Taxes... Yikes! I think taxes are every small business owners most dreaded task!
Taxes are such a broad subject and the information pertaining to taxes can be endless. My goal is to create a series of blog posts to serve as a resource for small business owners.
This first blog post is going to be about sales and use tax.
Please note, before continuing any further, I am in no way a tax expert or a tax professional. I am simply a small business owner who wants to share some tips + tricks with you that I have learned over the last couple of years.
Since I am based out of Florida, most of this will be Florida specific. I encourage you to go to your state's department of revenue website to find out filing frequencies, etc.
Let's start with the basics. Before you collect any sales tax, make sure you are registered to do so. Here is a link from the Florida Department of Revenue with a ton of helpful information, links, schedules, etc. I will reference information from this link throughout the blog post.
Did you know that sales tax can either be destination based or origin based depending on what state you live in? To find out if you live in a destination based or origin based state, along with helpful information including what it means to be a destination based vs. origin based state, click here.
Next, did you know that you actually have to pay back the sales tax you collect? This is something many of us may not even think about. In Florida, depending on how much sales tax you collect annually, depends on the filing frequency in which you should remit your sales tax. The below image is a screenshot from the Florida Department of Revenue and can be found here.
In the state of Florida, when you are ready to remit your sales and use tax, you fill out a DR-15 form to determine how much you need to remit. Here is a helpful form with line by line instructions on how to fill out a DR-15 from the Florida Department of Revenue. Click here for the form.
A book I have found to be extremely helpful is "Small Business Taxes for Dummies" click here to be redirected to the Amazon link.
I hope you found this blog post helpful! Stay tuned for more blog posts (especially about small business taxes, how to fill out a 1040 and Schedule C, and more)!
**Disclaimer: This information is based on my personal research. I am in no way a tax expert / professional. I am not liable for any misfiling. If you have any questions, please hire a professional!