Taxes In A New Business

KennMacMoragh

Being I just started my company a couple months ago, I am still trying to find out how to be on the right side of the law where taxes are concerned. So if you are a company owner, what kind of things did you discover on paying taxes and managing your bank accounts in general? In other words, what sort of things blind sighted you? I know I should pay to see an accountant, which I will probably do later, but for now I want to see if anyone here has suggestions.

I've already made one mistake with my B&O tax. I filed my B&O tax when I was supposed to, then I got a notice in the mail saying I never filed it. I called them up about it and they said "I think you're confusing the state B&O tax with the city B&O tax". So apparently there's more than one I have to file.

480sparky

This is where having a lawyer and an accountant pays off.

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JustaFramer

A accountant is worth their weight in gold. My first business I thought becuase I took a accounting class in high school I was good to go.

Also check out some of the community colleges they offer workshops usually put on by the state to help you better run your business from the back end. Not a full blowen business class but it should help.

Double-A

Kevin, any good accountant should be willing to meet with you and go over all of your weekly, monthly, quarterly and yearly tax burdens in your area. The trouble with asking here is that we're not in your area, so we can only address what our experience tells us.

Meet with your accountant and have them advise you. Knowing is much better than hoping.

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Handymanservice

Do not mix up personal and business funds.

Get an Accountant, you may not always need one, that is up to you, but I would pay for one for at least the first 3 years.

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KennMacMoragh

Yeah, I'll probably make multiple trips to see an accountant. Just thought someone here might know of something I'm unaware of.

JustaFramer

I know there is different codes for what cities you work in. I don't remember if that was for sales tax or B&O or both. I haven't filed one in a few years. I did a small job in Bothell and I had to figure out if it was the King or Snohomish County side. And find the approriat code to figure out the taxation rate. I thought is was B&O but it could of been sales tax.

greg24k

Good idea to contact an accountant and have him explain everything to you. In addition get Quick Books or other accounting program, where you can set your business up, and have a report printed for your accountant with a push of a button when needed. Doing that it will save you money and things will run much smoother. You can keep track of all your contracts, job costs, expenses, etc. Another good thing to have is Neat Desk I have been using this for the past few months and I don't know how I did it without. I would recommend that to anyone.

Good luck and pay your taxes on time, because people on welfare depend on us

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KennMacMoragh

It does vary for both sales tax and B&O tax for each city, so I've found out.


And neatdesk does look cool, just expensive

Kgmz

The Washington State B & O tax for your classification is the same everywhere in the state. But there are some cities that have their own B & O tax, that you will have to find out from each city. Normally if they require you to have a city license then you will pay a tax.

As for sales tax you do have to charge whatever the rate is where you are selling the installed product or work. The Department of Revenue has a mapping program on their website that will show you the tax rate for the spot you click on the map, or address entered.

The taxes for Washington are fairly easy, just make sure you get everything in on time. And if you did no work for a quarter you still have to file a quarterly return, just right no work done or no income on it. For L & I, and employment security if you hire employees same thing.

Now some of the cities can be a pain, especially if you don't do much work in some. They like to charge you a fee for your quarterly even if you did no work that quarter.