Deduct It!: Lower Your Small Business Taxes [Paperback]

Stephen Fishman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Deduct It! | Publication Date: May 2004

The fastest way for any small business to make more money is to pay less to the IRS. Recent changes in the tax law make this easier to do than ever before - yet many entrepreneurs continue to pay more than is necessary.

Let Deduct It! show you how to maximize the business deductions you're entitled to --quickly, easily and legally.

Comprehensive -- yet easy to read with many interesting and relevant examples -- the book is organized into practical, easy-to-use categories featuring common deductions, including:

*start-up expenses
*operating expenses
*health deductions
*vehicles
*entertainment
*meals
*travel
*home offices
*inventory
*equipment
*and many more

Deduct It! is indispensable to your venture, whether you're just starting out or have been established for years. The book also provides basic information on how different business structures are taxed and how tax deductions work.

Editorial Reviews

Review

For more information on how to handle inventory and write off the cost of goods, see...Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes. (San Francisco Chronicle 20080202)

"For more information on how to handle inventory and write off the cost of goods, see Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes." (San Francisco Chronicle 20080202)

"Delves deeply into the complex thicket of available deductions, with real-life examples on deducting everything from start-up expenses to car and travel expenses and the costs of benefits." (Accounting Today 20090101)

"Offers basic information and examples in plain English on how businesses are taxed and how to maximize deductions that the IRS considers legitimate." (Reference & Research Book News 20090101)

Delves deeply into the complex thicket of available deductions, with real-life examples on deducting everything from start-up expenses to car and travel expenses and the costs of benefits. (Accounting Today 20090101)

Outlines the many deductions available to small businesses -- in plain English. (National Federation of Independent Business )

Offers basic information and examples in plain English on how businesses are taxed and how to maximize deductions that the IRS considers legitimate. (Reference & Research Book News ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Delves deeply into the complex thicket of available deductions, with real-life examples on deducting everything from start-up expenses to car and travel expenses and the costs of benefits." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Nolo (May 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1413300200
• ISBN-13: 978-1413300208
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 7 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (70 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,654,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Stephen Fishman is the author of many Nolo books, including Tax Deductions for Professionals. Other titles include Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes, Every Landlord's Tax Deduction Guide and Home Business Tax Deductions: Keep What You Earn--plus many other legal and business books. He received his law degree from the University of Southern California in 1979. After time in government and private practice, he became a full-time legal writer in 1983.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

56 of 59 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Explaining the Rules, Both Written and Understood, March 2, 2006

By 

John Matlock "Gunny" (Winnemucca, NV) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes, Second Edition (Paperback)

The income tax laws of the United States clearly allow you do deduct business expenses. But from this basic rule has come an incredibly complex set of subsidiary rules that further define what are legitimate deductions and what are not allowed.

The strength of this book is that it explains these rather complex (arcane even) IRS rules in plain common sense language that the average businessman can follow. And further it gives hints and tips that are based on what is known about how the IRS really operates - these are the real rules instead of the written rules. For instance -- Filing by mail reduces your chance of being audited. Why, because the IRS doesn't transcribe all of the information on the printed return to electronic form where it can be analyzed by computer. If you file electronically, everything you enter is available for the computer to analyze.

You'll never know if information like this kept you from being audited, but it's certainly information that you'd want to know. In this book there is a wealth of such information that can't help but be of use as you prepare your tax forms.

51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent Tips, July 22, 2005

By 

Carmen Matthews "The Serene Samurai" (San Diego, California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deduct It!: Lower Your Small Business Taxes (Paperback)

At first glance, I thought, "Okay. It's a textbook." Yet, as I read this book it became a walk through finding what I wanted - excellent tips on small business deductions.

Mr. Fishman has managed to convert tax law and accounting into an easy to follow source for anyone who has or plans to have a small business.

And there were many sections that surprized me.

One example was "The basic rule is that, no matter what month and day of the year you buy an asset, you treat it as being placed in service on July 1 -the midpoint of the year. This means that you get one-half year of depreciation for the first year that you own an asset."

Another great part in this book is that he identifies excellent details about the difference between deductions for the homebased small business deductions that are local travel (within your county), versus travel that is outside of your area.

Some of the well-placed, noteworthy websites in this this book are:

Kelly Blue Book www.kbb.com
Edmunds www.edmunds.com
NADA Guides www.nadaguides.com

Tax websites:
www.unclefed.com
www.taxguru.net

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book!, September 25, 2007

By 

W. Williams (Woodbury, MN) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Deduct It! Lower Your Small Business Taxes (Paperback)

Great book. Just one comment. A lot of the text in this book is identical to the text in Tax Deductions for Professionals. You don't need both books; choose one.