What works at home works in your business

Business owners like you and I are constantly looking for ways to be better with our finances. (And when I say “are constantly”, I mean that we should occasionally do a better job than we have been). Budgeting is one of those areas, like watching our diet, that we can always do a better job doing than we have been.

Recently, I read a really helpful budgeting article that I wanted to share. The article tends to be more focused on household budgeting but many of the same principles hold true. And heck, even if you read this article and get some of your personal finances in order, I’ll feel like I’ve done my job today.

This article is really valuable and if you read – and follow – just one article on household budgeting this year, read this article. It can save you hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Now, before I send you over to the article, let me make the connection to your business… because that’s why you’re here.

1. The idea of bills in business is the same as the idea of bills at home. What applies at home, applies to your business.
2. Car expenses may not seem as relevant if you’re not running a fleet but the same truths apply to a lot of your business equipment – from computers to photocopiers to that giant assembly line sitting in your factory.

Check out this article from Free Money Finance.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ

Tax avoidance versus tax evasion: One is lauded. The other will land you in jail.

Okay, so you want to pay less tax. Who the heck doesn’t?!?! There are things you SHOULD do and things you SHOULDN’T do.

On the “should” side: Collect the right amount of taxes. Keep honest books. Report all income. Pay your taxes.

On the “shouldn’t” side: Run two books. Report only some income. Don’t pay your taxes.

However, just because you SHOULD pay your taxes, doesn’t mean that you can’t try to pay less… as long as your tax minimization is legal. And that is ultimately the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion.

Tax avoidance is completely legal and it’s something that every single tax payer can choose to do. (Of course, the IRS doesn’t make it easy because their tax code is so unwieldy and complex that even IRS people don’t always understand it). It’s basically making lifestyle and (legal) tax-reporting choices that will minimize the amount of tax that you have owing on the correct amount of income.

Tax evasion is illegal. This is where you make lifestyle and tax-reporting choices that paint a false picture of your income and expenses in order to minimize the amount of tax you have owning.

Want to know more about the difference between tax avoidance and tax evasion? You can read this article at KenyanTykoon.

Jessica Routier, IAC-EZ