Starting a Business, and Tax Implications There are two different tax structures in the United States that are used for collecting taxes... personal, and business. For the average person working a regular job, the money is earned, taxes are taken out, and we get what is left-over. For a business, money is earned, spent on legal, tax deductible expenses, and whatever is left, then gets taxed. I know of a woman who, by having a "business", writes off her annual expenses for dog food because they serve as security for her home-based business. I know a guy who gets to write off the guitars, recording equipment, and other musical equipment that he buys because he has a website where he uses his equipment to create online guitar lessons in his spare time. Any time you have a business that requires expenses, you can make a tax deduction. It would even be possible to write off some groceries if you could show that you were doing research for and creating a recipe book. There are numerous ways to take advantage of today's tax structure... you, or your accountant, just need to be willing to be creative, but operate within the limits of the law. If you're an employee, working an hourly job, due to the amount of taxes you're required to pay, you actually don't start making money for yourself until May 10th ... so, from January 1st to May 9th ... all the money you earn goes to the government for taxes! May 10th is when you start earning money for yourself! Having a business of your own is both challenging, and rewarding at the same time. There are also many decisions that you will need to consider. Is there anything in particular that you've always wanted to do? Is there something that you know you are good at, and could turn into a business? Could you create more than one business? Will you want to operate as a corporation, or as a Sole Proprietorship? There is more than one reason to start a business. The biggest one is to make money. However, making money can also be saving money, and there are an incredible ways to save money by having a business because of the tax savings that are available to business owner. Consider some of the possibilities.... NEXT MY MONEY ANSWERS: HOME GETTING PAST THE PAST ASSESSING YOUR SITUATION FACTORING MAKING THE PLAN SPECIAL NOTES ABOUT DEBT DECIDING IF BANKRUPTCY IS RIGHT FOR YOU DEBT CONSOLIDATION YOUR LONG TERM GOALS STARTING A BUSINESS CORPORATIONS PEOPLE YOU WILL NEED STUDENTS AND CREDIT