When you’re running a small business, you know every penny counts. This is especially imperative around tax time. If you’re not paying your taxes in quarterly (or even if you are), your tax bill can be sometimes overwhelming.
I spoke with our CPA, Robert Majernik, about what a small business can and cannot write off. Here were his tips:
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Mileage
We use an app called MileIQ to track all of our mileage to and from our clients offices. You can write off your miles at $0.545 a mile, but Robert stresses that you should really have good records when tracking this. He also says that mileage to and from your office to your residence cannot count towards your mileage tracking. If you have a home office, however, the mileage from your home to your clients location could be tracked.
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Capital Purchases
Not sure what that is? I didn’t either. It’s equipment needed to do your job. This could include printers, computers, fixtures, furniture, etc.
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Cell Phones
Do you use your cell phone as your main office line? If you’re also using it for personal uses, you can deduct a percentage of your bill to your business!
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Meals and Entertainment
Spend a lot of time meeting your clients at Starbucks? Those lattes add up. You can expense meals with your clients at 50%. This means, you can expense your clients half-blended mocha Frappuccino, but not your own vanilla bean cappuccino.
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Marketing/Advertising Expenses
That’s right! Any penny spent at Green Bag Designs is a BUSINESS EXPENSE! (Kermit arms flailing gif).
Looking forward to filing your 2017 taxes? Dreading it immensely, and don’t even want to think about it? We recommend finding a great CPA to help you through the harrowing process. Our CPA, Robert Majernik, CPA, is great. We’re not just saying that because he’s sleeping with the boss.