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Introduction

Welcome to the third edition of Small Business Taxes For Dummies!

Starting and operating a small business involves many moving parts and issues. Money is the lifeblood of any business. You need money to start a business, and you need money to keep a business going.

As you earn and spend money in your business, taxes permeate just about everything that you do. Taxes are too often maddeningly complicated. But they need not be so. Enter this book! And the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act federal income tax bill, which took effect in 2018, produced many changes that reduced and positively impacted small-business taxes. There have been additional and important tax law changes since, which are included in this latest edition.

I’ve owned and operated numerous small businesses in my life. I love the freedom and opportunity to pursue what I believe in and what interests me. And I generally detest dealing with tax issues. But I also know how important tax issues are in terms of the financial success or lack thereof for a small business.

Handled in the best possible way, you can save yourself tens of thousands — if not hundreds of thousands — of dollars by making informed tax moves. And you can comply with the tax rules and regulations and stay out of trouble with the Internal Revenue Service and your state and local tax authorities.

But if you stick your head in the sand or give in to the complexities of the tax laws, you may end up in trouble both financially and with the law.

About This Book

For most folks, their single biggest “expense” is their tax bill. And for tens of millions of small-business owners, the nation’s tax laws are a complex and constantly changing web ready to trip them up and siphon off their most precious and valuable business resource — their money.

Small Business Taxes For Dummies, 3rd edition, assists both current and aspiring small-business owners with important tax planning issues, filing issues, dealing with IRS audits and notices, getting help, and more.

This book provides you with a crash course on taxes and your small business. Specifically, the goal is to ensure your understanding of the myriad tax rules and incentives so you can legally minimize your tax bill, stay in compliance with the law, and maximize your company’s success. You need not read this book in the order it’s presented. You can use the book as a reference and selectively read material currently relevant and of greatest interest to you.

Here are the biggest changes and updates in this edition:

 Impact of COVID-19 and tax breaks associated with it

 Expanded discussion of newer retirement account options

 Additional discussion of the 20 percent qualified business income deduction

 Expanded coverage of issues affecting incorporated small businesses, partnerships, and LLCs

 Additional coverage of websites, apps, and other online tax resources

 Pending/likely changes coming from new Congress

I’ve written this book so you can efficiently find information and easily understand what you find. And although I’d like to believe that you want to pore over every last word I’ve written, I actually make it easy for you to identify “skippable” material. This information is the stuff that, although interesting, isn’t essential for you to know. Text in sidebars: The sidebars are the shaded boxes that appear here and there. They include helpful information and observations but aren’t necessary reading.

Foolish Assumptions

In writing this book, I made some assumptions about you, dear reader:

 You want expert advice about important small-business tax and financial topics — such as the best way to purchase and write off equipment and other business expenses, establish and fund retirement accounts, and correctly complete common business tax forms — and you want answers efficiently.

 Perhaps you want a crash course in small-business tax and financial issues and are looking for a book to help solidify major financial concepts and get you thinking about your small-business taxes in a more comprehensive way.

This book is basic enough to help novices get their arms around thorny tax issues. But advanced readers will be challenged, as well, to think about their small-business taxes in a new way and identify areas for improvement.

Icons Used in This Book

The icons in this book help you find particular kinds of information that may be of use to you.

This target flags strategy recommendations for making the most of your small-business tax decisions.

This icon highlights the best products and services I’ve come across in the small business tax arena.

This icon points out information that you’ll definitely want to take away from this book.

This icon marks things to avoid and points out common mistakes people make when making small-business and tax decisions.

This icon tells you when you should consider doing some additional research. Don’t worry — I explain what to look for and what to look out for.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product also comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Go to www.dummies.com and type in “Small Business Taxes For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the search box to discover a list of pointers that can help you think about the role of money in your life and start achieving your financial goals.

Where to Go from Here

This book is organized so you can go wherever you want to find complete information. You can check out the table of contents to find broad categories of information and a chapter-by-chapter rundown of what this book offers, or you can look up a specific topic in the index.

If you’re not sure where you want to go, you may want to turn a few pages and start at the beginning with Part 1. It gives you all the basic information you need to assess your small-business tax situation and points to places where you can find more detailed information for improving it.