It’s April already… have you filed your taxes yet?

(You know you love me for even asking )

For US citizens, mid-april marks the statuatory deadline to file income taxes or to pay taxes for your first quarter. For most business owners, just the word “taxes” this time of year is enough to stop them in their tracks with visions of endless paperwork and number crunching - not to mention audits and penalties.

A recent article titled Avoid an Audit on Yahoo! Finance states that the number of audits is increasing. It also discusses the formula that is used to determine which returns may be audited, which is a more secretive and guarded formula than Google algorithms. But they do give you some triggers to watch out for…

If your tax return included a Schedule C detailing any self-employment income, you are three times more likely to face IRS questioning. And the IRS says it will be stepping up audits of filers who run their own unincorporated businesses. (source)

Bottom line: Simple is good. You dont want to put anything on your tax return that is going to stick out like a sore thumb .

On the opposite end of that spectrum is an article on MSN Money titled Extreme Write-Offs where Jeff Schnepper discusses how you can deduct your big-screen TV, punching bag and other unusual office supplies.

An interesting read, and that may just apply to you if you have “unusual work-related expenses”. As for me, I like to keep it as accurate and simple as possible!

Best,

Tags: april 15, tax deadline, taxes, irs, income tax, audits, tax preparation, filing taxes, write offs, business expenses