The IRS wants to be helpful. And they are willing to put their paper where their mouth is. The IRS offers free of charge literally hundreds of user friendly, information packed printed items for small business owners. First, there is the 2013 Back to Business IRS Tax Calendar for Small Businesses and Self-Employed. I personally love this calendar. Every month is clearly marked with important dates for the self-employed such as payroll deposits payment dates and is quite detailed as what form farmers and fishermen need to use. There are tips on form use and clear, concise instructions for correcting errors. The January 2013 page including advice on choosing a business structure and a tax professional.
Then there is the Virtual Small business Tax Workshop CD. It a clear, linear presentation on the basics of expectations from the IRS on business taxes, documenting deductions and filing Schedule C the schedule for the self-employed. It has subtitles in English, Spanish and Mandarin.
There are any number of brochures and pamphlets for business which do a great job of providing enough information so that questions can be generated. Small Business Federal Tax Responsibilities or Independent Contractor or Employee are examples of how clearly marked and clearly written these publications are.
The new IRS Business and Specialty Tax Line 800-829-4933 is quite good. A real live person answers the phone and provided exactly the information I needed.
All the services provided by the IRS are free to the public – well, you already paid when you paid your taxes. All the publications mentioned above are free available for order on the IRS website.
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