Tax Write Offs For Your Home Based Business

Copyright © Paul Birdsall, Your Online Success Partner

One of the greatest benefits to having a home-based business is your advantage with the tax man. Because you work from home, this enables you to write off normal daily expenses that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to, such as part of your rent or mortgage – as this is where your office is, your vehicle payments and fuel ups, meals and much more.

Not only can you write off part of your rent or mortgage (based on the portion of your home that the office space occupies) but you can write off what’s inside your office as well. What can you write off? Your telephone, fax machine, computer, office furniture and office supplies. If you use your vehicle for anything work-related, you can also write off a portion of your vehicle payment, maintenance and fuel – depending on the extent to which your vehicle is used for work purposes. Medical expenses and business meeting lunches are an additional write off you don’t want to forget about, as these expenses add up quickly.

The best thing to do is to get a good accountant. If you choose to do your own taxes, make sure you pay close attention to the minimum and maximum allotted deductions for home-based businesses – as these amounts may fluctuate and change each year.

Keep your receipts. Keep as many receipts as you can. Put a file folder or box on the corner of your desk and remember to put your daily receipts in it; this will save you from running around at tax time, wondering where you put your oil change receipts for your car or the receipt for your new lap top. If it’s all in the box, you can organize it later – at least you have it all in one place.

There are other useful write offs out there that may also apply to you , such as: hotel bills, taxi fares, dry cleaning, home insurance, retirement plan deductions, loan interest or bad debt expenses and legal costs. This is why you should get a good accountant. With all the receipts piling up (and if you use the box on your desk faithfully, it won’t take long to fill it) doing your own taxes may wind up being a time-consuming and confusing task. Perhaps you would be better off dedicating such time to working on your home-based business and leave your taxes to a professional; this way you can put worries of an audit out of your mind, because you know the paperwork is being done correctly.

If you put your mind to it, a home-based business may not only give you the freedom in your personal life you’ve been craving for so long and the sense of entrepreneurial success you’ve always dreamed of – but also the financial savings you never thought possible. Be smart and save your money: start your home-based business today.

Paul Birdsall teaches online marketing through his FREE 7 Day Online Success Boot Camp. You can learn more about Paul and take his online boot camp here: http://www.7DayOnlineBootCamp.com

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