Many people who do not deal in the tax preparation or planning business think of taxes as something to deal with one day per year. Like Christmas, only not as good. So perhaps more like “Grinch Day.” Nevertheless, it doesn’t get a lot of attention after April. It drifts into the “Thank goodness that’s over!” mental space and goes away until the new year.
It’s different for self-employed small business owners, as tax related issues are dealt with more often, but it’s still mechanical in nature. “I’ve got to go deposit payroll taxes today” or “I need to send in my 941 quarterly payment this week.” But still, their thoughts are not focused on proactive activities, but more so on responsibilities on a calendar.
This is a shame because it could be, and should be, very proactive in nature instead. Instead of “I’ve got to send in my 941 quarterly payment this week” it could be, “What could I do this quarter to not owe a 941 quarterly payment?”. “Oh, I know, a few of our employees are having childcare issues and we have two break rooms. I’m going to turn one break room into a daycare as my tax planner suggested, since there is a tax credit for that which could offset my 941 amount due, and it will help me with the hiring and retention of employees.”
In fact, the Employer-Provided Childcare Tax Credit offers employers a tax credit up to $150,000 per year to offset 25% of qualified childcare facility expenditures and 10% of qualified childcare resource and referral expenditures, as of Nov 30, 2023. This is just one example of things the business owner could be focused on if he is working on taxes proactively throughout the year, rather than only re-actively on compliance! Why don’t more people and businesses do this? Because they are working with a tax preparer or bookkeeper, rather than a tax planner who is trained in the proactive tax planning space. Bottom line: Go search out and engage with a tax planner!
