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Get your books in order.

Save money this tax season by preparing your books in advance. Provide your accountant with all the necessary forms and documents ahead of time. Chances are if your accountant is waiting on you and has to send emails or message you back and forth to request additional information than you are looking at additional billing.

Provide all the end of year bank statements, credit card statements, and loan statements as soon as you close your December's books. Double check your outstanding checks for items that probably will never clear the bank, and therefore need to be voided. Don't forget to check your accounts receivable balances. Do you need to write anything off? Someone else handling your payroll? Great, however don't forget to provide your accountant copies of your W-3 & W-2s issued. Did you purchase new business assets throughout the year? Don't forget to mention these new purchases to your accountant. Also mention ones you sold or disposed of as well.

Preparation is key for tax time. It will save you hundreds on your taxes.

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By Vanessa Ledesma January 3, 2024
It is time to gather your tax information for filing. Items you'll need include W-2s, 1099s, K-1s and other forms you receive from your business, employers, brokers, banks, and others. If you find any errors, contact the issuer immediately to request a corrected copy. Organize your records. Once you've started gathering your information, find a place to put all the documents as you receive them, or consider scanning documents to store securely in the cloud. If you are a tax client, start uploading them to your secure client portal. Missing information is one of the biggest reasons filing a tax return is delayed. Create an April 15th reminder. This is the deadline for filing your 2023 individual income tax return, completing gift tax returns, making contributions to a Roth or traditional IRA for 2023, and for paying the first installment of 2024 individual estimated taxes. Create a reminder that works for you. Know the deadlines for business returns. If you are a member in a partnership or a shareholder in an S corporation, the deadline for filing these business returns is March 15th. Calendar-year C corporation tax returns are due by April 15th. Clean up your auto log. Create and review the necessary logs to support your qualified business miles, moving miles, medical miles and charitable miles driven by you. Gather the logs and make a quick review to ensure they are up to date and totaled. Review your child's income. Your child may be required to file a 2023 income tax return. A 2023 return is generally required if your child has earned more than $13,850, or has investment income such as dividends, interest, or capital gains that total more than $1,250. If your child had withholdings taken out of their pay, it is wise to have them file as a dependent regardless of their income as they could be entitled to receive those withholdings back as a tax refund. Contribute to your IRA and HSA. You can still make 2023 IRA and HSA contributions through either April 15th or when you file your tax return, whichever date is earlier. The maximum IRA contribution for 2023 is $6,500 ($7,500 if age 50 or older). The maximum HSA contribution is $3,850 for single taxpayers and $7,750 for families. Calculate your estimated tax if you need to extend. If you file an extension, you'll want to do a quick calculation to estimate your 2023 tax liability. If you owe Uncle Sam any money, you'll need to write a check by April 15th even if you do extend. If you have no idea how to estimate your taxes do, contact us.
By Affinity Accounting Solutions November 3, 2020
This post helps self employed individuals including sole proprietors, partners, and S corps understand how to make estimated tax payments and how to calculate what these estimated tax payments will be.
By Vanessa Ledesma July 10, 2019
This post is to help individuals prepare for tax time before tax time is here.
By Vanessa Ledesma February 21, 2019
1. Comparative Financial Statements (Income Statement & Balance Sheet) 2. Assets purchased or sold throughout the year 3. Business expenses paid out of your personal account (I advise against this) 4. Details about your home office (if you have one) 5. Vehicle business use mileage logs for the year Already have a headache just thinking about all of this? We are here to help! Let Affinity Accounting Solutions LLC provide accurate bookkeeping services for you and prepare your tax return, or we can work with your favorite CPA to get them the information they need to file your tax return. Either way, let us help you take the headache out of tax time.
By Vanessa Ledesma February 10, 2019
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” -Albert Einstein
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