Who hasnt dreamed of quitting their day job, starting their own company, and living happily ever after? Abrasive bosses and questionable decisions can make a normal nine to five job grow stale pretty fast. Today, more people than ever are enjoying the freedom that comes with starting a small business and being their own boss, but what about the taxes? How much should you pay, and how often? What can you claim as business expenses? What can be deducted?
One good thing about those regular, nine to five jobs is that they take care of tax payments for you by withholding them from your paycheck. If you start up a small business of your own, you will be responsible for withholding your own taxes and paying them on a different schedule.
Sole proprietorships, the category which many small businesses fall under when they are created, have relatively simple tax rules. The sole proprietor pays estimated taxes four times a year. If they fail to pay quarterly, they will be penalized at tax time, to the tune of 8% of their annual income. Those who fail to pay their taxes at all can expect the IRS to come knocking literally or figuratively, depending on how much they neglected...