How To Use the IRS to Your Advantage

Here's How:

1. Publication 1066C, A Virtual Small Business Tax Workshop DVD - Provides interactive information and resources in a workshop format in 10 lessons that are subtitled in English, Spanish, and Mandarin Chinese. 3 hours and 43 minutes running time. You can order up to 5 copies free.
2. Schedule C - By printing out a Schedule C, you can see the categories you'll need to use when you file your federal income taxes. You can then make the categories in your bookeeping system parallel those in the form, which will make completing your tax forms at year end much simpler.
3. Publication 334 – Tax Guide for Small Business - A veritable "tax bible" of over 50 pages for small business operators who file Schedule C or Schedule C-EZ. Includes information on determining your business expenses, accounting periods and methods, figuring net profit or loss, and calculating your SE (Self-Employment) tax.
4. Publication 15 (Circular E) Employer's Tax Guide – Includes information on who can be classified as an employee, handling family employees, withholding, unemployment (FUTA) tax, and new hire reporting.
5. Publication 463 Travel, Entertainment, Gift, and Car Expenses – Includes information on foreign and domestic travel, travel for temporary assignments or jobs, meal expenses, gifts, and allowable car expenses, including both ways of calculating them – actual costs or by using the standard mileage rate.
6. Publication 505 Tax Witholding and Estimated Tax – Information on who is required and who is not required to pay estimated tax, how to calculate each payment and how to make payments. Includes useful examples as illustrations in determining estimated tax payment liability.
7. Publication 535 Business Expenses – Topics on rents, interest, taxes, insurance, capitalizing assets, amortization, depletion, and bad debts. Essentially, everything you wanted to know about deductible and non-deductible expenses for your home business.
8. Publication 537 Installment Sales - Includes information on figuring and reporting installment sales income.
9. Publication 541 Partnerships - Provides information on forming and terminating partnerships and how partnership distributions are handled for tax purposes.
10. Publication 542 Corporations - Includes information on filing and paying income taxes along with accounting methods and periods, recordkeeping, and how startup costs are handled.
11. Publication 551 Basis of Assets – Includes information on calculating the basis of business assets, which is necessary for depreciation purposes and for reporting gains and losses on the sale and disposition of assets.
12. Publication 557 Tax-Exempt Status for Your Organization – Details the rules and procedures you need to follow in order to apply for or appeal an IRS ruling on tax exempt status for your organization.
13. Publication 560 Retirement Plans for Small Business - Includes information on Simplified Employee Pensions (SEPs), SIMPLE IRA and 401K plans, and setting up qualified retirement plans. Also includes useful worksheets for the self-employed in calculating how much income they can defer in a retirement plan.
14. Publication 583 Starting a Business and Keeping Records - Invaluable information for new business owners, including forms of business, employer ID numbers (EINs), accounting methods, an overview of business taxes, handling business expenses (including startup costs), business use of your home, car and truck expenses, and recordkeeping guidelines.
15. Publication 587 Business Use of Your Home - An absolute essential if you have a home-based business or work from home. Explains how to qualify for and calculate the deduction, depreciating your home, what happens to your deductions when you sell your home that was being used for your business, business furniture and equipment, recordkeeping guidelins, worksheets, and examples.