Taxes are one of the least enjoyable parts of earning an income. If you make money from a creative business, the prospect of sorting out your taxes can be exhausting at best and terrifying at worst. But don’t panic! There’s no need to be worried about taxes, especially if you take a few minutes to plan ahead. With a bit of organizing, you’ll never wake up in a cold sweat when tax season rolls around.
First, make sure you’re keeping track of all the money going in and out of your business. Enterprise Nation has some helpful tips for organizing and reviewing your expenses, and provides some useful suggestions for categorizing the flows of income.
Whether or not you use Etsy for online retail, Etsy’s Taxes 101 is useful for anyone with a creative business. Each different type of tax is explained beautifully, with plenty of links to more relevant information for each type of tax.
Another useful resource for taxes is the IRS itself. On their website, you can brush up on different kinds of taxes for businesses and make sure you know what you need to fill out as the owner of your own business. This list has breakdowns of different taxes and the forms that you’ll need to fill them out.
For the procrastinators and people who aren’t as organized as others- don’t worry! There’s tips and tricks for you too. Modish Biz Tips has some helpful information on tax preparation for those of us who tend to put things off till the last possible minute. And for those who struggle with paperwork, here’s a list of steps to get your income in order.
Keep in mind, of course, that these tips aren’t comprehensive, and that tax professionals will be your best resource for any difficult snags. But by going through your expenses and income flow, you’ll be much better prepared to face the paperwork- and your tax time will be much more painless for your efforts.
What tricks do you use to make taxes easier?
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