Get Ahead of Tax Season
You’re probably not thinking much about taxes right now. April was months ago, after all. But time flies, as they say. Tax season will be on us faster than you think and you should be getting ready for it.
Why Businesses in Northern Utah Hire Tax Accountants
In Northern Utah, things are pretty good for businesses. A lot of small businesses find modest success, but if you want to maintain success, you need to get your taxes done properly. While it’s possible to do your own taxes, most businesses find it better to hire an accountant. According to Stapley Accounting, there are three main reasons why.
Photo by Dziana Hasanbekava
1. Less Paperwork
While handling your own taxes for home is doable, if time consuming, running a business is a whole different animal. There’s so much more paperwork to handle, so many more things to consider. It eats up a lot of time. There are so many things a business owner needs to do that adding tax preparation to the list can really get in the way. By hiring a tax accountant, you can focus more on the things that make your business money.
2. Local Tax Codes
The tax codes are extensive and complicated. There are so many deductibles and write-offs to take advantage of that filing taxes becomes a matter of finding the best way to file so you pay the least amount possible. Making this more complicated is the local tax laws. Every state and city has its own taxes to file and codes to sift through. There is so much going on that it’s difficult for a business owner to know everything.
Knowing everything is a tax accountant’s job, though. Hiring a local tax accountant is the best way to make sure you’re taking advantage of the local tax laws to get the best return.
3. Preventing Mishaps
The worst thing about taxes is what happens if you make a mistake. Not only do you have to refile everything, but you get fined for not filing correctly. This is where a tax accountant can save you. Doing it yourself means you’re trying to research all the changes the IRS makes to the tax code every year and doing all the math on it. While you’re doing this, you’re also trying to run a business. With so much going on, it’s easy to make a mistake.
This is a problem your tax accountant won’t have. It’s their job to keep up to date on the tax laws and handle filing taxes. They can focus entirely on your taxes, reducing the chance of making mistakes.
Get It Done Early
Whether you do your taxes yourself or hire an accountant, one of the biggest mistakes you can make is waiting until the last moment. April may be called tax season, you’re really hurting yourself if you wait until then. You should be prepping your documents as you go so that when January 1st rolls around, the hard work has been mostly done. The longer you take to get started, the more you’ll have to do in a crunch.
Waiting until the last minute leaves you or your tax accountant in a rush to get things done and that’s when mistakes are most likely to happen. If you can get your taxes done in January or February, that leaves you with a couple months leeway to double-check the math and search for extra tax write-offs you may have missed. To make sure you’re able to do that, you should start assembling your taxes in the last quarter of the year.
So, that’s the best advice the folks at Stapley have to offer: hire an accountant and get it done early. If you want to make absolutely sure there are no mistakes and you take advantage of everything you can – and you absolutely do want that – this is the way. It saves you time and a big headache when tax season officially rolls around.
