Even if you’re a savvy entrepreneur who believes that you can handle your taxes as a small business owner, when tax season comes around it’s often an entirely different story, and what might have seemed simple on paper, is in reality, anything but.
Mistakes can easily be made when filing taxes that could cost a business in its infancy dearly, and deductions can all-too easily be missed out on without the expertise of a tax accountant in Surrey. Fortunately, avoiding tax mistakes is simple when you hire a CPA to assist and guide you through the whole process, and you will likely save yourself some money in the long run, too.
If you’re tempted to risk handling your own taxes as a small business owner, here are 6 commonly made mistakes that your decision not to hire a CPA could lead to:
- Inaccurate filing
Guides to business tax filing easily found online aren’t necessarily up-to-date or accurate, and without being a tax expert (as most entrepreneurs aren’t), how are you to know what’s current in terms of tax legislation, and what’s not?
Business tax laws are always subject to change, and often do so with alarming frequency. As such, having a CPA to mitigate any problems that may arise as a result of you filing your own business taxes, is a wise and cost-efficient decision.
- Neglecting taxes until tax season
CPAs can prove invaluable to small businesses all year round, providing them with strategic guidance and valuable insight based upon accurate financial data. While they are certainly useful during tax season, hiring them only at this time of year means that you might make all manner of poorly judged business decisions up until that point.
- Maintaining records poorly
By collecting and accurately tracking expenses related to your business, you can make the most of your tax deductions and give yourself peace of mind, too. Devising and maintaining a sound recordkeeping system helps put businesses in a much healthier position when tax season rolls around.
- Not making the most of tax deductions
As mentioned above, maximizing tax deductions and reducing your overall tax burden is a crucial aspect of tax filing for all small business owners, and a great way to save money. But without a CPA to guide you, you could miss out on deductions that you may never have been aware of.
- Wasting time and energy
As an entrepreneur, there are probably several things that make you great at what you do, but business taxes isn’t likely to be one of them. A lot of time and energy is wasted every year by small business owners who somewhat pigheadedly refuse to seek professional help; deciding to muddle through their taxes unaided, instead. While some might be lucky enough to do this without a hitch, most fall at the first hurdle and end up incurring the wrath of the CRA, or simply paying out more than they need to due to a lack of in-depth tax knowledge and awareness.
Why waste time and energy that could be spent furthering your business, when you can hire a CPA and sit back while they take care of everything for you, expertly.
- Failing to give yourself peace of mind
Few entrepreneurs who decide to handle their own taxes without the help of a local CPA, ever feel 100% confident that they’ve done everything correctly, and maximized their deductions. And, if they haven’t done everything correctly, they may then have to defend their actions against the CRA. With the help of tax services in Surrey, on the other hand, small business owners can get the peace of mind that comes from accurate, timely tax filing.
No business owner wants to make mistakes such as those listed above that could cost both their business and its reputation dearly, but a refusal to hire a CPA could (and likely will) result in exactly that.