Preparing for tax season in four easy steps

Cathy Yeomans, Imagine Public Relations, White Rock, BC, imaginepr@shaw.ca

If you pay someone else to do your taxes, keep some money in your pocket by preparing ahead of time. Here are some tips to keep you on track:

1. Instead of organizing your financials by category, do it by month. Then your bills, expenses and monthly financials are together and easily relate.
2. Keep a good mileage log book. Take your odometer reading at the beginning and end of the year. Then by tracking your business mileage, you take the difference to come up with the percentage of car expenses that can be claimed.
3. Set up a separate account for all taxes and CPP. After a taxable income of $3,500, you will need to pay CPP to the government. So don’t scramble for the money at year-end and just pay it from your “tax” account.
4. Look for resources to help. Many accountants that run their own small businesses are more than willing to provide advice and assistance, especially with the little details. Those details just might save you a lot of money!