Tax Day - How to Make it Easier

Tax day was last Thursday and I hope you all fared well!  Now it’s time to take a look at your tax return process and see how you might be able to improve things for next year.  We’re a quarter into the year but it’s not too late to make changes. 

Question #1:  Did you have all the information needed and were all your necessary papers easy to gather to complete your tax return?

Question #2:   How were all of your income and expenses categorized?  Can you simplify or restructure your categories in any way to make finding totals easier?  For example, maybe you had meal and entertainment expenses intermingled with other expenses that had to be totaled separately for your return.

Question #3:  Did you miss any deductions because you weren’t tracking expenses?  What about mileage and a percentage of maintenance on your car for business travel?  Maybe there are other deductions or tax credits for 2010 that you should be planning for now.

Question #4:  If you are making estimated tax payments were they for the right amount? 

Question #5:  Is it time to hire an accountant?  I don’t ask this question to be smug.  Sometimes the effort to work things out on our own is more costly than hiring someone knowledgeable to do it.  And even if you hire an accountant it’s still in your best interest to keep your records current and accurate.  Ask your accountant what’s needed to make the job easier and follow through.   Maybe it’s time to purchase accounting software.  

Finally, I hope your art business is flourishing!  I haven't experienced a more needful time for art in our world than now.