Author: Dona Basu

There is no greater joy than owning and operating your own business. You look over your record-keeping and have a sense of well-deserved pride in your accomplishments of the past year. Then you remember tax season is looming over you like a dark shadow and a knot of worry forms in the pit of your stomach.

The Self Employment Tax

A self-employed person has to file additional taxes besides their income tax. This usually amounts to an extra 15.3% burden for small business owners. This is because employers and employees each pay 7.65% for both Social Security and Medicare taxes, so a self-employed individual will have to pay the full amount.

Solution

To counteract this tax burden, small businesses should take advantage of the many business deductions available to small businesses.

These include:

• Travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination. (If you’re provided with a ticket or you’re riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero.)
• Fares for taxis or other types of transportation between the airport or train station and your hotel, the hotel, and the work location, and from one customer to another, or from one place of business to another.
• Shipping of baggage, and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations.
• Using your car while at your business destination. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking fees. If you rent a car, you can deduct only the business-use portion for the expenses.
• Meals and lodging.
• Dry cleaning and laundry.
• Business calls while on your business trip. (This includes business communications by fax machine or other communication devices.)
• Tips you pay for services related to any of these expenses.
• Other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. (These expenses might include transportation to and from a business meal, public 

Just make sure that you follow guidelines and do not over deduct.

Become Proactive

Business taxes are determined by net income. This is when you subtract business expenses from gross revenues. Having an online accounting system automatically keeps track of your figures. If you use an online accounting system and you’ve entered all income and expenses, the system will automatically provide you with a gross profit figure.  Those that use spreadsheets, please take the time to add up the numbers so you can forecast what you will need to owe in taxes for the following year.

Net Profit

Do you properly understand how to handle your cash flow? Are you going to pay taxes purely based on

What is available in your checking account? Many business owners do not realize that their available cash is not the same as the company’s net profit.

Remember The Quarterlies

Since self-employed owners do not get taxes withheld from their paycheck, it is a good idea to withhold the correct amount and sent the Internal Revenue Service quarterly payments. This is particularly important if your tax liability is over $1.000. Ignoring quarterly payments could result in costly interest payments or penalties.

Is Your Business a Pass-Through Entity?

A pass-through entity is when the tax liability of the business actually passes through to the owner.

Pass-through entities include:

• Sole Proprietorships
• Limited Liability Companies
• S Corporations

A business that has not filed any paperwork is automatically considered a sole proprietorship by the Internal Revenue Service.

If you are a pass-through entity then you could owe less in taxes. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act allows a 20 percent tax deduction on qualified business income from pass-through businesses. Generally, the deduction is available to eligible taxpayers whose taxable income is below $315,000 for joint returns and $157,500 for individual filers, according to the IRS. Some types of pass-through businesses may not qualify for this deduction: The IRS regulations detail the limitations.

If your business is a pass-through entity, then the taxable business income must be reported with your tax return. This means the amount you owe will be determined by your tax bracket. For 2020, personal tax brackets range from 10 percent (for individuals earning up to $9,875 and joint filers earning up to $19,750) to 37 percent for individuals earning more than $518,400 and joint filers earning more than $622,050.

If Your Business Is A C-Corporation

A business that is not a pass-through entity is a C-corporation. These are usually larger companies that do not qualify as small businesses.  However, if your business is a c-corporations it will now be taxed at a flat rate of 21 percent. Remember that c-corporations are always taxed twice. That is because the c-corporation itself is looked upon as a separate entity. These entities are taxed at the business level and the shareholder level.

Business Organization

Are you sure that you have chosen the proper business organization? The type of organization has a strong bearing on your tax structure and you should make sure your organization utilizes the best tax structure for your business needs. Having a small business tax professional look over the Consumer Price Index is a good way to understand your business should be properly structured.

Independent Contractors

Are you confident that your independent contractors have not become employees during the tax year? Did you provide them with the right forms? Businesses need to understand how to properly document all those who have done work for them and the Internal Revenue Service or IRS regulations on such matters can be very perplexing.

Getting A Tax Resale Certification Is One Of The Best Things You Can Do As An Entrepreneur

If you decide to start a business, a tax resale certificate can save you money on taxes.

In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

However, the process can be difficult and the rules are different for each state. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.

What Is A Tax Resale Certificate

A tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell.

You must understand that tax resale certificates can also be used on items that will be resold. Office supplies, such as new computers for your employees, would not fall under the category of retail.  It would be considered fraud not to pay sales tax on these items.

If this is confusing for you, just think of tax resale certificates as state tax exemption certificates.  Some states call them exemption certificates or reseller’s permits.

What Do I Do if I Purchase Goods In Multiple States?

The tax resale certificate can be challenging if you purchase and sell goods in multiple states. It can mean keeping track of many types of certificates for different vendors. The multijurisdiction resale certificate, which is also known as a blanket retail certificate or a uniform sales tax certificate, can help ease this burden.  As its name suggests this document can be used over multiple states. However, the document itself can be confusing and it is not accepted the same way in every state. The document must be filled out correctly, and the retailer is aware of the different issues that can arise if it is misused.   

Do All States Accept The Multijurisdictional Resale Certificates?

One should also recognize that the following states do not accept the multijurisdictional resale certificate:

• California
• Florida
• Hawaii
• Illinois
• Louisiana
• Maryland
• Massachusetts
• Washington

Do All States Charge Sales tax?

Some states do not charge sales tax. Alaska, Delaware, Montana, New Hampshire, and Oregon do not charge sales tax on a state level. Alaska and Montana do allow municipalities to charge sales tax on retail goods at a local level. A tax retail certificate is not needed in these places about a state sales tax.

What Happens If I Do Most Of My Business In A State That I Am Not Incorporated?

If you primarily do business in a state that you are not incorporated in, make sure you apply for a Foreign Qualification (also known in some states as a Certificate of Registration or Certificate of Authority). This is the process of registering your company, which is considered domestic to the state in which it was originally formed and foreign to all other states, as a foreign entity in the states in which it operates. The retailer is then able to legally conduct business outside the state in which the company was originally formed and therefore should be able to apply for a tax resale certificate. 

What Information Do I Need For The Tax Certificate Registration Form?

You must provide the following information:

• The name and address of the purchaser
• The name and address of the seller
• The registration number of the purchaser
• An accurate description of property purchased for resale
• The reason for the exemption
• A statement that if the property is put to use in a taxable manner that the purchaser will remit the consumer use tax
• Date and Signature and Title of the authorized individual at the purchaser

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

To establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

Traditionally, the nexus has been established by the business having a physical presence in the state. However, due to the explosion of e-commerce, physical presence within a state is no longer a requirement for sales tax nexus. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the courts eliminated physical presence as the major requirement for creating nexus. It still should be noted that physical presence is considered an important requirement to allow a state to collect sales tax and is still one of the first considerations for sales tax.

What Happens If I Do Most Of My Business In A State That I Am Not Incorporated?

If you primarily do business in a state that you are not incorporated in, make sure you apply for a Foreign Qualification (also known in some states as a Certificate of Registration or Certificate of Authority). This is the process of registering your company, which is considered domestic to the state in which it was originally formed and foreign to all other states, as a foreign entity in the states in which it operates. The retailer is then able to legally conduct business outside the state in which the company was originally formed and therefore should be able to apply for a tax resale certificate. 

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

To establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

That Is Why We Are Here To Help

Understandably, all this information can be very daunting. Not correctly understanding sales tax and the benefits of a tax resale certificate can lead to a great deal of trouble. A retailer could lose out on extremely beneficial sales tax exemption status. A savvy business owner will understand that having a tax resale certificate will save them a good deal of money but leave the actual headache of registration to someone else.

On the other hand, misunderstanding and not paying the correct sales tax to a state government could very much hurt a business’s standing and reputation. At Tax Resale Certificate,  we make the process as easy as possible. Just take advantage of our user-friendly interface to help take the headache of applying for a tax resale certificate off your plate. 

Starting Up

Even though starting up a business is easier than ever before, there are still costs associated with any new venture. Luckily, You can deduct up to $5,000 of all the costs related to starting a new business if your business was started this tax year. This can include things like market research and advertising for your business launch. 

Insurance

A self-employed person can deduct the premium of various types of business insurance. This can include:

• Fire
• Theft
• Worker’s Compensation
• General Liability

Vehicle Expenses

So, if a self-employed person uses their vehicle for 100 percent business use and the vehicle is in the company’s name, then the car or truck is fully deductible.

If the vehicle is in your personal name and used partly for personal, partly for business use, then there are two ways to calculate the deductions

Track your actual car expenses, including gas, maintenance, insurance, and depreciation, and deduct a percentage supported by the number of business miles you drive.

Deduct a typical rate on each “business” mile driven for the year. For 2020, the quality mileage rate is 57.5 center per mile driven for business use, down from 58 cents per mile in 2019.

No matter which method you select, you’ll got to keep track of what percentage of business and private miles you drive. You can use a manual log or an online app.

Cellphones

You can deduct your percentage of business use from your cell phone bill on your taxes. For example, if you use 30 percent of your personal cell phone for business, then you can deduct 30 percent of the bill. 

You can also just purchase a cell phone that will just be used for business purposes.

Equipment and Furniture

Section 179 is a tax law that allows business owners to deduct the full purchase price of qualified equipment from their gross income. Rather than deducting a certain percentage of the equipment under a multi-year depreciation schedule, as is customarily done, business owners can deduct the full price, as long as it is under$2.5 million if it was financed or purchased in 2018.

Qualified assets for Section 179 include:

•    Machines or equipment purchased for business use.
•    Office furniture.
•    SUVs, pickups, and vans weighing more than 6,000 pounds.
•    Certain improvements to the interior of commercial property.

Read our handy article Tax Deductions that Every Small Business Owner Should Know to find out about more money-saving tax deductions.

Advertising

Self-Employed people should keep in mind that all advertising costs are fully tax-deductible.

This can include the following

• The cost of printing business cards, flyers, and mailers
• Social media advertising like Facebook ads
• Promotions at conventions and trade shows
• The cost of advertising agencies
• Television and radio advertising
• Employing freelancers

You can also deduct all commissions paid to non-employees for sales and marketing purposes. This can include payments to individual sales reps, or marketing channels, and a platform like Amazon.

Depreciation

If you have a business asset that is expected to last more than one year, you can depreciate the cost of the asset over its life rather than deducting the cost of the asset the year that you purchase it. Depreciation is fully deductible. Examples of assets that can be depreciated are:

• Cars
• Furniture
• Technology like computers
• Improvements to leased property

You can not include inventories, stock-in-trade, and land cannot be as a depreciated tax deduction.

Employee benefits

If you have employees and provide health insurance and other benefits then you can fully deduct the costs of those benefits.

Home Office Deduction

Using part of your home for business allows you to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. This can be applied to all types of homes including business owners who rent.

If you use your home exclusively and regularly for conducting business you can deduct the following:

• Mortgage Interest
• Insurance
• Utilities
• Repairs
• Depreciation for that area

To qualify for the home office deduction, you must show that your home is used regularly and exclusively for conducting business and is the principal place of business. 

For a full explanation of tax deductions for your home office refer to Publication 587, Business Use of Your Home. In this publication you will find:

• Requirements for qualifying to deduct expenses (including special rules for storing inventory or product samples).
• Types of expenses you can deduct.
• How to figure the deduction (including depreciation of your home).
• Special rules for daycare providers.
• Tax implications of selling a home that was used partly for business.
• Records you should keep.
• Where to deduct your expenses (including Form 8829, Expenses for Business Use of Your Home, required if you are self-employed and claiming this deduction using the regular method).

 Educational Expenses

Any expenses that are work-related education expenses can be deducted.

To be deductible, your expenses must be for education that;

• (1) maintains or improves your job skills or 
• (2) the law requires you to keep your status or occupation. However, even if the education meets either of these tests, the education can’t be part of a program that will qualify you for a new trade or business or that you need to meet the minimal educational requirements of your trade or business.

Expenses that you can deduct include:

• Tuition, books, supplies, lab fees, and similar items
• Certain transportation and travel costs, and
• Other educational expenses, such as the cost of research and typing

To determine if your work-related expenses are deductible, see Are My Work-Related Education Expenses Deductible?

Getting A Tax Resale Certification Is One Of The Best Things You Can Do As An Entrepreneur

As a self-employed person, getting a tax resale certificate can save you money on taxes.

In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

However, the process can be difficult and the rules are different for each state. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.

What is A Tax Resale Certificate?

You must understand that tax resale certificates can also be used on items that will be resold. Office supplies, such as new computers for your employees, would not fall under the category of retail.  It would be considered fraud not to pay sales tax on these items.

If this is confusing for you, just think of tax resale certificates as state tax exemption certificates.  Some states call them exemption certificates or reseller’s permits.

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

To establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

Traditionally, the nexus has been established by the business having a physical presence in the state. However, due to the explosion of e-commerce, physical presence within a state is no longer a requirement for sales tax nexus. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the courts eliminated physical presence as the major requirement for creating nexus. It still should be noted that physical presence is considered an important requirement to allow a state to collect sales tax and is still one of the first considerations for sales tax.

What Happens If I Do Most Of My Business In A State That I Am Not Incorporated?

If you primarily do business in a state that you are not incorporated in, make sure you apply for a Foreign Qualification (also known in some states as a Certificate of Registration or Certificate of Authority). This is the process of registering your company, which is considered domestic to the state in which it was originally formed and foreign to all other states, as a foreign entity in the states in which it operates. The retailer is then able to legally conduct business outside the state in which the company was originally formed and therefore should be able to apply for a tax resale certificate. 

Remember To Verify Any Tax Resale Certificate Presented To You

In the first part of our series, we mentioned that a vendor can refuse a tax resale certificate. This is because the vendor will be the one liable to the state government should anything be remiss. That is why you should always take the following steps to assure that anything presented to you is valid.

• Make certain that the certificate is properly filled out and signed by the business owner
• You should be able to verify the certificate online by using the certificate
• You should also be able to verify online if the certificate has expired
• Be aware of purchase that seems suspicious and does not relate to the customer’s business in a logical manner
• You must keep the certificate on file for at least 5 years in case of a tax audit.

Become Proactive

Business taxes are determined by net income. This is when you subtract business expenses from gross revenues. Having an online accounting system automatically keeps track of your figures. If you use an online accounting system and you’ve entered all income and expenses, the system will automatically provide you with a gross profit figure.  Those that use spreadsheets, please take the time to add up the numbers so you can forecast what you will need to owe in taxes for the following year.

What Information Do I Need For The Tax Certificate Registration Form?

You must provide the following information:

• The name and address of the purchaser
• The name and address of the seller
• The registration number of the purchaser
• An accurate description of property purchased for resale
• The reason for the exemption
• A statement that if the property is put to use in a taxable manner that the purchaser will remit the consumer use tax
• Date and Signature and Title of the authorized individual at the purchaser

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

To establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

Traditionally, the nexus has been established by the business having a physical presence in the state. However, due to the explosion of e-commerce, physical presence within a state is no longer a requirement for sales tax nexus. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the courts eliminated physical presence as the major requirement for creating nexus. It still should be noted that physical presence is considered an important requirement to allow a state to collect sales tax and is still one of the first considerations for sales tax.

That Is Why We Are Here To Help

Understandably, all this information can be very daunting. Not correctly understanding sales tax and the benefits of a tax resale certificate can lead to a great deal of trouble. A retailer could lose out on extremely beneficial sales tax exemption status. A savvy business owner will understand that having a tax resale certificate will save them a good deal of money but leave the actual headache of registration to someone else so they can get back to making the most of running their business.

On the other hand, misunderstanding and not paying the correct sales tax to a state government could very much hurt a business’s standing and reputation. At Tax Resale Certificate,  we make the process as easy as possible. Just take advantage of our user-friendly interface to help take the headache of applying for a tax resale certificate off your plate. 

The recent COVID-19 pandemic has turned the world upside down. Many people have lost or been furloughed from their jobs. There is high anxiety all around. The Pandemic has changed everything and small businesses and the United States government has passed legislation for tax relief for smaller companies. They are as follows:

• Coronavirus Aid, Relief
• Economic Security (CARES) Act
• Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA)

We at Tax Resale Certificate understand that many people are very nervous right now. We wanted to point out that there are some tax credits or changes that small businesses should understand if they have been affected by COVID-19.

Caps On Business Loss Deductions Were Halted

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES)fast and direct economic assistance for American workers, families, and small businesses, and preserve jobs for our American industries.

The CARES Act has halted the limitation rule on small business losses being capped at $250,000 for individuals and $500,000 for couples. This applies to 2018 to 2020, with business owners who had their losses limited before this year, being able to file the amended returns needed to receive refunds.

Increase In Interest Deductions For Small Businesses

The CARES Act allows you to increase the amount of interest expense that you are allowed to deduct from 30 percent to 50 percent. This applies to tax returns filed in both 2019 and the ones filed in 2020.

Employee Retention Tax Credit

This credit was designed to help companies retain employees while facing pandemic hardships. Businesses will be eligible for this credit if operations were fully or partially suspended due to the coronavirus shutdown. You can also be eligible if gross receipts for your company went down more than 50 percent compared to the same time period in the previous year.

Eligible businesses can get a refundable 50% tax credit on wages with a maximum of $10,000 per employee. The credit can be obtained on wages paid or incurred from March 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

Employers will need to report total qualified wages and related health insurance expenses on their quarterly tax returns on Form 941. This needs to be done in the second quarter of 2020. The Employee Retentions tax credit can be taken against the employer’s share of Social Security taxes.

Family And Sick Leave

Employers will be 100 percent reimbursed for providing sick and paid family leave to employees for reasons related to the Coronavirus, by a tax credit. This will be paid every quarter. Employers will also be able to hold on to their portion of payroll taxes to be deposited and use this money to pay for the sick and family leave. There will be no penalty for businesses that do not deposit payroll taxes because they were anticipating a tax credit.

Deferred Payroll Taxes

The CARES Act is allowing businesses to delay payroll tax payments. These payments, which include Social Security tax and 2020 payroll deposits, can be deferred and paid within the next two years. The government is allowing for 50 percent to be paid by the end of 2021 and 50 percent by the end of 2022.

The Expansion Of The Charitable Gift Deduction

Before the CARES Act, charitable cash gift deductions were not allowed to exceed 10 percent of taxable income. Now, because of the pandemic, it has been increased to 25 percent. This change will have to be elected and does not occur automatically.

Changes In Net Operating Losses

The CARES Act has relaxed limitations on net operating losses. These changes allow for 100 percent of net operating losses from 2018, 2019, and 2020 to be carried back up to five years. They can also be carried up to 20 years with an 80 percent limitation.

Make sure you meet with your tax advisor to discuss all the new tax credits and deductions available to your company this year due to the coronavirus

Let Us Handle The Hassle Of A Tax Resale Certificate

During these tough times, it is nice if someone takes a frustrating but beneficial task off your plate. That is why, here at Tax Resale Certificate, we handle all the headaches of registering for a tax resale certificate for you.

At Tax Resale Certificate,  we make the process as easy as possible. Just take advantage of our user-friendly interface to help take the headache of applying for a tax resale certificate off your plate. 

We know that there is a lot of confusion in the world right now. Luckily, these tax credits will help ease some of the burdens. A tax resale certificate is a fantastic way to make sure your business is in great shape to take advantage of consumer demand once the dust settles. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. 

What is A Tax Resale Certificate?

It is critical that you understand that tax resale certificates can also be used on items that will be resold. Office supplies, such as new computers for your employees, would not fall under the category of retail.  It would be considered fraud not to pay sales tax on these items.

If this is confusing for you, just think of tax resale certificates as state tax exemption certificates.  Some states actually call them exemption certificates or reseller’s permits.

Getting A Tax Resale Certification Is One Of The Best Things You Can Do As An Entrepreneur

If you decide to start a business, a tax resale certificate can save you money on taxes.

In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

However, the process can be difficult and the rules are different for each state. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.

The internet has opened up new opportunities for many people. It is a vast marketplace that can be a goldmine for enterprising and smart business people. The numbers are very promising.

In 2017, e-commerce was responsible for around $2.3 trillion in sales and is expected to hit $4.5 trillion by 2025. In the US alone, e-commerce represents almost 10% of retail sales and that number is expected to grow by nearly 15% each year.

It is tempting to want to jump into this very lucrative market, but how do you begin?

What is E-commerce?

E-commerce simply refers to the buying and selling of goods and services on the internet and the data transactions that constitute payment. Brick and mortar stores are no longer the go-to for shopping as more people are going online for their retail needs.

How much money is in E-commerce?

Online shopping has been around for over 25 years and is expected to grow into a 4 trillion dollar industry. It is by far the fastest-growing retail market.

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

To establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

Traditionally, the nexus has been established by the business having a physical presence in the state. However, due to the explosion of e-commerce, physical presence within a state is no longer a requirement for sales tax nexus. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the courts eliminated physical presence as the major requirement for creating nexus. It still should be noted that physical presence is considered an important requirement to allow a state to collect sales tax and is still one of the first considerations for sales tax.

What Are The Different Methods In Which The States Establish Sales Tax Nexus?

The definition of sales nexus can vary greatly from state to state. Here is a list of the different ways in which states can determine sales tax nexus:

• Click-Through Nexus legislation
• Affiliate Nexus legislation
• Marketplace Nexus legislation
• Notice and Reporting Requirements
• Economic Nexus 

Click-Through Nexus legislation- This usually requires a remote seller to meet a minimum sales requirement in the state resulting from an in-state referral agent who is a resident of the state. The agent must be making commission payments to the referral agent for any sales that are the result of the click-through referrals from the agent’s website. 

Affiliate Nexus legislation– A remote retailer holds a substantial interest or is owned by a retailer that is located within the state and sells a similar type of product under a similar business name. Instate retailers can also be used to promote or market the product to in-state customers. Affiliate nexus does not require common ownership and may not include services such as sales and delivery.

Marketplace Nexus legislation– This definition applies to marketplace facilitators who operate a business in the state and provides e-commerce infrastructure, customer service, payment processing, and marketing services to individual sellers. The facilitator is the one that is required to register with the state and collect the sales tax rather than the individual sellers.

Notice and Reporting Requirements– This legislation requires that a retailer does not collect the state sales tax themselves but notify their buyers that they must report state use tax on all their purchases. The retailer might be required to send the purchaser a statement of all their purchases.

Economic Nexus– An out-of-state retailer generally is required to collect and remit sales tax once the retailer meets a set level of sales transactions or gross receipts activity (a threshold) within the state. No physical presence is required.

To find out more about state sales tax please visit the sales tax institute.

What Is A Tax Resale Certificate

A tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell.

What Is Sales Tax Nexus?

Nexus is defined as having a presence or a significant connection to a state. Your sales tax obligations as an online store owner vary. Most of the time, however, a mere economic connection to a state is enough to create nexus.

State connections include:

• Having offices in the state
• Warehouses and distributors located in the state  
• Employees
• Affiliates located in the state
• Making a certain amount of money or transactions in a state 
• Doing physical business in a state for some time 

The Various State Tax Laws Can Be Confusing

Dropshippers must understand that each state has its unique tax laws related to retail sales tax that are constantly changing. There are many different definitions of what is nexus and what manner of tax resale certificates are acceptable. Some states accept resale documentation from other states, while many do not.

Third-party fulfillment companies make this even more difficult to comprehend.  A large company like Amazon can have one shipment travel through a dozen states, which can often trigger nexus.

Do Not Be Caught Unaware

Many dropshipping third-party suppliers are being unpleasantly surprised by large fines and hefty audits. This has made them require retailers to pay sales tax or be able to present valid tax resale certificates. However, the type of documentation required for each state can vary greatly.

Do Not Get Frustrated.

We understand that this is a whirlwind of information that can be very frustrating. There are great differences between states and you do not have the time to sort this out and properly run your business. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.

Small Business Should Never Underestimate Taxes

The Internal Revenue Service has been more active in targeting small businesses for tax audits in the last several years. New businesses have spent 2.5 billion each year preparing taxes and answering questions from the IRS about tax return inquiries.

However, there are things that any new business can do to lessen its tax burden. We will discuss how choosing the right business entity can make your life as a new entrepreneur much easier in the coming future.

Business Structure

One of the most important things you can do is be aware of the different types of legal structures that exist and how that affects your overall tax and liability burden. You should be fully aware of the different types of business entities and what that means for your business.

What is a business entity?

One or more natural persons create a business entity to carry on a trade or business. Business owners often favor corporations and LLCs because they offer several layers of protection for their owners.

The following are types of business entities:

• Limited liability company: A registered business with limited liability for all members
• Professional limited liability company: An LLC structure for professionals, such as doctors and accountants
• C-corporation: An incorporated business composed of shareholders, directors, and officers
• S-corporation: An incorporated business that is taxed as a pass-through entity
• Professional corporation: A corporate structure for professionals, such as doctors and accountants
• B-corporation: A for-profit corporation that is certified for meeting social and environmental standards
• Nonprofit: Corporations: A formed primarily to benefit the public interest rather than earn a profit.

Sole Proprietorship

If your company is going to be fairly small a sole proprietorship might be the right business entity for your needs. You, as the owner, will be in control of all day-to-day decisions and profits.

The greatest disadvantage of a sole proprietorship is that there is unlimited liability. The owner will be personally responsible for business debts and losses.

This is great for the type of person who truly enjoys independence and wants to make their own rules without answering others. You are your company and are okay with there being no formal division.

The business and the owner are legally the same. From the IRS’s perspective, the business is not a taxable entity. The company assets and liabilities belong directly to the company owner.

Partnerships

A partnership is similar to a sole proprietorship except that there is more than one individual that owns the business. The liability of the partners for the debts of the company is unlimited and this means that each partner is jointly and severally liable for the partnership’s debts; that is, each partner is liable for their share of the partnership debts as well as being liable for all the debts of the business.

If you are someone who enjoys working with a team and does not want to shoulder all the responsibility for the company yourself, a partnership might work for you. If you have the right blend of personalities you can complement each other quite well and be stronger than any of the partners could ever be on their own.

As with sole proprietorships, the business and the owners (two or more) are legally the same. A partnership is not a taxable entity under federal law.

Limited Partnership

A limited partnership contains two distinct types of partners:

• General Partners
• Limited Partners

The general partners run the day-to-day activities of the business. The general partners are also personally liable for a business’s debts and liabilities.

The limited partners do not have much to do with the way a company is run. They have limited liability concerning a business’s debts and they usually pay fewer taxes regarding the profit. These are silent investors who bring in money but do not run the business.

If you want to retain primary authority in your organization but definitely could use some other sources of cash then a limited partnership would be a great compromise.

C-Corporation

C-corporation (c-corp) are separate entities from their owners. A c-corp consists of shareholders (the owners), a board of directors, and officers who have control over the corporation. One person can fulfill all these functions.

The great advantage of a c-corp is that the owner/owners are not personally liable for the debts and liabilities of the company. The disadvantage is that there is double taxation on profits. The government will tax the corporation as a separate entity. You should think of the corporation as a fake person in the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service.

This is a great model for those who want to start a company that is quite large in scope and size. However, you will be answerable to your shareholders for the good and bad outcomes of your business decisions.

S-Corporation

If your corporation has fewer than 100 shareholders who are all individuals, not corporations; have only one class of stock, and are owned by U.S. citizens or resident aliens you could turn your business into an S-Corporation (s-corp).

An s corp is not subject to double taxation as a c corp is. An s corp’s revenue is not taxed at the corporate level. It is only taxed when paying out as salaries or dividends to shareholders. An s-corp is often a better choice than a c-corp for most small businesses.

It should also be noted that corporations have a lot of regulations regarding paperwork and documentation. This is not an entity for you if you want to be footloose and fancy-free.

Limited Liability Company (LLC)

Limited Liability Companies are extremely popular among many business owners because they often combine the best both worlds when it comes to liability and taxation.

These hybrids clear their owners of personal liability for the business’s debts or liabilities. They also allow the profits of the company to “pass-through” to the owner. An LLC will let you avoid the double taxations of corporations.

At the end of the day, you are the one who should decide what business entity best suits your needs. Make sure you consider important factors like taxation and liability. You should also go to your secretary of state’s website to find out what it takes to formally register your business.

Getting A Tax Resale Certification Is One Of The Best Things You Can Do As An Entrepreneur

As a self-employed person, getting a tax resale certificate can save you money on taxes.

In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

However, the process can be difficult and the rules are different for each state. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.

Hiring A Family Member

Employing a family member allows you to shelter income from taxes. Small business owners can even hire their own children. You can pay a lower marginal tax rate or even go as far as eliminating the tax on income paid to one’s child.

A sole proprietorship does not need to pay the Federal Unemployment Tax or FUTA tax for a child or spouse. This tax is defined as a piece of legislation that imposes a payroll tax on any business with employees. The revenue it generates is allocated to state unemployment insurance agencies and used to fund unemployment benefits for people who are out of work. This can lead to great savings. Also, depending on the circumstances of the job, you might even be able to put aside some retirement savings for them.

Healthcare Savings

Medical costs are rising and can be quite expensive. It is smart to save money for unexpected health care expenses even if you are healthy now. This can be accomplished through a Health Savings Plan or HSA.

An HSA is a type of savings account that lets you set aside money on a pre-tax basis to pay for qualified medical expenses. By using untaxed dollars in a Health Savings Account (HSA) to pay for deductibles, copayments, coinsurance, and some other expenses, you may be able to lower your overall health care costs. HSA funds generally may not be used to pay premiums. This will help greatly in lowering taxes associated with medical costs.

HSA helps you save in taxes by letting your contributions be pretax, letting them grow tax-free, and allowing any withdrawals to also be tax-free. They are an invaluable source of savings and peace of mind. 

Home Office Expenses

Using part of your home for business allows you to deduct expenses for the business use of your home. This can be applied to all types of homes including business owners who rent.

If you use your home exclusively and regularly for conducting business you can deduct the following:

• Mortgage Interest
• Insurance

To qualify for the home office deduction, you must show that your home is used regularly and exclusively for conducting business and is the principal place of business.

There are two methods for calculating the house office deduction. In the standard method, you use Form 8829 to itemize the various expenses involved in using and maintaining your home office. This includes rent or mortgage interest payments, utilities, homeowners insurance premiums, and property taxes. In the simplified method, you determine the square footage of your home office (up to 300 square feet) and multiply it by five dollars.

The simplified method is more straightforward but you should see which one gives you a larger deduction amount.

Advertising

Self-Employed people should keep in mind that all advertising costs are fully tax-deductible.

This can include the following

• The cost of printing business cards, flyers, and mailers
• Social media advertising like Facebook ads
• Promotions at conventions and trade shows
• The cost of advertising agencies
• Television and radio advertising
• Employing freelancers

You can also deduct all commissions paid to non-employees for sales and marketing purposes. This can include payments to individual sales reps, or marketing channels, and a platform like Amazon.

Business Travel Expenses

The Internal Revenue Service defines a business expense as the ordinary and necessary expenses associated with traveling away from your home for your business, profession, or job. These expenses cannot be extravagant or used for personal purposes.

The following are valid business expenses:

• Travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination. (If you’re provided with a ticket or you’re riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero.)
• Fares for taxis or other types of transportation between the airport or train station and your hotel, the hotel, and the work location, and from one customer to another, or from one place of business to another.
• Shipping of baggage, and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations.
• Using your car while at your business destination. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking fees. If you rent a car, you can deduct only the business-use portion for the expenses.
• Meals and lodging.
• Dry cleaning and laundry.
• Business calls while on your business trip. (This includes business communications by fax machine or other communication devices.)
• Tips you pay for services related to any of these expenses.
• Other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. (These expenses might include transportation to and from a business meal, public stenographer’s fees, computer rental fees, and operating and maintaining a house trailer.)

Get A Tax Resale Certificate

As a savvy small business retailer, you must be aware of how to utilize tax resale certificates to your best advantage. In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

You must understand that tax resale certificates can also be used on items that will be resold. Office supplies, such as new computers for your employees, would not fall under the category of retail.  It would be considered fraud not to pay sales tax on these items.

If this is confusing for you, just think of tax resale certificates as state tax exemption certificates.  Some states call them exemption certificates or reseller’s permits.

That Is Why We Are Here To Help

Understandably, all this information can be very daunting. Not correctly understanding sales tax and the benefits of a tax resale certificate can lead to a great deal of trouble. A retailer could lose out on extremely beneficial sales tax exemption status. A savvy business owner will understand that having a tax resale certificate will save them a good deal of money but leave the actual headache of registration to someone else.

On the other hand, misunderstanding and not paying the correct sales tax to a state government could very much hurt a business’s standing and reputation. At Tax Resale Certificate,  we make the process as easy as possible. Just take advantage of our user-friendly interface to help take the headache of applying for a tax resale certificate off your plate. 

What is A Tax Resale Certificate?

It is critical that you understand that tax resale certificates can also be used on items that will be resold. Office supplies, such as new computers for your employees, would not fall under the category of retail.  It would be considered fraud not to pay sales tax on these items.

If this is confusing for you, just think of tax resale certificates as state tax exemption certificates.  Some states actually call them exemption certificates or reseller’s permits.

What Happens To Goods That I Do Not Sell?

You might be wondering what becomes of goods you do not sell on which a sales tax has not been collected. These goods could be subject to a use tax. 

What Is The Use Tax?

Use tax applies to purchases made outside the taxing jurisdiction but used within the state. Use tax also applies to items purchased exempt from tax which is subsequently used in a taxable manner.

How Do I Know If I Need To Pay Sales Tax In A Given State?

In order to establish whether or not a state can impose a sales tax upon your business there first needs to be nexus. Nexus relating to state sales tax is established by a connection between the state and your business. How this connection is defined has been subject to fairly recent changes that reflect changes in the way business is conducted in modern times.

Traditionally, the nexus has been established by the business actually having a physical presence in the state. However, due to the explosion of e-commerce, physical presence within a state is no longer a requirement for sales tax nexus. In the case of South Dakota v. Wayfair, the courts actually eliminated physical presence as the major requirement for creating nexus. It still should be noted that physical presence is considered an important requirement to allow a state to collect sales tax and is still one of the first considerations for sales tax.

What Are The Different Methods In Which The States Establish Sales Tax Nexus?

The definition of sales nexus can vary greatly from state to state. Here is a list of the different ways in which states can determine sales tax nexus:

• Click-Through Nexus legislation
• Affiliate Nexus legislation
• Marketplace Nexus legislation
• Notice and Reporting Requirements
• Economic Nexus 

Is The Tax Resale Certificate The Same As A Seller’s Permit?

Even though tax resale certificates are called reseller’s permits in some states, it is important not to confuse them with seller’s permits. A seller’s permit allows a retailer to charge tax on items that they are going to sell to a customer. A tax resale certificate allows you to buy items that are intended for resale without paying a sales tax on those items. 

Does A Vendor Have To Accept My Tax Resale Certificate?

It is extremely important to a retailer’s bottom line that they do not pay sales taxes on goods if there is a possibility that the tax can be exempted on a state level. However, it is also crucial to understand that a wholesaler is not required to accept your tax resale certificate in some states. 

What If A Customer Presents Me With A Tax Resale Certificate? 

A customer can also present a tax resale certificate to you as a retailer and it is your discretion whether or not you want to exempt them from the required sales tax. It is always a good idea to check on the certificate because you will be held responsible, if the certificate is expired or fraudulent, for the unpaid state sales tax. Verification is key in making sure that the correct due diligence has been completed to authenticate the tax resale certificate.

Do Big Box Stores Usually Accept Tax Resale Certificates?

A retailer should also be aware that many Big Box Stores such as Walmart or Target refuse to honor tax resale certificates to prevent retail arbitrage. Retail arbitrage is buying a rare item from a store and reselling it for a markup.

What Do I Do if I Purchase Goods In Multiple States?

The tax resale certificate can be challenging if you purchase and sell goods in multiple states. It can mean keeping track of many types of certificates for different vendors. The multijurisdiction resale certificate, which is also known as a blanket retail certificate or a uniform sales tax certificate, can help ease this burden.  As its name suggests this document can be used over multiple states. However, the document itself can be confusing and it is not accepted the same way in every state. It is important that the document is filled out correctly, and the retailer is aware of the different issues that can arise if it is misused.   

What Happens If I Do Most Of My Business In A State That I Am Not Incorporated?

If you primarily do business in a state that you are not incorporated in, make sure you apply for a Foreign Qualification (also known in some states as a Certificate of Registration or Certificate of Authority). This is the process of registering your company, which is considered domestic to the state in which it was initially formed and foreign to all other states, as a foreign entity in the states in which it operates. The retailer is then able to legally conduct business outside the state in which the company was initially formed and therefore should be able to apply for a tax resale certificate. 

Tax Resale Certificate Is Here To Help

Not correctly understanding sales tax and the benefits of a tax resale certificate can lead to a great deal of trouble. A retailer could lose out on extremely beneficial sales tax exemption status. A savvy business owner will understand that having a tax resale certificate will save them a good deal of money but leave the actual headache of registration to someone else.

On the other hand, misunderstanding and not paying the correct sales tax to a state government could very much hurt a business’s standing and reputation. At Tax Resale Certificate,  we make the process as easy as possible. Just take advantage of our user-friendly interface to help take the headache of applying for a tax resale certificate off your plate. This way you can completely focus on the great opportunities presented by your Print on Demand business.

Many people are turning to self-employment as a means of earning income and doing something that they love. There is a great opportunity today for someone to be their own boss and start a company even if they do not have a great deal of money. However, being self-employed can be quite challenging when it comes to taxes. That is why we have composed a listing of tax deductions that smart self-employed people can not afford to miss.

Professional Services

A self-employed person can deduct fees paid to licensed professionals like attorneys and accountants, as long as some of the services are done in furtherance of your business. Just make sure you separate the business and personal fees.

Licenses And Certifications

You can deduct any expenses associated with business licenses, certifications, and regulatory fees related directly to your business. This can include incorporation fees and small business licenses for your state.

Rent Or Leasing Payments

If you rent office space, cars, or any physical equipment for your business, all those expenses are deductible.

If you leased your car for a term of 30 days or more, though, you’ll need to reduce the deduction by an “inclusion amount.” For more information, refer to the “Leasing a Car” section in chapter 4 of Pub. 463.

Repairs and maintenance

This category includes incidental repairs and maintenance made to machines and other property. For example, you can deduct costs for painting your office or fixing your broken computer.

Educational Expenses

Any expenses that are work-related education expenses can be deducted.

To be deductible, your expenses must be for education that:

(1) Maintains or improves your job skills or

(2) The law requires you to keep your status or occupation. 

However, albeit the education meets either of those tests, the education cannot be a part of a program that will qualify you for a replacement trade or business or that you have to meet the minimal educational requirements of your trade or business.

Expenses that you can deduct include:

• Tuition, books, supplies, lab fees, and similar items
• Certain transportation and travel costs, and
• Other educational expenses, like the value of research and typing

Supplies

Incidental office supplies such as paper, pens, and clips can be deducted from your taxes. However, if the supplies are consumable, such as plastic needed to produce a product, you are limited to only deducting the amount that you use for the tax year, not the total amount that you purchased.

Employee Retention Tax Credit

This credit was designed to help companies retain employees while facing pandemic hardships. Businesses will be eligible for this credit if operations were fully or partially suspended due to the coronavirus shutdown. You can also be eligible if gross receipts for your company went down more than 50 percent compared to the same time period in the previous year.

Businesses that are eligible can get a refundable 50% tax credit on wages with a maximum of $10,000 per employee. The credit can be obtained on wages paid or incurred from March 13, 2020, through December 31, 2020.

Employers will need to report total qualified wages and related health insurance expenses on their quarterly tax returns on Form 941. This needs to be done in the second quarter of 2020. The Employee Retentions tax credit can be taken against the employer’s share of Social Security taxes.

Insurance

A self-employed person can deduct the premium of various types of business insurance. This can include:

• Fire
• Theft
• Worker’s Compensation
• General Liability

Mileage

The Internal Revenue Service allows you to deduct mileage that is used for business purposes.

They are as follows:

• 58 cents per mile for business miles driven, up from 54.5 cents for 2018
• 20 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes, up from 18 cents for 2018
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations, unchanged from 2018

Remember to add all business parking fees and tolls paid during the year, as these are deductible too.

Business Travel Expenses

The Internal Revenue Service defines a business expense as the ordinary and necessary expenses associated with traveling away from your home for your business, profession, or job. These expenses cannot be extravagant or used for personal purposes.

The following are valid business expenses:

• Travel by airplane, train, bus, or car between your home and your business destination. (If you’re provided with a ticket or you’re riding free as a result of a frequent traveler or similar program, your cost is zero.)
• Fares for taxis or other types of transportation between the airport or train station and your hotel, the hotel, and the work location, and from one customer to another, or from one place of business to another.
• Shipping of baggage, and sample or display material between your regular and temporary work locations.
• Using your car while at your business destination. You can deduct actual expenses or the standard mileage rate, as well as business-related tolls and parking fees. If you rent a car, you can deduct only the business-use portion for the expenses.
• Meals and lodging.
• Dry cleaning and laundry.
• Business calls while on your business trip. (This includes business communications by fax machine or other communication devices.)
• Tips you pay for services related to any of these expenses.
• Other similar ordinary and necessary expenses related to your business travel. (These expenses might include transportation to and from a business meal, public stenographer’s fees, computer rental fees, and operating and maintaining a house trailer.)

Getting A Tax Resale Certification Is One Of The Best Things You Can Do As An Entrepreneur

As a self-employed person, getting a tax resale certificate can really save you money on taxes.

In short, a tax retail certificate allows you not to pay sales tax on items that you plan to resell. This can also apply to supplies that are going to be used in products that you will resell, such as wood for a cabinet.

However, the process can be difficult and the rules are different for each state. That is why TaxResaleCertificate should do all the hard work for you. We can make sure that you get all the advantages of a tax resale certificate without having to deal with the hassle of government red tape. Let us handle the hard stuff so you can proceed to run your business with confidence. Make sure you check out our second blog in this series so you can learn even more valuable information about tax resale certificates.