Tax time Procrastination?

Is there something that you just don’t seem to do until the very last moment? Fear not, you are not alone! At one point in our lives, I am sure we have all been bitten by the so-called “procrastination bug”. For small business owners, entrepreneurs, self-employed, and freelancers, procrastination is at its strongest during tax time. 

The mere mention of tax time brings a number of negative emotions like panic, grudge, apathy or irritation to these people. To avoid these negative emotions, they tend to avoid the tasks associated with tax time and concentrate their attention on other tasks that give an instant hit or more positive feeling i.e. sales, marketing, customer service tasks, and others. Obviously, tax time procrastination at its best!

We gathered some of the tasks associated with tax time as well as some quick and effective actions to negate these undesirable tasks.

Going through records of income and expenses. 

The foundation of solid business record keeping is learning to track income and expenses. Unfortunately, some small business owners, especially those who are new in the field find it hard to get on top of their bookkeeping tasks. No matter how ardent they are, when it comes to the day-to-day process of recording transactions, categorizing them, and reconciling bank statements; some small business owners loathe it.

And then here comes tax time. For them, this season signifies the start of chasing invoices and receipts if they want to beat the deadline. This is when the procrastination usually starts.

Here’s a secret, you can beat it!

From the very start, establishing a system for organizing receipts, expense logging, invoices, and other important records should be every small business owners’ priority. You see, it is impossible for a company to flourish if it can’t pay people and taxes on time, deliver orders, make deposits and send receipts for invoices and purchases.  It should be common knowledge that bookkeeping is the backbone of any business.

In this day and age, there are programs that make bookkeeping easier to implement and understand. Small business owners are now acknowledging that technology can indeed simplify bookkeeping and are now using invoice generators, expense apps, and other software programs to help them. Now is indeed the time to say goodbye to traditional jotting down and keeping of records!

Understanding the terms used in tax forms.

Terms used in tax forms add up to the complexity of the tax filing tasks. This is another reason why small business owners procrastinate during tax time. To understand even the basic tax terminology, one must take the time to study and learn it.

Once again, the Internet could be your number one friend in decoding tax lingo. You need to unleash your resourcefulness and get help on the Internet. Jot down important tax term for your future references. This could be the first step for you to beat tax-time procrastination.

Lodging tax returns.

It doesn’t matter whether it is lodging for the first time or for the tenth time. Lodging tax returns intimidate small business owners and are another contributor to tax time procrastination.

While the process may seem difficult to understand, in reality, it’s not as bad as you think. Did you know that the Australian Tax Office provides support systems to better understand how to complete a tax return? It’s only a matter of utilizing all the resources available especially in this digital age where almost everything can be done online. Just make sure all your records and documents are with you when lodging tax returns via the web or mobile apps to avoid mistakes and incorrect claims.

Catching up on different tax rules from year to year.

The only permanent thing in the world is change and it is very much present on tax rules. What business owners’ studied and learned this year, might change for next year. This is why we can’t blame small business owners when they hide away during tax time and choose to procrastinate.

Awareness is the key.

Albeit intimidation because of these changes, they can arm themselves with information acquired from their close friends who are also in the business, and education they can learn from the Internet.

Tax time happens once a year and it is a basic aspect of running a business. Small business owners must learn to maneuver tax season without succumbing to common tax-time procrastination.

How do you face tax time season? How do you beat procrastination when it hits you? Feel free to share your thoughts on the comment section!

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