New Tax Breaks For Small and Home Based Businesses

With the closing of the year, it’s time to start thinking about preparing to file your taxes. Never a pleasant topic, but it is one that must be broached. The sooner you begin preparing, the sooner you can file and the sooner it will be over. To make it a little easier on the indigestion, there are a few new tax breaks that pertain to small businesses, home based entrepreneurs and employers offering health care flexible spending accounts.

First, according to “Key tax changes for 2014 and beyond” on Bankrate, referring to new tax rules favoring small and home based businesses, the article states, ““Under the new rule, you can bypass detailed expense records and simply deduct $5 for every square foot of home office space used, up to a maximum of 300 square feet, or $1,500. The simplified expense is recorded on Schedule C rather than Form 8829, and allows you to separately deduct mortgage interest and real estate taxes on Schedule A.” (http://www.bankrate.com/finance/taxes/key-tax-changes-for-2014-and-beyond.aspx#ixzz3L8ByK5lz )

If your company offers employees health care flexible spending accounts, there’s more good news. According to the same Bankrate article, “Employers now can allow employees to carry over up to $500 of any unused balance from the previous year, for use at any time during the next FSA accounting period.”

In addition, if you continue to run your own businesses after qualifying for Medicare you can deduct the premiums you pay for Medicare Part B and Medicare Part D, plus the cost of supplemental Medicare (medigap) policies or the cost of a Medicare Advantage plan.

These are just a few of the new tax breaks. Hopefully some of them are motivating enough to get you started early. And always remember, you must file your taxes even if you owe the IRS money.