10 Easy-to-Miss Business Deductions

The deadline for completing your tax return is closing in. There are so many different tax deductions, though, it’s easy for a few to slip through the cracks. Make sure that you claim all the deductions that you’re eligible for.

1. Going green: Did you take steps to make your office greener in the last year? If so, you may be able to write off the expense of doing so as a deduction. Depending on your industry, there are even some tax credits available.
2. Payment processing fees: Using online payment processors, like PayPal, is becoming more common among small businesses, but there’s a price tag that goes along with doing so. The fees charged on each of your transactions are deductible.
3. Travel to and from the airport: The fact that you can write off business travel on your taxes is common knowledge, but did you know that you can even write off the taxi trip to and from the airport, as long as you’re traveling for business purposes?
4. Tax preparation: Considering the expense of getting a tax return prepared when you own a business, it’s a good thing that you can deduct your tax preparer’s fees. The same holds true if you have any help throughout the year with tax planning or other tax-related tasks.
5. Blog posts: If you hire a writer to put together posts for your business’ blog, it’s a marketing expense and can be written off. The same holds true for other social media help.
6. Hidden bank and credit card fees: If you have a bank account or credit card in your business’ name, go over the statements very carefully. Even if you can’t get hidden fees removed, they are still business expenses and can be written off on your taxes.
7. Unpaid invoices: As long as you’re using the accrual method of accounting, rather than cash, your unpaid invoices can be written off on your taxes. However, this deduction can be tricky, making it particularly important that you talk to your accountant before claiming it.
8. Employee benefits: Of course you can write off any benefits that you provide for your employees, but that term can cover a lot of ground. If you buy an employee a monthly bus pass as one of their benefits, that’s just as deductible as health insurance.
9. Holiday parties: Do you have a get-together for your employees during the holidays? The expenses for that shindig can be written off, as can holiday cards to your clients.
10. New employees: The expense of hiring a new employee, from putting out a job listing to printing up new business cards, is entirely tax deductible. Even paying for a prospective employee’s travel for an interview is deductible.

It’s important to note that every business’ tax situation is different and it’s impossible to address every situation in a blog post. In order to make sure that your taxes are in order, it’s crucial to talk to a tax professional who can walk you through determining your eligibility for these tax deductions.

Image by Flickr user AlanCleaver_2000

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 11:00 am and is filed under Accounting and Taxes. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.


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