Whether you are ready or not, taxes must be filed and paid at their due dates. Mark your calendars with the following tax deadlines for the first quarter of 2017.
- March 15: partnerships and corporations 2016 income tax return;
- April 1st tangible taxes;
- April 15: individual taxes and foreign declarations. If not, penalties, interest, and collections may occur.
Tax season can be intimidating, fortunately, a little preparation can streamline the process so you can stay ahead of the tax game. Here we are providing our tips to stay on top of your taxes and avoid paying fee and penalties for failing to file or filing your taxes late:
- Update your bookkeeping consistently
Go over your record-keeping consistently, set a time in your schedule to dedicate to your taxes. Whether it is one hour daily or a few hours one day of the week, be consistent. Make sure to gather receipts of expenses, invoices or bills paid, payments received, money deposited in the bank, payroll information and any other report; If you are keeping your records in-house using a software, make sure to enter any missing transactions. If your accountant is keeping your books for you make sure to gather all the information and deliver monthly.
- Perform monthly closing and account reconciliations
Keeping your accounts (bank, credit cards, payroll taxes, sales taxes, etc) reconciled on a monthly basis can help you to catch errors, which could help to eliminate them. Also, you will be able to detect if you are miscategorizing funds.
- Generate monthly statements
Monthly statements are very beneficial; not only they show the financial status of your business at the time they are generated, but they also show you the numbers you need to report any tax liability when it is due. Certainly to obtain accurate statements your accounts must be reconciled. Generating monthly statements is a way to monitor the financial situation of your business.
- Mark your calendar
Whether you take care of your bookkeeping or your accountant does it for you, remember the saying “out of sight, out of mind”. Keep the tax deadlines and filing due dates to your reach in your office where you can see them often, you can also set your mobile device to give you a reminder notification one week before the due date for each filing requirement to make sure the information is recorded or delivered to your accounting office on time for the deadline.
- File and pay on time
Having all the information at hand, it is easier to prepare the tax report and know how much you need to pay. Now is the moment to schedule on your calendar your filing and payment dates. Plan to file and pay before or on the due date to avoid penalties and late fees.
If you follow the previous tips we guarantee you that you will be able to file and pay your taxes on time but if you do not have the time to keep your records up to date, give us a call to discuss how we can help you. We, at Rosillo & Associates are tax specialists and would be glad to assist you with your bookkeeping, preparing your financial statements, and/or preparing your taxes requirements.