Publication 587 – Business Use of Your Home (See Day Care Facility)
The purpose of this publication is to provide information on figuring and claiming the deduction for business use of your home. It contains special rules for day care providers including standard meal and snack rates. Continue reading
GETTING NERVOUS? CALL ME! 619-589-8680
The IRS has recently announced that they will not start processing 2013 tax returns until January 31, 2014. This means there is no reason to efile or mail in your tax forms before then.
Before sending in your tax forms, here’s a review of the key business tax forms you must file and the order you should be filling them out. Continue reading
Your job starts well before children are present and goes on well after the last child has left your care.
Unfortunately, it is exactly for that reason that so much of your time never gets counted, as it should.
Most child care providers give an approximate idea of how long they spent doing “chores”.
Unfortunately, many “lo-ball” on the actual amount of time they spend doing chores before and after children are present. We believe this checklist will help you.
First, don’t think of it as an administrative chore. That makes it “work”. Instead think of it as truly getting to see how well you manage your time – in real numbers. You will either discover that you know your day down to the minute, or you will discover you don’t and have shortchanged yourself.
Click HERE to download a word version of this checklist, that you can customize to your specifications. Click HERE for a pdf version.
When this rule was introduced in early 2013, the new rule allowed for family child care providers to claim up to $1,500 in house expenses on their 2013 tax return, without being required to produce receipts, (IRS Rev. Proc. 2013-13).
Recently, the IRS updated this ruling, and we feel even stronger now that for the vast majority of our child care provider clients this rule is not in their favor and we will not be using it. We can confidently say that most, if not all, of our client’s deductions exceed the limit of $1,500.00.
Our best advice is if you are not one of our clients, call us at 619-589-8680. Otherwise, we urge all child care providers to seriously question any tax preparer who encourages you to use this deduction, unless you completely understand how it will impact your return. Once done, you can’t amend this portion of your tax return. You are locked in.
This percent is determined by adding up the number of hours you are using your home for business purposes and dividing this number by the total number of hours in the year (8,760). There are two types of hours to include: hours when day care children are present in your home and hours when children are not present but you are engaged in business activities. Continue reading
More than half of my clients are child care providers, and many of them became clients after attending one of my tax and record keeping seminars to the child care community through YMCA Child Resource Services. According to a recent report, the Bureau of Labor claims that one-third of all child care providers operate as self-employed businesses, and many of these child care providers care for children in their home. Continue reading
For 2013 you get 56.5¢ for each business mile (keep your logs daily) . While employees can’t deduct driving to work, look at visits to clients, extra meetings, errands or shopping for supplies. Business owners – especially child care providers – have the same and more.
Landlords need to log trips to the property, buying supplies, driving for maintenance, etc. Keep a record of all business mileage – and personal mileage! Costs for parking and/or tolls can be claimed in addition to the mileage deductions.
Be sure to attend my 2014 seminar on Tax and Recordkeeping.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.
YMCA CRS Mission Valley
3333 Camino del Rio South Suite 400
San Diego, CA 92108
For more information, call 1-800-481-2151
Download CRS Signup Form HERE. Also visit YMCA Childcare Resource Service at http://crs.ymca.org
Source: Tax News & Tips, Year End 2013
IF YOU WANT TO GET CREDIT FOR CHILD and DEPENDENT CARE, THE IRS NEEDS TO KNOW… IRS Tax Tip 2011-46, Last Reviewed or Updated: 04-Sep-2013
If you paid someone to care for your child, spouse, or dependent last year, you may be able to claim the Child and Dependent Care Credit on your federal income tax return. Continue reading
You’ve gotten a letter from the IRS. Don’t panic.
Call your tax preparer, but a note of caution; you need someone who can represent you in front of the IRS. You do not want to do this alone. If you do not have an Enrolled Agent to work with – you want one. EAs are the only federally licensed tax practitioners who specialize in taxation and also have unlimited rights to represent taxpayers before the IRS.
I am an Enrolled Agent, and if you want someone local to you, you can locate an Enrolled Agent by contacting the National Association of Enrolled Agents, NAEA. If you want to learn what is an Enrolled Agent and what distinguishes them from other tax preparers, please read Enrolled Agents . Continue reading
