Here are the Five Top Tips I shared last week at Craig Duswalt’s RockStar Entrepreneur Conference.   They are just as important to employees as they are to business owners.     1. Know your income and expenses. How much money did you make? If you have a business, to keep things perfectly clear, you should also have a business bank account. Deposit ALL of your business income and pay all of your business expenses from that business account.   2. Know your business. And know your business structure. Are you a sole proprietor? A partner in a partnership? An officer or a shareholder in a corporation? Each of these distinct business entities file their own particular income tax form or return   3. Know your dates. When I mentioned on March 14th that corporate returns or extensions were due the very next day, people who had forgotten this important date scrambled  to meet their deadline. Some business returns are just going to be late. And late returns can be assed both interest and penalties. .   4. Know your team. Do you have employees? Are you an employee? Don’t try to push your matching half of social security taxes and medicare taxes on someone who really is an employee. Independent contractors have their own businesses and have greater control over what they do and when they do it for you. As long as the job is done satisfactorily, both parties will be happy. If you think you are an employee, work on the employer’s premises, use their equipment and follow their schedule, you are probably an employee. If the business owner is issuing you a 1099 instead of a W2, we need to talk.   5. No More Taxes. Pay your fair share and not a penny more. Nobody wants to be singled out by the Internal Revenue Service for an income tax audit. Think of a spider web. It is far and wide and practically invisible. You are walking along, minding your own business, when you suddenly find yourself in the spider’s web. This is the IRS tax audit. Can you get free? Will you pay more tax?   Naturally and easily know the  answer to ANY IRS question anytime! Stay tuned for the next chapter on how to Bullet Proof YOUR Taxes!   Always to your lowest legal tax,   Nellie T Williams, EA