Tax Day is just around the corner, and if you have not yet started to prepare your tax return for your home – based business it is time to get started. Like any other task or project, filing your taxes is one of those things that can take longer than you expect it to. If you wait until the night before or the day that they are due, you will inevitably run into issues with misplaced 1099s, a shoebox of expense receipts that make no sense, or any number of other issues that could prevent you from filing your taxes on time. It is simply not worth the headaches or the costly penalties to put off filing your taxes any longer.
It is okay for me to say that because last night, I filed my tax return. I had started preparing the return online about a month or two ago, but when I realized that I owed money I decided not to file it until later. The other day I realized that it was almost time to file the tax return and I also realized how silly it was that I had not just finished it earlier. After all, during the month or so that my return sat there in cyberspace waiting for me to finish it and file it, the amount of tax that I owe the government did not go down. It was the same yesterday when I filed it as it was on the day that I decided to postpone filing.
Another reason that it was silly for me to delay filing my taxes until now is that even though I owe taxes, I do not have to pay them all at once. There are options available for people who owe taxes who can not pay in full when they file their return. I have chosen the option of applying for an installment plan so that I can pay the tax due over time. This year I learned a valuable lesson about taxes that can serve as an example for all home based professionals – don’t forget to set aside money to pay your self employment tax because no one else is going to do it for you.
Photo by dancerinthedark on morguefile.com.