Consulting, freelancing, starting a side business, there’s a lot of talk about flashy terms like these nowadays. This week’s article from Forbes Advisor gets a little more into the weeds, offering a detailed look into the sole proprietorship, one of the simplest business entities you can form. It goes over the definition, tax benefits, and risks of a Sole Proprietor. No matter what type of business you are involved in, always know the taxes involved.

Taxes usually aren’t much fun. They’re even less fun when one cannot afford to make payments without serious financial hardship. Don’t worry, the good old IRS has some ways to still get its money. This article, written by the IRS, details some avenues for paying your taxes when you can’t pay all at once, including getting a loan, payment plans, penalty relief, and more.

Happy New Year!

And get ready for the tax filing season.

Hopefully, you followed some of the suggestions outlined in Publication 552 to organize your records. If you did, great! This will make filing your tax returns a lot easier this year. It also means that you and your tax advisor can spend more time on tax and financial planning issues for 2023 vs. looking back to 2022.

I’m sure many of you have heard that the IRS has received $80 billion in funding. There’s been a lot of talk about what that means, with some saying that there will be over 80,000 new agents with guns and that there’s going to be a lot of audits. This informative article from The Wall Street Journal lays out what exactly is going to change and provides helpful context. We just hope it means they’ll finally start answering our phone calls without having to hold for 3 hours.

With a few exceptions, year-end tax planning must be completed by this New Year’s Eve. Some notable exceptions include contributions to certain retirement plans such as IRAs and Solo 401(k) plans and also HSA plans. Payments to these plans have various 2023 deadlines.

Welcome to the tax jungle, independent contractors! In this week’s tax tip we offer you a survival guide against the most dangerous of predators, the IRS. This article, provided by Forbes Advisor, instructs how to calculate the federal taxes you may be dealing with, including: self employment tax and income tax, and all the essentials you need to survive next tax season.