Keith Hall is chief tax advisor with the National Association for the Self-Employed. He says what tends to hurt small business owners the most when filing tax returns are the deductions they overlook. “Not only does that cost you money, but it’s difficult to then go back and get that money back, particularly if you don’t know about those.”
Hall points to a change in how 2010 tax returns will treat health insurance premiums.
“In previous years, that deduction only showed up on page one of your tax return, right on the very front page of the 1040. This year, Congress is allowing us to take that same deduction in the calculation of self-employment tax. So there’s a new line, right on Schedule SE, that includes the health insurance premiums, and that’s huge for small business, because that’s up to 15.3% savings on the cost of health insurance right off the top.”
Hall suggests small business owners anticipating a refund should file early to beat the rush. He says the IRS is expecting taxpayers to file about 140 million returns this year.
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