Getting Money Back at Tax Time

As springtime comes around, everyone hopes for a big tax return. As a small-business owner, solid bookkeeping is the best way to ensure you get the most out of your tax returns. It is best to hire an outside accountant to do your taxes because they’ll be able to spot areas where you can get more deductions and in areas you may not have considered. In Canada, there are a wide variety of categories that can potentially be claimed as business expenses which include but are not limited to:

● Property tax
● Meals and entertainment costs
● Insurance fees
● Travel
● Supplies
● Accounting fees

There are many more categories, and it can be difficult to remember all of these items offhand, but if you keep detailed books then, at the end of the year, you can cross-reference every record you have with the list of deductible business expenses from the Canada Revenue Agency and know exactly what amounts you can and can’t claim.

Ottawa Bookkeeping recommends that, at the beginning of the year, small business owners should take a look at the list of deductible expenses and determine which categories you’re most likely to spend on. Doing so will allow you organize those expenses into carefully labelled folders so that, when the time comes, you’ll be able to find these deductible expenses easily.