Business Opportunities Weblog

May 1, 2008 by Rich Whittle | 2 Comments

IRS:

The Internal Revenue Service has launched a campaign to help educate new self-employed small business owners about federal tax responsibilities.

“One of the biggest challenges faced by people starting out in business is understanding and meeting their tax filing requirements,” said Kathy Petronchak, commissioner of the IRS’s Small Business/Self-Employed operating division. “It’s a new, different and potentially overwhelming experience for them. We want new small business owners to know that the IRS has resources to help them learn about their federal tax responsibilities and avoid common pitfalls.”

In this introductory phase of the campaign, IRS is offering some basic tips to avoid potential problems:

• Classify workers properly as employees or independent contractors as determined by law, not the choice of the worker or business owner;
• Deposit federal employment taxes, called trust fund taxes, according to the appropriate schedule;
• Start making quarterly estimated quarterly payments to cover your own income tax and social security self-employment tax liability;
• Keep good records to protect your personal and financial investment and to make tax filing easier;
• Consider a tax professional to help you with Schedule C;
• File and pay your taxes electronically; it’s fast, easy, and secure;
• Protect financial and tax records to ensure business continuity in the event of a disaster;
• Avoid abusive tax avoidance schemes such as the IRS’s 2008 “ Dirty Dozen.”

Photo by IRS.

In Customer Service, Government, Taxes | 2 Comments