Great tax accountants can make or break any small business. Working as a freelancer is becoming more and more popular.

Knowing how to maximize your tax deductions and how to save your money is very important.

Here are some ideas that will get you thinking. Remember, as a freelancer, you are on your own, and so learning how to keep a record of all your costs is important. Your better understanding of how to claim your deductions is extremely important. Read between the lines.

Receipts, Receipts, Receipts. You must get into the habit of keeping receipts. You can sort out later what is a tax deduction for your business. You should take notes and writing them on the back of the receipt is the best way.

Research Is Costly. Research for design or writing articles can be very costly. If you are writing something on sports shoes, remember that you will need to think about the total cost. A pair of shoes can be very expensive but a necessary item to good research of your topic. Research is costly, and we often neglect many small items that are the cost of our research.

Your Home Office. There are so many costs of a home office that we neglect to think about. Upgrading of equipment and even renovations directly attributable to our home office are expenses in themselves.

Business, Research Travel. Travelling is a big part of research and a big part of finding new business, making sure that you keep all the records so that you can claim it right, is the art of the savvy freelancer. Your clients may be far away and meeting them face to face can be a very important way to develop your business.

Mileage. How far you travel is also very costly. Look at the following example. Mileage accrued while researching articles is a small business tax deduction. If you write about choosing and caring for a new pet, your travel to purchase the animal and the standard vet visit may be deductible, as is your mileage to the store if you write about food and supplies.

Phone. A new phone and related costs can often be attributed to your work, as much of our writing and design work needs good research. A big part of research uses your phone.

You must think creatively about your research and other expenses. This can help you save your money. Many activities and supplies purchased during the research phase of writing and designing for income are tax deductible as long as you keep good records.

Above we mentioned the example of the pet, but there are many other examples that could be used. Maximise your refund or your deductions by fully understanding how your expenses relate to your income. Get good advice from good accountants.

Photo © IRS EIN

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