You’ve filed your taxes, made your payments and are ready to get on with the rest of your year. While it may seem like tax season is officially over, the reality is that tax season never ends—the most fiscally responsible businesses and individuals engage in smart tax planning strategies all year long to ensure the best financial results.
So while this year’s tax filing date may be in your rearview mirror, now is the perfect time to make sure you’re getting off on the right foot for next year’s tax season, especially as the summer approaches, which tends to be a less busy time for many industries.
Here are a few tips from a tax service in Des Moines, IA regarding things you should consider about your financial situation before plunging full steam ahead into the next year.
Analyze your returns
Spend some time going over the tax returns you just filed. There’s a great resource from the AICPA Personal Financial Planning Division called the “Analysis of a Tax Return for Personal Financial Planning,” which you can get from www.aicpa.org. Conducting this analysis will help you pinpoint opportunities for financial savings and benefits for your company. It will alert you to things you should be thinking about for your clients that could present other service opportunities, or opportunities for special projects this year. It will also help you determine if you need to make any changes in your tax filing processes for next year.
Consider special projects for your company
When you’re focused on getting your taxes filed and have had to prioritize the most important projects for your business, there have probably been some other projects you’ve had to put on hold. The summertime is the best time of year to work through these “on hold” projects, because you’re not likely to be as busy as you are at other times of the year. These projects could include research about your sales and marketing endeavors, or new branding initiatives.
Consider who is the best person on your staff to handle these types of special projects, and make sure you have an appropriate deadline and budget in place for these initiatives.
Stay on top of extended returns
If you extended your filing deadlines for tax returns during the spring, make sure you keep the momentum pushing forward in your work on those returns. Know exactly what you need to get done, and keep several issues in mind, such as whether you are working on the “extension” return or your actual tax return, estimates you received for extending the deadline (they could change over the summer) and any information that could affect your return.
Stay up to date with tax law changes
There have been some significant changes in tax law already this year, with many of them scheduled to go into effect in 2019. This is a perfect time to review how these changes will affect your business and to get prepared for those changes to be implemented.
For more information about steps you can take now to prepare yourself for next year’s tax season, contact a tax service in Des Moines, IA.