The Small Business Tax Help Blog

Archive for September, 2009

Question: Tax prep software for iMacs? Running only OS X 10.2.8 G3?

I’ve done the touchtone tax thing (over the phone) when I had virtually no deductions. I now have lots of deductions (mortgage, business, charitable), 2 W2s, no investments (sadly). Is there an inexpensive program that’ll work on this Mac for somebody really dumb with numbers and tax stuff? H&R block has a CD you can buy in the DRUGSTORE but it works on Mac OS X 3.1 or higher. I think maybe I need to buy the Jaguar upgrade (or Panther?– whichever is the newest one) to upgrade to 3.1. I don’t know. Any answers? Suggestions? My occasional tax lady charged me a LOT last year (and she scares me) so please don’t suggest a tax preparer.

Answer: Depending on if you are in Canada or the US, try checking out the following links;

US

http://www.intuit.com

Canada

http://www.intuit.ca

I use Quickbooks for our business and have been quite impressed with their ease of use and customer service.

If these don't work, your local Mac store should have other software available for you. I think even Staples will have mac or dual versions.

Hope this helps!

IRS to regulate paid tax prep

Agency to step into virtually unregulated area on which millions of Americans depend for advice.

calculate sales tax, Sales Tax Preparation Software, accounting

Question: Are the state corporation number and the federal employer identification number (ein) the same thing?

I know my firms EIN, but not the state corporate number. I saw on a website somewhere that the state number is 10 digits.

Answer: They are 2 different numbers

EIN is given by the IRS

State corporation number is given by the state (specifically Secretary of State) for businesses that filed as a corporation. It is a unique number assigned by the Secretary to the corporation. And it is not necessarily 10 digits, because some states such as California only has 7 digits.

You have to check with your Secretary of State for your state corporation number

Daily TWiP - The world’s first ATM is installed in Enfield, London, England, today in 1967

Welcome to Daily TWiP, your daily dose of all the holidays and history we couldn’t cram into The Week in Preview. That oh-so-modern convenience, the automated teller machine (or ATM for short), dates back further than you might think. The world’s first ATM was installed at the Enfield Town branch of Barclays Bank in London, England, today (June 27th) in 1967. Several of the world’s major ...

600 digits of Pi (german)

IRS to try to answer 71 percent of calls

WASHINGTON – If you call the Internal Revenue Service for help this tax season and someone actually picks up the phone, consider yourself lucky.The agency has set a goal of answering 71 percent of calls this year from taxpayers seeking customer service.If …

self employment tax advice for IT Contractors in London E14

Small and medium sized companies and start ups realize how difficult it is to manage the business and make sure all the processes run smoothly. Not only does it require tremendous amounts of work but diligent efforts as well. Business owners or entrepreneurs are supposed to manage certain parts of a business like financing, product creation, and promotion in order to be successful in the market. However, small time companies or start-ups need to manage their businesses entirely on their own i.e. they need to take care of everything alone by themselves. And this might as well require them to work through the whole day and still find time to do the regular chores of the day. As a result, many small time business owners look out for cost effective ways to have certain business processes to be taken care of by third party professionals.

Here are some popular processes that are outsourced…

Accounts
One of the most popular processes that is outsourced is the accounting works. It not only saves you a great deal of time but also makes sure you get accurate and speedier processing of the account documents. This is especially useful if you are not very well versed in financial matters and tend to waste a lot of time and effort in researching about legal issues and tax laws.

Internet Marketing
Online marketing is yet another popular area that is outsourced to third party service providers. Outsource internet marketing services provide businesses with immense benefits and provide a significant increase in their profits. Internet marketing more effective and productive than offline marketing. And if you have experienced professionals at the job, there is no turning back for you.

Business enterprises have established strategic relationship with professional IT outsourcing service providers so that they can achieve their internet marketing objectives. Online marketing gets especially easy for professional service providers because they have ample experience of the job. And since it is their prime area of work, they concentrate on it and try to achieve designated results.

And because of the global economic crisis world over, the offshore service providers have cut down their prices significantly. This means you will be able to get internet marketing services for quite a bargain rate. There are several outsourcing providers listed on the web. All you need to do is go online and search for one that fits your budget and understands the basic needs and requirements of your business. . There are also many freelancers who offer their online marketing services. However, the problem with freelancers is that they do not come with a guarantee. There is always a risk that the individual is not dependable and can cause damage to your business and company by doing some dishonorable practices such as spamming or posting unsolicited commercial ads in areas where they are not supposed to do so. They can just go underground and you may not be able to trace them again.

This risk is completely eliminated with professional IT outsourcing companies. Because they are businesses themselves, they have a sound physical presence and market reputation to take care of. And they would not indulge in any unethical practices.

House GOP seeks Business Tax cuts

MESA — House Republicans want a package of tax cuts for business they say will stimulate job growth, including one that would increase property taxes of homeowners.

Joe Wurzelbacher on Obama’s Tax Increases

End 8 tax credits and quit writing checks to big companies, tax panel says

Get rid of eight tax credits, which will mean about $106 million more cash for state government next budget year, state officials recommended this morning.