Your Origami Owl Business Taxes

Tax season is just around the corner and if you haven’t prepared for your Origami Owl business taxes throughout the year, now is the time to get everything out and organize your documents and receipts. One of the beautiful things about owning a small business is that there are many deductions that you can take on your taxes.  Managing your information is important so that you can find and assemble all of the deductions possible.

Here is a Tip to keep it simple – You can set up an Excel Spreadsheet to help you track and document your business expenses throughout the year but keep extra copies of your records elsewhere should something happen to your computer. Keep all receipts and documents in a safe place after tax season for 7 years.

Common Business Deductions

Every business is different but in direct sales, there are many expenses that you have that can be deducted.  Here is a list f some of the common write offs.  Make sure to consultant a tax advisor for a complete list.

* Costs of Consultant Kits, Demonstration Products, Samples, Catalogs, Order Forms, Delivery Bags and Sales Flyers

* Costs of Leasing a Consultant Site

* Blog hosting – If you own & publish a blog related to your business, those costs should be tax deductible

* If you paid out of pocket for hostess booking gifts, thank you gifts or gifts for your downline team, the majority of these should be tax deductible to an extent. Keep a detailed list of purchases.

* Shipping & Mailing Costs (mailing catalogs, paperwork, products, etc.)

* Gas Mileage to and from parties, networking events, team training

* Home Office – Phone Service, Computer, Internet, Printer, Copier, Fax Machine, Scanner

* Continuing Education Classes, Books, DVDs, CDs, etc. items that you purchased to help educate you further with your business

This is will help you get started with your taxes for the coming year.  If this is your first year selling Origami Owl products, make sure you set up an easy tracking system that you can use all year long for easy tracking so you get all of your deductions allotted.

For my taxes, I use Mint.com to track spending on every debit and credit card. I have them categorized by some of the categories listed above. Once a month, I enter the totals of each category on an excel spread sheet and it is all ready for my Accountant.

An example of a snippet of my spread sheet is below: