Taxes...hate it

I am forecasting an Uncle Sam payment again this year so I have been procrastinating on filing this year.  I guess I will get with my accountant mid-week and get it done.....and cry over the results.

How did everyone do this year?  Any plans to improve deductions in 2016?

Accounting,  my least favorite part of the biz. They are done but I wait till the the last day pay.  Every year I tell myself to make my quarterly payment and I don't

It is the worst part, I agree.

I think I am going to hire a bookkeeping service for 2016. My accountant offers it and I think I am going to let him have it. The service cost doesn't seem too bad really and it would make life easier.

That would be once less thing you would have to worry about and free to concentrate on bring in the business

Join the club.
Wait, already are in the bend over and take club.

I'm starting to think that I need to marry an accountant....or a doctor....or a doctor's accountant.

milspec6 wrote:I'm starting to think that I need to marry an accountant....or a doctor....or a doctor's accountant.

Or a billionaire ? They seem to have a way to avoid paying taxes even though they make billions

Good point...

I'd rather hit the lottery big and just say I'm done with making money. But here we are still working. Lol.

I wonder what an IRS agent feels about income taxes????

Well tonite i cut the checks IRS and State Buying a new van helped 2015 but us little people just keep plugging along living the Fn Dream

Same here, just left the CPA's office about 30 minutes ago. Taxes often feels like a colonoscopy....it wasn't much fun, you are glad that it is over, and you just hope they don't find anything when the lab results come back.

LOL Bob, ain't that the truth, if they find some sheet in that colonoscopy, you're going under the knife man, ha..ha..ha.....
Anyway, I started the process today, I still haven't received any of my 1099 G and 1099 K forms, so I can't really finish it, even though I really want to just get them done and over with.
I think I may have to pay more too this year even though I already made huge 4 payments throughout the year
I definitely need to sell 2 of my vans and buy one new van this year to get the depreciations ( which helps a lot ).

dp1 wrote:

milspec6 wrote:I'm starting to think that I need to marry an accountant....or a doctor....or a doctor's accountant.

Or a billionaire ? They seem to have a way to avoid paying taxes even though they make billions

Cougar, cougar, cougar...

Do you guys think leasing a van is a better tax break ID you're not driving a lot of miles

I never liked leasing, but for carpet cleaning, it may not be a bad idea, I guess it depends on the lease amount and miles limit, if it's 1000 miles a month, that's not enough for me, I would need at least 2000 miles a month and I'm not sure if they limit the hours on the TM too or not ?

Mo, I always disliked lease programs as well, but I have changed my position when you are dealing with this business. I would not lease the van by itself, but I sure would lease a direct drive set-up these days.

My 2017 plan is to do just that come Fall. You can lease a new Butler set-up for $800 per month. Not that is cheap, but keeping the rig under warranty can save you a lot of money down the road. These vans work really hard in our business and repair costs for even simple things is pretty high, so that warranty appeals to me more than ever.

When you think about it, a new van financed traditionally, is going to cost you around $625 per month alone so another $200 for the machine doesn't sound that bad. Sure, you never own it, but always running a new set-up is also good for a business image.

Do you know what the limits are on that lease ?
I wonder if Prochem does that too ?
$ 800 / month is not steep if the limits are higher, I'd be happy with 2000 miles / month and 125 hours / month on the equipments.
May be we should start a new thread on this rather than hijacking this one ? Lol.

I don't actually know the terms, but I will check into it. I will start a new thread when I know more.

ya the butler program looks really good to me too, but I prefer putting together a cheaper set up and not owing a dime on it.

Do you guys not use turbo tax? Ive been using it for years now, love it.. my taxes are done in no time.

House call - push a button, quick books - push a button, turbo tax - fill in a few number and push maybe 15 buttons lol too easy.

I remember my dad in the dining room with 3ft high piles of folders and paper work taking a week to get it done.

I am your Dad.

Lol, me too Bob, I'm very organized but the more digital you become, the more under microscope you are, that's why I'm not using quickbooks and HouseCall pro, I feel they want to know a lot more in your life than what you want them to.
If I wanted to I can get my taxes done in one day, but I usually take my time and do it a little at a time, starting from January, I'm almost done now but I have to wait for all of the forms 1099s to come from a few commercial accounts.
Plus I just sent in my 4th 1040ES payment, I have to make sure they process that and filed it in before I file the final tax forms, just avoiding the conflicts in numbers.

I normally don't start on them until Feb. and break it down into categories. I get so OCD about it that I actually contact all me expense accounts and request full print-outs to make sure that my records match and are double supported.....same for my bank statements, duplicates of all those as well.

Then I consolidate the numbers and drop them off with my accountant in April to carry it across the finish line. It is a process that I really hate doing.

Did my taxes tonight.

That schedule C COULD be easier for us. Good googly moogly. 3 HOURS to do my taxes. That's just imputing the info from my books and my w-2's, and mortgage stuff.

IF you guys didn't know (and I discovered it this year) retirement contributions give you and extra deduction of 10 cents per dollar, for 401k and IRA contributions.

I refuse to even look at my records until March.....it normally just pisses me off, so I am delaying the pain. My accountant gets the fun part of filling things out, but I still have to consolidate a few records.

Most of my problem comes from the home office deductions as well as the fuel and mileage reports....not to mention all the online equipment purchases. See, just thinking about this makes me mad.