I loathe administrative work. Any time that there’s an unnecessary email I have to write, or I must make a call to my phone company because they messed up on my bill for the fourth time this year, I put it off as long as possible.
Life is busy enough without all the miscellaneous tasks that demand our attention. When I have to spend my time and energy on administrative chores, I wish that I was getting paid, especially when I have to spend time fixing something.
As a small business owner, you always have an endless list of projects that consume your time. Hopefully, you get compensated for most of these. But oftentimes it's the little details that make you money. Today I’m going to talk about how you can get refunded thousands of dollars, courtesy of our friends at the IRS, just for being a small business owner.
Let’s talk about Section 179 of the IRS tax code!
What is Section 179?
As a small or medium business owner, you may have already heard of Section 179 of the IRS Tax Code. If you haven’t heard of it, Section 179 is a government tax incentive for purchasing business equipment and vehicles. This incentive is made specifically available to all small and medium-sized businesses. Almost all types of business vehicles and equipment qualify for a 179 deduction.
Section 179 allows you to deduct the entire purchase price of any qualifying equipment, software, and vehicles that you have purchased for your business during the tax year. The Section 179 deduction can be taken no matter what method of payment you use for the purchase.
Whether you pay cash or finance (including leases), you can deduct every penny from your taxable income.
I sat down with Angela Buckendorf, Marketing Manager at Aztec Financial to Discuss What You Need to Know About Section 179
Drew Crawford: What is the most misunderstood thing about Section 179 tax write-offs?
Angela Buckendorf: Many people misunderstand the timeframe for eligibility. You need to purchase the equipment and put it into use by midnight of that tax year. If you do that, it usually qualifies for the tax write-off.
People think that it’s going to be really difficult to be eligible for the write-off or require a lot of paperwork, but it’s not. Your accountant will make it really easy. All you need to do is save your receipts, show your accountant, and they will do the rest.
Drew Crawford: What do you need to tell your accountant to take advantage of Section 179?
Angela Buckendorf: If you have an accountant that you are working with, give them a call now to talk about Section 179. They can look at your business earnings for the year, review them, see where your taxes are at, and give you a dollar amount that if you spend on equipment will take that much money off of your taxes.
Your accountants will most likely just need the invoices from the equipment that you purchased in order to be eligible.
Drew Crawford: How Many Deductions are Available through Section 179?
Angela Buckendorf: All small to medium-sized business owners are eligible for a 100 percent deduction on taxes up to a specified amount. There’s also a bonus available for depreciating assets that goes up to another specified amount. The deduction on taxes as well as the depreciating assets change from year to year, but you will always find many deductions available through Section 179.
Drew Crawford How does IRS Code Section 179 Combine With Equipment Financing to Boost Your Cash Flow?
Angela Buckendorf: By using Section 179 for equipment, you can keep money in your pocket for other expenses (like payroll and consumables) when you finance the equipment. You get to keep even more money when you reduce your tax liability with a Section 179 deduction. The main benefit of combining Section 179 with equipment financing is that you save cash by financing the equipment or vehicle and reduce your tax liability
It's kind of double-dipping, however, that is the bonus of Section 179. When you finance your purchase and take a Section 179 deduction, you can substantially increase your cash flow with a simple vehicle or equipment purchase.
Drew Crawford: Why does Section 179 sound too good to be true for many contractors? Can you explain why the government is giving people free money?
Angela Buckendorf: A tax write-off is the government's way of saying that because you put money back into your business you don’t owe taxes on a certain percentage of what you spent. This grows the economy which is why the government incentivizes it.
In other words, it's not free money, this is money that you’re already paying that you are getting back because you are investing it to grow your business.
Drew Crawford: Is a Tax Adviser Expensive if you haven't already hired one?
Angela Buckendorf: If you don’t have a tax adviser to take advantage of Section 179, I would highly recommend getting one. Even if you have to hire a firm like H&R Block or another company, it’s well worth the small amount of money (a few hundred dollars) that you pay for them. Tax professionals specialize in helping you get all of the deductions that you are available for.
It Takes Less Time to Save Money with Section 179 than it Does to Mow Your Backyard
Depending on how big your yard is, you can save thousands of dollars that you already have to pay towards your taxes already in less amount of time than it would take to mow your lawn. All you have to do is call your tax adviser and give them some paperwork. You already have to file taxes every year anyways, so taking advantage of Section 179 is a no-brainer. The money that you receive from Section 179 is yours to invest in your business.
Call your tax professional and claim your tax refund today!
Note: I am not a tax adviser. Please consult with your accountant or tax adviser to take advantage of everything described in this article.