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“7 in 7” – National Association for the Self-Employed Releases 7 Tips for the Final 7 Business Days before April 15th Tax Deadline
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE :CONTACT: Kristofer Eisenla, LUNA+EISENLA media kristofer@lunaeisenlamedia.com | 202-670-5747 (mobile)
National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) , the nation’s leading advocate and resource for the self-employed and micro-businesses, today released “7 in 7”, a list of seven helpful tax tips for filing beneficial and accurate tax returns. The “7 in 7” list released today by NASE is in preparation for April 6th , marking the last seven business days before the April 15th tax deadline.
The list compiled by NASE President and CEO and National Tax Advisor, Keith Hall , focuses on the top tax tips to help the American public, small business owners and self-employed Americans maximize their opportunities for saving money and minimizing errors.
The “7 in 7” top tax tips leading up to the last seven business days (April 6 th ) before this year’s tax filing deadline, include:
. Whether you will do the return yourself or hire a professional to help, make sure you avoid the temptation to take the easy route. Don’t just guess on business miles, or travel expenses. Take the time to check your records, update your mileage log, do your due diligence. If a question ever comes up it won’t be tomorrow but several years from now and you won’t remember where you got that number. So avoid short cuts, do your homework in gathering your little stack of paper and you will be glad you did. As a small business owner it is easy to feel like you are out there all alone. If you have an Internet connection, you have resources. Bookmark the IRS website at IRS.gov . Bookmark the website for the National Association for the Self Employed at NASE.org . Take some time to ask questions, search the site and review potential deductions that you may have missed. Stay connected and remember that you are NOT alone. Most deductions come straight from your business checkbook. But some items like the business use of your personal vehicle, the business use of a space in your home as a home office are easily forgotten because they don’t show up as a cash disbursement. In addition, many small business owners forget about the options for a deductible retirement plan contribution. Make sure you don’t miss these deductions in calculating the net income from your small business. Make sure that you are extremely diligent in taking advantage of every single legitimate deduction to which you are entitled. Do not avoid a deduction because you “heard” it was a red flag. Foregoing a deductible item that you are entitled to is like paying the IRS part of your hard earned money in exchange for reducing your chances of audit from about .0087 to .0086. Do your homework, document your deductions and DO NOT give the IRS any more money than you absolutely have to. Under the ACA all of us must have a qualified health plan or we must pay an extra tax on our 2014 tax return. Make sure you check the right boxes based on the choices you made during 2014 for health coverage. This is new this year, so make sure you don’t forget. Yes, we are supposed to be heading to a paperless society, but at tax time you still want to have a stack of paper. Take some time to build your own little paper fort. You should have received 1099s, W-2s, 1098s, K-1s, 1099INTs, 1099DIVs, etc. Now is the time to find all of that paper and organize, summarize, and secure it. If a question ever comes up and the IRS wants to know, most questions can be answered with a single piece of paper. It’s April 15 th and the return is due. Still not done? You can certainly ask for more time. Request and extension using IRS form 4868 for an extra six months to complete all the forms. Remember that this is an extension of time to file NOT an extension of time to PAY. So make a quick estimate of any amount that you might owe and send a check with the extension. “ As Americans, including small business owners and the self-employed, prepare their 2014 tax returns, it’s important they take some time to think about the year ahead,” said Keith Hall, NASE President and CEO and the association’s National Tax Advisor. “I’d encourage them to think about what they can do differently starting today, to make their 2015 tax process much more efficient and effective. The number one reason for audits and unwanted IRS scrutiny is simply mistakes on the return.”
Hall concluded, “Take your time, organize your financial documents and check and re-check your work. If you arm yourself with the latest information and start early, tax time doesn’t have to be filled with anxiety and stress.”
For more information on completing your 2014 tax documents, visit NASE’s tax resource center or the IRS or theSmall Business Administration (SBA).
The National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) is the nation's leading resource for the self-employed and micro-businesses, bringing a broad range of benefits to help entrepreneurs succeed and to drive the continued growth of this vital segment of the American economy. The NASE Small Business Locator helps identify and connect our nation’s smallest businesses. In addition, NASE’s new health care portal helps small business owners navigate the nation’s health care marketplace. The NASE is a 501(c) (6) nonprofit organization and provides big-business advantages to hundreds of thousands of micro-businesses across the United States. For more information, visit the association's website at NASE.org