Online Incorporation MaxBlog

Now that we’re into the New Year, it’s time to think about your tax strategy for 2010. And this could be one of the craziest years to try and plan a workable strategy – but no matter what Congress does, you can take some useful precautions to minimize the impact of your tax bill on the bottom line.

One highlight of this year – the estate tax is supposed to go to 0% for this year. President Obama though is opposed to this move and is pushing for the rates to be set to levels comparable to recent years.

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provided some great tax breaks for small businesses in 2009 such as larger first-year and bonus depreciation tax write-offs. Expect some of these to be extended into 2010.

Bonnie Lee, a tax expert with Entrepreneur.com says “who knows what’s going to happen” but added that taxes are likely to rise, especially if the proposed healthcare legislation passes.

In spite of the uncertainty, Lee suggests a few prudent steps you can take to minimize your tax bill. These include:

• Do what you can to reduce taxable income – contribute to a health savings account or make charitable donations. Contribute the maximum allowance into your IRA or 401k.
• Develop better strategies to track your expenses. Buy a mileage log and develop company-wide strategies to track all expenses. You’ll need all the deductions you can get.
• As stay on top of all the changes that go on from year to year so if you haven’t used one in the past, consider hiring one.
• Set aside money each month for your tax bill that will be due in 2011. You can probably bet your 2010 taxes will be higher than 2009 so be prepared.

Taxes for small businesses are unfortunately a fact of life so we need to stay proactive so we don’t end up paying more than we should.

Learn more about some of the federal taxes small businesses are subject to in our online incorporation knowledge center article on the subject. And if you’re thinking about making the switch to entrepreneurship in 2010, consider incorporating your small business online with MaxFilings.

Online marketing, specifically blogs and other forms of social media marketing, are becoming the primary vehicle for small business owners to advertise their products and services. As the recession keeps dragging on, consumers are more meticulous when it comes to their shopping…and they’re turning to online sources more and more to carefully research products and see what others are saying about particular products or services before making a purchasing decision.

Therefore, blogs and other social media sites like Facebook and Twitter have become powerful marketing engines and have helped many businesses maintain their position in this rough economy.

But the Internet has hardly any regulation – consumers have to judge for themselves whether the reviews they see are legitimate, which is usually gauged through the quality of the site.

In an anticipated move Monday, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission voted 4-0 to issue new rules to update the longstanding principle of disclosing “material connections” between advertisers and endorsers. Decisions will be reached on a case-by-case basis according to the new rules. But now, the FTC will consider the payment a blogger may receive from a company for writing about a product an endorsement.

So, bloggers will now have to disclose any “material connections” (i.e. payment or free product) they have with the seller or face up to an $11,000 fine by the FTC.

This new rule will certainly affect fledgling new businesses such as yours but it’s nothing too major. Complying shouldn’t be a big deal but to think the FTC is going to monitor 133 million plus blogs and growing is almost laughable. These new rules will go into effect December 1st.

Nevertheless being honest about your products and services is good business anyway no matter the regulation. Operating with integrity will build your long-term business much better.

If you’re running into roadblocks in trying to figure out how to market your small business online, we invite you to take a look at our sister company SEO Advantage. This premier search engine optimization firm helps businesses grow their revenues by reaching more customers through online searches.

And it’s easy to incorporate online with MaxFilings’ online incorporation system where you can easily incorporate a business online in all 50 states in 10 minutes or less.

Many of the entrepreneur guides today recommend forming an advisory board…but a surprising number of entrepreneurs ignore this advice according to an interesting article by Mary Sullivan at the First Year blog.

It’s hard to know why entrepreneurs ignore this advice – perhaps they don’t understand the role of an advisory board or think they can find everything online. While there’s a lot of useful information on the Internet, nothing takes the place of advice specific to your situation.

At a minimum, an advisory board should include a legal and financial/tax advisor and any other area you lack the necessary experience to make your business run.

After incorporating online, you’re not likely going to have a large management team in place so a group of people to float ideas with and get their perspective. It’s best to meet as a group, usually each month.

In addition to advice, your advisors will pass your name along to their friends and business associates, giving you support at a critical time.

Read Mary’s article for more tips on forming an advisory board…and once you are ready to form a corporation, take care of it easily online in as short as 10 minutes at MaxFilings.com.

Over the next 10 years, healthcare reform could save America’s small businesses $855 million according to a report released by the nonpartisan Small Business Majority and featured in this Daily Dose blog post.

Healthcare reform is a hot topic in Washington right now. Increasing costs have forced entrepreneurs and small businesses to make tough choices about whether to cover their employees or not.

The study, entitled The Economic Impact of Healthcare Reform on Small Businesses, noted that successful reform will require shared responsibility among the healthcare industry, businesses, government and individuals.

In an interview with Entrepreneur.com, Small Business Majority CEO John Arensmeyer commented “Not enacting healthcare reform is going to be an unmitigated disaster, but implementing a system based on the framework Congress is working on right now–even with the [controversial] mandates for employee coverage–will be a tremendous benefit to small business. Even the most conservative versions of reform will produce better results.”

Data from the study also concluded that without reform, up to 178,000 jobs could be lost by 2018 and that small business employees will see $12 billion in lost wages this year alone.

Arensmeyer is confident reform will be completed this year.

Looking for some simple explanation of federal small business taxes? Click over to the online incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for an overview of the next most certain thing in life next to death.

Federal taxes a small business may be subject to depend a lot on its structure (i.e. C corporation, S corporation, LLC, etc.) along with many other factors.

Four different types of taxes a small business could be exposed to include

1. Income taxes – required for all individuals and businesses (except partnerships, who file an informational return).
2. Self-Employment taxes – primarily affects the self-employed
3. Employment taxes – small businesses with employees
4. Excise taxes – required depending on various conditions, usually for businesses who manufacture certain things or are in a certain industry.

Read Four Types of Federal Taxes Small Businesses Should Know About – And Where to Find Information from the IRS today in the business incorporation knowledge center at MaxFilings.com for more insight and links to further information about this complex subject.