What do I need to know about taxes?
If you're going to prepare your own return, the IRS estimates that it will take you at least 20 hours to learn the rules, assemble the information and prepare your own return. The most time is going to be spent in procrastination. Most people put off filing their Taxes for as long as possible and, the sad thing is: while you're doing this procrastination, it's always on your mind - it never escapes your consciousness. It's always something that you need to do and, that you put off doing because it's an unpleasant task to go look backwards, go through the last year and, see what you made and what you spent and, what you feel guilty about spending and putting this all together and then adding it up. It's a chore to do that and it's something you're going to do for the rest of your life. So, you might as well face up to it, feel that there's hope for you to reduce your taxes by keeping track of all your expenses. Now, when you go into your Tax Preparer, you say “Look, I spent $850.00 on my dog or on my cat.” And, He's going to say “Well, you know, that's not deductible.” but, at least you'll get an idea of what it costs for the dog or cat. Unless you have a security issue and you have a guard dog at your place of business, then, you get a deduction for your dog. I don't know about a guard cat though. That probably wouldn't cut it unless it's a big cat.
