101 Tax Savings Ideas

Quick Interview With Julie A. Welch
101 Tax Savings Ideas
By Julie Welch and Randy Gardner
ISBN: 0-9639734-6-0
Retail: $19.95

I Recommend

Self-employed business owners don't always understand how the tax laws apply to their businesses and when tax time comes around at the end of the year, they end up paying penalties on their taxes for underpaying money due the government. Can you offer advice on how self-employed business owners can better estimate how much money to save each month and pay to the government via estimated tax forms?

One of the biggest problem self-employed business owners have is paying estimated payments since in addition to paying income tax, their estimated payments include the self-employment (SE) tax. The SE tax is similar to the Social Security tax that wage earners pay except that self employed people pay double because they do not have an employer who pays "the other half".

Self-employed people should generally set aside almost half of what they make to cover the taxes. This amount usually depends on the total income the person has, but a good example might be:

Federal tax 28%
SE tax 15.3%
State tax 6%
Total 49.3%

The due dates of the "quarterly" payments are not quarterly.
The due dates are:

April 15 of the current year
June 15 of the current year
September 15 of the current year
January 15 of the following year

If someone misses their quarterly payment, they should pay it as soon as possible since the penalty for late payment only applies from the due date until the date it actually gets paid.

Other than traditional business deductions, such as office supplies, car mileage, percentage of home use, and ordinary business expenses, what can small businesses do to help decrease the amount of taxes owed to the IRS?

Recordkeeping is one of the big reasons small business owners miss deductions. A program such as Quicken or Money can help a self-employed person track income and expenses. You have to know all income and expenses before you can determine all of the deductions.

A big deduction small businesses can take advantage of is contributions to retirement plans. There are numerous options for retirement plans for small businesses including Keoghs, 401(k) plans, SIMPLE plans, and SEPs.


What one bit of advice do you feel small business owners should know, regardless of how much proft they bring in?

Ask questions and think about what you do. Be sure your tax adviser understands your business and what you do. Many times this can result in additional deductions.

Thanks so much for the quick thoughts on your book!

About The Book
There’s no doubt about it, tax laws are complicated and IRS pamphlets are confusing. Without a proper understanding of current tax laws, Americans are subject to tax scams and overpayment of their taxes. But where can they turn for help? Who can they trust?

With Certified Public Accountants charging $50 to $100 per hour, for tax advice, average American households turn to books to help them gather all their records and begin preparation for their taxes. While many tax book son the market are accurate, few are written in a language the average American can understand—until now!

101 Tax Savings Ideas is the most comprehensive, easy-to-understand tax book on the market!

It is broken down into 101 all-inclusive tips to help parents take advantage of current tax laws. Each tip not only makes the tax laws easy-to-understand, but the authors give examples to help further explain the tax laws. And the best part? It was written to help the average American family find ways to save on their taxes—things they didn’t even know they were entitled to write-off.

I’ve gone back through this book twice, as I gathered my tax records for my tax preparer, and I learned a few things I missed the first-time around. I would recommend this book for anyone looking to reduce their taxes: college students, married couples, small home businesses, families, and retired folks. There’s even a small section to help the recently divorced.

Order your copy today! 101 Tax Saving Ideas

About The Author:
Alyice Edrich is the award winning editor of The Dabbling Mum®, http://thedabblingmum.com, and a freelance blogger. Stop by her blog, www.alyiceedrich.com, to win one of her hand painted repurposed vases.

Reprint Guidelines:
You may freely reprint this article in a print or online publication: brochure, magazine, e-zine, or newsletter provided you leave the byline intact, don’t change the content (except for grammar/punctuation), and do not charge for the information. You must also include the byline on the same page as the article and make the links clickable if used online. By publishing this article you acknowledge that the copyrights of this article belong to Alyice Edrich and you agree to our legal disclaimer (http://thedabblingmum.com/disclaimer.htm).

Interview with Ann H. Gabhart

Today I had the honor of interviewing author, Ann H. Gabhart. Ann has been writing since she was but a wee child, and has carried her love of reading into the stories she writes. While writing may have come naturally for Ann, her writing career hasn’t been so easy. She’s worked hard to get where she is and would like to remind writers everywhere that persistence does indeed pay off—just believe in yourself hard enough and never give up!

I Recommend Your purchase supports this site.

How did writing become your career? Did it find you or did you find it?
I have been writing since I was a little girl, when I first realized that somebody was responsible for all those wonderful words. At the age of ten I began writing my first novel in wirebound notebooks. The wirebound notebooks gave way to a typewriter and the typewriter to a word processor, but I’ve never lost the urge to write. So I guess I’d have to say I found it or maybe I was born with it.

After I got older I wanted to see my words in print and see if I could make money writing. I’ve had some good years and some lean years since my first novel, a historical romance, was published in 1978, but I have never seriously considered giving up writing to do anything else. I’ve had some part-time jobs over the years to help pay the bills, but they were just a necessary evil. I was still writing. I am still writing. I can’t imagine not writing.

What has been your biggest obstacle when it comes to finding the confidence in yourself to reach for those higher paying writing assignments and what did you do to conquer that obstacle?
I started out writing short pieces for various magazines, but after Warner Books published my first novel, I stopped writing short pieces and concentrated totally on writing novels. I’ve always had confidence in my ability to write. However, I sometimes second guessed my ability to write the right story—that story editors are anxious to snatch up after offering the author huge advances.

Now I just try to believe in the book I’m writing and make it the best that I can so that lots of readers will want to snatch up my book. That’s the best way to impress editors.

What has been your biggest struggle locating “potential markets” for your books?
The biggest struggle I have as a writer has always been figuring out the best potential markets for my books. The most successful writers have an uncanny ability to guess what people are going “want” to read months and years down the road. I pay attention to what is in the book stores, but mostly I have to depend on my own feelings as to what I want to write next. I'm going to be working with my characters and their story for months, so it has to be a story I can get excited about.

I tell young people that my biggest attribute as a writer has always been persistence. Even when I wasn't finding markets for my writing, I never stopped writing. Dreaming of writing doesn't make it happen. You have to put the words on the page and send your words out into the world. Nobody in a brown hat is going to break down your door and demand to see the manuscript in your desk drawer or hidden away in your closet. Something like that might have happened with Margaret Mitchell and Gone with the Wind, but you can be pretty sure it's not going to happen to you.

Visit her at http://annhgabhart.com

Stealing Adda Book Drawing

I Recommend

How'd you like to win a copy of Stealing Adda? We've been honored to receive a copy of Tamara Leigh's book, Stealing Adda, for a book-give-a-way on THIS very blog!

To Participate
To participate, leave a comment to this post. (Don't include your address, I'll email you to get that.)

Deadline
I'll draw a winner on Monday, March 6, 2006!

Contest Rules
For complete contest rules and disclaimer click here.

Quick Interview With Tamara Leigh

How much of the book is based on your experience in the publishing world?
Ooh. Must not forget the "This novel is a work of fiction" disclaimer.... Naturally, many of my own experiences in the publishing world of romance served as the foundation upon which STEALING ADDA was written. Unfortunately, my experiences are nowhere near as exciting, entertaining, or devastating as Adda's. Or perhaps fortunately, hmm?

Are you concerned that publishers and editors will take offense to the insider's look you provide of that world?
Sometimes the truth hurts. The good news is that publishers and editors aren't the ones who'll be buying STEALING ADDA. Hmm...that could come back to haunt me. In which case--Nah. As the majority of publishers and editors are New Yorkers, they're hardly thin-skinned. In fact, some might think I painted a pretty rosy picture of their world.

Will we see more of Adda in future books?
It's possible Adda will pop up again, as there's certainly more of her--and Nick!--to be told. We shall see...

Thanks so much for the quick thoughts on your book!

About The Book
"Adda Sinclaire is a bestselling romance novelist with a case of writer's block and a lingering interest in Christianity." Publishers Weekly

Keep Smiling!

An Interview With Me

An Interview With Alyice Edrich
Compliments of Julie Bonn Heath

I Recommend

I was recently interviewed by Julie for an article she’s working on. There were a couple of questions which she didn’t use for the article, but were good responses so I decided to share them with you (with her permission of course!)…

Julie: What has your favorite work-at-home job been?
Alyice: That’s a tough question to answer because I believe everything I’ve done has been a wonderful experience and learning lesson and fit my lifestyle at the time.

For instance, I loved watching children. Their energy levels and smiles could light up the darkest of days and they made me feel important, like I was doing something valuable with my life.
(Daycare Business)

Working as a mobile notary was the easiest money I ever made, but it involved a lot of last minute babysitters, which I always dreaded. I especially loved meeting new people.
(Notary Business)

But, I think I fell in love with writing and quite honestly, I don’t think anything else compares. Sadly, it’s the hardest job I’ve ever had. Many people don’t understand the value of a writer and educating people that my time, my ability to write well-constructed sentences and weave together words worth reading, and my experiences are worth being compensated for isn’t always easy.
(E-book Business)

Julie: Are you happy working from home? Is your job satisfaction higher or lower than when you were in a more traditional work environment?
Alyice: I don’t’ think anything compares with working from home. In a traditional job, I always had to ask for time off and sometimes it wasn’t always convenient to take it off.

But working from home allows me to be there for my kids at the drop of a hat. I no longer have to worry about finding a sitter when they have a day off from school and I have to work because I can work at home while they spend the day at home with me. I don’t have to worry about hunting down a last-minute sitter when my child is sick because I ran out of sick days or vacation time and I can attend in-school activities or field trips whenever I want.

Julie: Any advice for those working from home and having parenting, time-management, etc. challenges?
Alyice: Sometimes you just have to let the dishes or the laundry wait. The world won’t end if you don’t get every load washed, folded, ironed, and put away.

Sometimes you have to work even when you don’t want to. It’s easy to think that something can wait until later because your kids need you, but you have to pencil in a set number of hours to get your work done or your business will fail.

If your children are small, work when they take naps. If they are older, work while they are in school or day camp. If you can’t find a quiet moment during the day to work, barter babysitting with another mom so you can have an hour or two of alone time during the day to get your work done. Try to avoid working when your spouse comes home from work, because it could cause friction in your marriage if he feels he’s worked an entire day and then has to come home and play Mr. Mom until the kids go to bed.

About The Author:
Julie Bonn Heath is a freelance writer and author.
She may be reached at: JulieBonnHeath.com

Copyright, Julie Bonn Heath, 2006