone spirit that prompted them to start their own company also informs their attitude toward filing their small business' taxes. Who better than me to do it? If you're one of those types willing to take on 1040s, 1065s or 1120s all by yourself, here's some things to consider to make things go a little bit smoother along the way. Get the timing down First, you're going to want to invest an ample amount of time into researching and planning out your tax...