How Income Tax Services for the Self-employed Can Help Artists

Doing accounting for self-employed individuals is a challenging task. There are plenty of variables that come with it. More precisely, primarily self-employed individuals need the accounting services of a Certified Public Accountant. On the other hand, a regularly salaried person hardly needs an accountant beyond income tax preparation. However, if you are an artist who is considered a self-employed individual in the eyes of the IRS, find out how expert income tax services for the self-employed can help you.

Prepare optimized income tax returns

Your accountant can prepare optimized income tax returns for you. An expert accountant uses all the available qualified business deductions to reduce your taxable income. U.S. tax laws provide numerous leverages to self-employed individuals. They can write off various business expenses from your gross income in order to reduce your taxable income and save you money on taxes. An expert accountant maximizes the deductions on client income tax returns.

Prepare financial statements

This is something that is of prime importance to any business. An accountant can prepare financial statements for you. Financial statements include balance sheets, income statements, and cash flow statements. They provide the complete picture of how the business fares over the year. Any artist who wants to grow needs financial statements to make sensible financial decisions.

Tax guidance

Many self-employed individuals do not know about the tax benefits the government offers them. An expert accountant or accounting company that does income taxes for artists can provide you with tax guidance. It helps you do proper tax planning, establish the right structure for managing accounting and bookkeeping operations, and ensures tax compliance.

Apart from these three key services, your expert accountant can help you with audit representation, tax-saving investment options, choosing a business structure, and various other accounting services.

How Entrepreneurs can Make Their Tax Preparation Easy

Preparing taxes is a complex job for any type of self-employed person. Entrepreneurs who are new to the business world often need help with their taxes. They might be an expert in their field but, with taxes, they need the help of a tax professional. Also, ensuring the tax compliance of a business requires in-depth knowledge of tax laws. Most entrepreneurs partner with an expert accountant in tax preparation for entrepreneurs to make their taxes easy.

An expert Certified Public Accountant can prepare and report taxes for your business. Other than tax preparation, your accountant can help you with tax guidance, tax planning, and bookkeeping. If you are hiring employees, you need to fulfill their tax obligations as well.

If you are looking for a reliable partner to manage your company’s taxes, get in touch with Agro Accounting CPA. It is a leading accounting firm that provides accounting services for artists, freelancers, and entrepreneurs. Also, the company complies with the time-honored ethics of the CPA profession!

Tax Preparation Guide for Artists: Understand the Difference Between Self-Employed and Small Business Tax Categories

 Artists make a decent amount of money in the U.S. They have multiple sources of income, such as from shows, exhibitions, stage performances, and personal invites. Like everyone else in the country, they have to register themselves as some sort of business identity and to pay taxes. And when it comes to taxes, there are two categories: salaried and self-employed.

Now, within the self-employed category, there are multiple sub-categories. A small business is considered self-employed in the eyes of the IRS, as is a freelancer and corporation owner. Then what is the difference between the categories of self-employed and small business? Let's find out in this tax preparation guide for artists.

Difference Between Self-employed and Small Business

When someone says they are self-employed, they are most likely referring to themselves as a freelancer, an individual artist, or a sole business owner. On the other hand, when someone says they run a small business, they are likely referring to a business that hires employees. Both are considered self-employed, but a small business also employs other people. With that comes the obligation of collecting income taxes, paying the employer share of self-employment taxes, offering sick and vacation pay, carrying workers' compensation insurance, and so on.

How to Register Your Self-employed Status with Your State

When you work as a self-employed person, you need to choose a business structure in order to register your business with the state. Then, you get a tax ID number and file for the appropriate licenses and permits. You can register your self-employed status in four primary ways:

●        Sole proprietorship

●        Partnership

●        LLC

●        Corporation

These are the most common types of business structures. If you are working as a single, self-employed individual, a sole proprietorship is the best option for you. On the other hand, if you are planning to hire employees or have a business partner, it is best to register as a partnership or LLC.

A sole proprietorship does not provide any protection of personal assets against legal claims and debts. In certain partnerships, you are protected against your partner's debts, but you do not have personal asset protection against claims. However, LLCs and corporations offer you personal asset protection.

You need to get an Employee Identification Number, EIN, if you hire employees. You can partner with income tax services for the self-employed to apply for business licenses, an EIN, and more.

Essential Things You Should Know About the 2022 Tax Season

Filing an income tax return is an annual chore, and you can’t avoid it. Whether it’s a federal income tax return or a state or local return, you should start preparing for taxes as soon as possible. Along with it, consider hiring super tax services and stay updated on tax laws to reduce your tax season stress. Read this blog post to learn some important things about the 2022 tax season that can make your tax filing smoother!

● Income Tax Return Deadline - The federal income tax return deadline for individuals and C corporations is April 18, 2022. So, these taxpayers must file their 2021 income tax returns by this date to avoid late-filing penalties. The deadline for partnerships and S corporations is March 15, 2022.

● Pre-Pandemic Rules – Congress suspended various tax rules through 2020 because of the global pandemic. Now, everything is back to pre-pandemic rules. Taxpayers should be mindful of such new developments when filing in 2022. It is best to speak with a tax professional to ensure that your taxes are correctly filed.

● Extension for Business Taxes – If you cannot meet the filing deadline and want more time to file your return, file an extension. Taxpayers can obtain a six-month filing extension without providing a reason for the request. Individuals can use IRS Form 4868 and entities can use IRS Form 7004 to request a filing extension.

We hope this post helps you understand these basic things about the 2022 tax season. Even if you hire a tax preparation guide for the self-employed, a taxpayer should always know about changes in the tax law and about new IRS guidance. It can help avoid costly mistakes. Moreover, you can always consult with Agro Accounting CPA to handle the complexities of filing your taxes.

Why You Should File Your Taxes Early

Are you one of those taxpayers who waits until the last minute to file their income tax returns? If so, don’t worry, because you are not the only one. Most people file their tax returns on or about April 15 each year. But do you know the many perks of filing your taxes early? Aside from avoiding the last-minute hassle and stress of finding super tax services, there are many benefits to filing your taxes early, and some of them are listed in this blog post. Let’s get started!

● Get your Tax Refunds Sooner

Filing taxes sooner means taking a step towards receiving a faster tax refund. The IRS is not as busy in the early part of tax season as in April. So when you have money to get back, file your taxes as soon as the IRS begins processing returns. This way, you will get your income tax refunds on time, and you can use them to pay your bills and other things!

● Obtain Financial Information

Preparing for tax filing can help you obtain essential information. For instance, home buyers often need a completed tax return as proof of their household income, and students need some financial information to apply for financial aid. If you get your taxes done on time, you can start your paperwork early for multiple other processes.

● Avoid the Risk of Tax Fraud

Identity theft is a common problem that taxpayers face while filing their taxes. Someone else can file taxes in your name and take your refund. Such cases increase at peak time. But when you file your taxes sooner, there are fewer tax frauds and, even if something happens, you have more time to solve the issue.

So, avoid the last-minute rush and reduce the chances of mistakes by filing your taxes on time. You can also get help from income tax services for the self-employed at Agro Accounting CPA, to make your tax preparation smoother.

Incredible Income Tax Tips for the Self-Employed

Being self-employed increases the amount of record-keeping you have to do for tax purposes. However, having your own business will give you some tax breaks that your employed friends can’t get. Managing income taxes as a self-employed person can be overwhelming. Follow the tips below to make tax time less painful and take advantage of some of the tax benefits that come with working for yourself:

• Estimate your business income and determine where you stand taxwise
• Time your income near the end of the year to your advantage
• Mindfully time your expenditures
• Make the most of medical insurance deductions
• Keep the structure of your company simple, especially as a sole proprietorship
• Automate your record-keeping and sync your bank accounts
• Understand the differences between business deductions and itemized deductions
• Set aside some money for your children’s college, as this amount can be deducted from your taxable income
• Increase your self-employed retirement contributions
• Hire professionals at Agro Accounting CPA

If you can’t find the time and energy to manage your tax-related tasks, reach out to Agro Accounting CPA and get best-in-class assistance on income taxes for the self-employed.

Understanding a “CPA Letter for Verification of Self Employment”

A CPA letter for verification of self-employment is a document issued by the CPA of a loan applicant. In this document, a CPA verifies that he or she has prepared the applicant's tax return and that the applicant is self-employed. So, this letter verifies the self-employment status of the loan applicant. Usually, banks, landlords, and lenders ask the self-employed person for a CPA letter for verification of self-employment for the approval of a loan. Read this blog post to learn more about this document!

What Should the Letter Include?

The letter should be signed by the CPA, and it should be on the CPA's letterhead. In addition, it should contain the following things:

● Name of the applicant

● Business name, address, and phone number of the applicant

● Nature of business

● Number of years applicant has been in [this] business

● Percentage of ownership

● Time since the CPA has prepared tax returns for the applicant

● Applicant reviewed his/her tax returns prior to their filing by the CPA

In most cases, professionals like independent contractors, people owning a single-member LLC, and other small business, freelance, and self-employed individuals are asked for such a letter.

Things a CPA Should Consider Before Issuing the Letter

CPAs should check their professional code of conduct and ethical standards before issuing such letters. They should verify the factual information on hand and avoid forward-looking statements, projections, and opinions. Also, the CPA should not assure the credit-worthiness of the borrower. Along with that, applicants should also obtain a copy of their CPA’s letter and ensure the accuracy of the information in the letter.

If you ever need help with such letters or other accounting and tax-related tasks, you can get in touch with Agro Accounting CPA and hire accounting professionals for the self-employed. Our skilled and experienced CPAs can help make your tasks hassle-free.