You are paying too much of taxes..

[more freedom]

Don't you believe me?

I found this great article so I thoght I should share it with you guys.
http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/...306874,00.html

You can have tax advantages if you own a business. Are you tax wise?
The typical employee’s income looks like this:

Work --- Pay Taxes --- Spend what is left over.

The typical business owner's income looks like this:

Work --- Spend --- Pay taxes on what is left over.

Happy reading

[sweeps]

Tread carefully. The author makes it sound easy to claim lots of things as business expenses, but an audit could be really painful if the IRS doesn't see those expenses as legitimate.

Also the article glosses over the fact that (a) if you run a business at a loss, sure you're saving taxes, but you still lost money, and (b) the IRS has rules about what is a business and what is a hobby. Running a business at a perpetual loss raises eyebrows at the IRS. Link

[Ima saver]

We are self employyed and I never claim anything!! I don't want to be audited.

[neguy11]

I just think it seems a little sneaky to me. I don't care to play games. I pay my fair share and don't worry about it. I like having highways, federal student aid, a good military, etc.

[MairGrif]

If you keep track of your expenses and save a few reciepts, even non-business owners can claim a fair amount of exemptions, or deductions every year. As volunteers, we get to deduct the taxes on anything we spend in the name of our volunteering, incl car mileage, clothing, etc. If you truly run a legit business, yes, take advantage of the credits set up for you, but don't abuse them. If you are not suited to running a business, doing so for tax purposes is just an easy way to increase the stress in your life.

[sweeps]

Originally Posted by Ima saver

We are self employyed and I never claim anything!! I don't want to be audited.

Ima, you may want to talk to an accountant. Does your husband just eat the cost of all the materials and other expenses that go into building houses? That's the opposite extreme of the OP's article -- instead of being reckless about claiming expenses, you're being overly cautious.

If you've been good about keeping receipts, the accountant could file amended returns for previous years and potentially get you big money in overpaid taxes refunded to you.

[Ima saver]

Oh, I didn't mean materials, I meant, stamps, phone calls, little stuff like that.

[sweeps]

Oh, ok, never mind.