You’ll also want to check out the range of online tools and educational products offered, including a handy Tax Calendar desktop tool that alerts you as various deadlines approach.
Tax Time? Think Intuit
Thanks to its TurboTax line of products, Intuit has become inexorably linked with tax time. The company offers a range of tax calculators, tips and guides on its site, including a section devoted to small business taxes. It’s an excellent place to brush up on what you know — and to learn what you don’t (like, what is IRS Form 720 and can you deduct your cell phone bill as a business expense).
The site also offers instructional videos on topics such as payroll taxes, when to issue a 1099-MISC tax form to a vendor, and IRS rules for reasonable business expenses (based on the presumption that the IRS is reasonable, but we digress). Also check out the summary of business tax law changes for 2010 through 2017, which offers a snapshot of major changes coming down the pike.
If you would rather skip the free do-it-yourself advice and jump right to paying a CPA to do your business taxes for you, check out Intuit’s TurboTax CPA Select service. This online service matches small business owners with CPAs ready, willing, and able to tackle the tax-filing burden.
You can see their credentials and read user reviews to select the CPU you’re most comfortable with. And don’t worry about bundling up your paper receipts and documents and shipping them off; you can share them with your chosen accountant by uploading them, faxing them or even snapping a picture of them with your smartphone camera.
Interact with the CPA on the phone or via email and, when all is said and done, the tax pro will e-file your taxes. Intuit guarantees your satisfaction, and claims that the fee (starting at $349.95 for typical small business filing) will be lower than the national average charged by independent CPAs for the same service.
Small Business Taxes & Management
Also on the resource front, the Small Business Taxes & Management site is a clearinghouse for all things tax related. Updated every business day, the site offers daily news and tips and a range of special reports.
We especially like the S Corporation tax prep checklist for 2012, a (very) exhaustive list of items — most of which also apply to LLCs and in some cases sole proprietorships — that might apply to your tax situation and you should have at the ready when preparing your taxes or working with your accountant. Also handy: the Federal and State tax calendars, which show important due dates.
