Do you need to buy a new PC on New Years Eve?
30 December, 2008, 5:26 pm
There isn’t much time, but if you are self employed it might be a good idea to check this out carefully. You probably know that you can write off business expenses on your taxes (of course you should always check with your accountant). What you might not know is that you can run a fast estimate to see if you will owe taxes.
I just did this, and unfortunately, my next PC purchase will have to wait until 2009. But you might find out otherwise!
Get the tax software, or even use last year’s if you have it. I do it all myself, because I like to keep expenses down. My software of choice is tax cut by H&R Block, but you might be a fan of TurboTax. TurboTax is especially nice for this purpose, because you don’t pay until you file (and you wont be filing).
Run an estimate. Ideally it will be exact, but you probably know roughly what your expenses and your income was this past year. If you have been estimating quarterly like we are supposed to, this will be especially easy. Fill in those fields, and see whether you will owe or not.
If you are going to owe taxes to the government, you might as well purchase that much needed new PC or printer, or desk, or whatever it is you need for your business. It will only reduce what you owe!
As always, you should check with your accountant before following my advice. Of course, if you run your own business, I am not really telling you anything you don’t already know!
Have a Happy 2009!
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