Customer Rating: Summary: Will pay for itself almost immediately... Comment: As I have a small side business related to my writing activities, I have to pay attention to all those tax-related matters. I found this book of interest at the library... Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep What You Earn by Stephen Fishman. It's probably one of the best tax guides I've seen, in that it's readable, understandable, and practical.
Contents:
Home Business Tax Deduction Basics
Are You Really In Business?
Avoiding the Start-Up Tax Trap
Home Business Operating Expenses
Deducting Long-Term Assets
The Home Office Deduction
Meal and Entertainment Expenses
Car and Local Travel Expenses
Business Travel
Inventory
Hiring Workers
Medical Expenses
Retirement Deductions
Additional Home Business Deductions
Record Keeping and Accounting
Claiming Tax Deductions for Prior Years
Staying Out of Trouble With the IRS
Help Beyond This Book
Index
I've waded through tax books that are extremely comprehensive, as well as *huge*. The problem there is that you're never quite sure if you've found everything you should be looking for. Fishman condenses those "phone book" guides into something around 450 pages that covers the most important aspects of the tax code that affect the home/small business owner. Instead of listing endless regulations and nuances, he gives you the information in a conversation style that doesn't sacrifice detail for readability. That's good, as you don't want to end up in front of a tax auditor ill-prepared for the questions they may ask. In addition to the coverage of the laws and guidelines, he also includes a number of realistic examples so you can see how that aspect of tax law would apply to someone who might be in your same situation. The combination of information and application make this a valuable guide that can easily save you the purchase cost of the book come April 15th.
I personally found the information reassuring, as I was able to confirm that the taxes I've done in the past have been accurate. If I had never had to do a Schedule C before, I'd consider this a must-read. Definitely worth buying... Customer Rating: Summary: a complete product Comment: A very detailed and easy to read complete book.
This book contains every single thing you need to know about tax deductibles items for the Home business, plus countless tips and advises on what to do and mistakes to avoid.
The format is as all NOLO type of books, extremely easy on the eyes and to follow. Customer Rating: Summary: Very Good selef help book ! Comment: I am engineering / management consultant working from home. I did not had any tax breakground. This book explained many tax issues in a very layman's terms!! I realy liked the exemples for each tax questions. Customer Rating: Summary: Great help for Schedule C and 8829 Comment: I'm working on my schedule C and 8829 and every so often I get to a question I don't understand. I go to the IRS instructions and their web site and it's as clear as used motor oil. It's enough to drive you insane.
Picked up this book and it's spelled out in plain English. No need to read a passage five times to understand.
As others have stated, you need this BEFORE you start your business and you need it a year before you do your taxes. In other words, it will help you along with your 2006 return and you can learn from it on how to do a better job for 2007 by keeping the right documents and receipts in order to get even bigger legitimate deductions. I know I wish I'd had this book last year!
With that said, this is not a line-by-line assistant for Schedule C and the 8829 which I wish it was at times. There are just times when the IRS uses a specific term on a specific line and it would help to have a layman's definition at hand. I didn't get that with this book. Nonetheless, it's been one of the best sources of information I've found for doing one's self employment tax forms. Customer Rating: Summary: Good Comment: If you're in business for yourself, you better buy this book. It wasn't as complete as I thought it should be. But I did learn that I was not taking all the deductions that I could. So it more than paid for itself.
Tax deductions are essential to any business, but even more so when your office is also your home. Why spend thousands on an accountant, when you can turn to Home Business Tax Deductions and do it yourself!
Home Business Tax Deductions will help you write off:
your home office
start-up and operating expenses
vehicles and travel
entertainment and meals
health insurance and medical bills
inventory
equipment
and much more
The 4th edition is completely updated with all the latest tax information and numbers for 2008, and provides new information on tax planning.
Home Business Tax Deduction also covers how to avoid being classified as a hobby business, steer clear of home-business tax scams, stay out of trouble with the IRS and take special deductions if your business loses money.
