We at American Executive Centers take great pleasure in helping our clients to start, manage, and grow their small businesses. Often, it takes the form of things that are fun and encouraging - seeing clients' businesses become wildly successful, networking at exciting events with other proprietors in the Greater Philadelphia area, and so on.
However, there are other aspects of running a small business that are not so fun. Yes, we mean the dreaded tax time!
With April 15 being only a few months away, businesses will soon be busy gathering documents, working with accountants, and filing paperwork. The entire process is often grueling and tiresome, so it is important to know as much as possible about each year's tax changes. So, in this context, we wanted to provide some of the latest news that you will need to know while filing this year.
Friendly disclaimer: We are not an accounting, legal, or tax firm, so we are not qualified to give detailed advice and we cannot make any claims on the accuracy of the resources we list below. We encourage you to consult a CPA or another qualified person, if you do not have one already.
Federal Taxes
- The IRS has a website containing a calendar of important dates and related information for small firms and sole proprietorships. The agency also has a PDF file that is available
- IRS audits of businesses have increased by a reported 61% as the government is looking to increase revenue - so be sure that all of your information is complete and accurate
- The IRS and the U.S. Department of Labor are both increasing their scrutiny of whether businesses are correctly classifying workers as independent contracts or employees - if you classify any staff under the first designation, make sure that you are doing so under the correct rules
- You might qualify for the Small Business Health Care Tax credit if you have 25 or fewer full-time employees whose average income is $50,000 or less and pay at least half of employee health-insurance premiums
Pennsylvania Taxes
- The 2011 corporate-tax rates (for filing this year) are available in a PDF here
- A list of resources for filing state individual and corporate taxes
- The City of Philadelphia has information relating to tax credits, amnesties, and extensions
- The Pennsylvania Revenue Department is offering an extension on the compliance deadline for remote sellers in the state (those who sell in a state like Pennsylvania without an official presence)
- In the future, corporate taxes may decline in the coming years under pending state legislation
Small Business Trends has an overview article on what businesses can expect over the coming year that might be informational as well.
We know that tax time can be stressful, so we just wanted to do our best to help make it as smooth as possible. After we all file our paperwork, we can all go back to the other aforementioned fun parts of the life of an entrepreneur!