Upstate New York Tax Questions

[brian77833]

I'm going to register sole proprietor starting off for my lawn care business. How does the whole tax stuff work out?? As sole proprietor do I charge the customer tax for mowing,trimming,blowing and edging?? Or is that only when and if I go to an LLC. Also how do I do my taxes each year as sole proprietor? I will still be working at my current full time job and if all goes well I may go to part time and do lawn care full time. Do I just add what I made from the business to my income taxes at the end of the year? Also can I still write off stuff I buy for the business(gas,parts,mower, ect.) Any info from fellow Upstate New York lawn care business owners would be great.

[Steve]

Lawn care business tips

Hi Brian, All of this varies state to state and can actually vary community to community. I think if you could sit down with a book keeper or an accountant just for a half hour or so, they could get you started on the right track. There are a bunch of issues here that you really want to nail down before you get in too deep. It's no big deal once you know but it would really suck to find out at the end of the year you didn't collect a tax on a certain service that you should have and now you got to pay it out of pocket. Keep us posted on what you decide to do.

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[swstout]

Originally Posted by brian77833

I'm going to register sole proprietor starting off for my lawn care business. How does the whole tax stuff work out?? As sole proprietor do I charge the customer tax for mowing,trimming,blowing and edging?? Or is that only when and if I go to an LLC. Also how do I do my taxes each year as sole proprietor? I will still be working at my current full time job and if all goes well I may go to part time and do lawn care full time. Do I just add what I made from the business to my income taxes at the end of the year? Also can I still write off stuff I buy for the business(gas,parts,mower, ect.) Any info from fellow Upstate New York lawn care business owners would be great.

You pay State, County, City, and locality (Town, Village, etc) sales tax. Everything is taxable - material and labor. If you purchase material from out of state yu have to pay state tax. Your tax bill for all localities is due the 15 of the following month - fines for not doing so is opressive!

As for fed tax, your first year in business you can pay at tax time. After the first year you must file quarterly. All small business tax deductions and credits apply. Home office, insurance (business and personal), repairs, maintenance, licenses, etc. All regular bills such as utility, garbage, etc. are deductable at the percentage of your office to house sq. ft. If you have a 10 x 12 office (120 sq ft) and a 1,200 sq ft house you can deduct 10% of your expenses.

Get 2 phone line either land line or celular one you your personal and one for your business. You can deduct 100% of your business line so use that for the majority of your calls.

Check with a local tax spe******t for all legitimate deductions. It is legal to avoid taxes, it is illegal to evade taxes.

Steve

[brian77833]

I'm definitely going to have to talk to an accountant or even a couple of friends of mine that have their own lawn care business. I'm not going BIG till next year when I can get all the equipment I want. For now I'm doing a couple lawns with a push mower I have. I do however want to file for my sole proprietor license this year just to make sure I get the name I have chosen. If I file now will the state a feds be expecting me to pay taxes?? Both customers pay in cash.

[brian77833]

One more thing....What do you guys think about naming the business B.S. Lawn Care???? They happen to be my initals, do you think this would be a bad name or a good one cause people would remember it????

[Steve]

Hi Brian,

I responded to your name question in another post.

Keep us posted on how your talk with your accountant goes.