The owners of home – based businesses have a lot of things to do to keep their businesses running smoothly and producing great work or great products for their clients and customers. From scheduling to bookkeeping and quality control to advertising, they do it all. Some of the tasks involved with owning and operating a home – based business occur on a regular schedule, whether weekly, monthly, or quarterly. There are also things that must be done once a year, and at this time of year one of those things often takes center stage – filing taxes.
Sometimes people do not realize how much time it will take to prepare the taxes for their home – based business until the April tax filing deadline looms large. Others find themselves ready to file but unable to pay the taxes that are due. There are other reasons too why some home – based business owners may find themselves wondering whether there is anything that they can do to avoid filing their taxes by the deadline.
Most people know that there is such a thing as filing for an extension of time to complete your tax return. However, before you decide that that is what you will do and then put off filing for it until the deadline, you may be unpleasantly surprised. There are situations in which filing for an extension is not a good idea. For example, it may seem tempting to file for an extension if you know (or find out while you are preparing your return) that you owe taxes and you can not pay the full amount of tax that is due. However, an extension is not the proper tool to use for that purpose – you will owe interest on any amount not paid by the deadline and you could even have to pay a penalty on top of the interest and the amount of tax due. Instead, file your return on time and pay as much as you can. You can even apply online for an online payment agreement through the IRS web site. The take – home lesson here is that before you choose to file for an extension, make sure that it will not do you more harm than good.
Please be aware that I am not a tax professional. This post from a little while back shows that I am clearly not a tax professional. The IRS web site does have a lot of helpful tax information that can sometimes help individuals resolve tax related questions on their own. If you need tax advice for your specific tax situation, please contact a qualified tax professional.
Photo by cohdra on morguefile.com.