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FREE - INCOME TAX ORGANIZER AT PBSTAX.COM

Since the holidays are over, it is now time to get ready for your income taxes. You should be receiving your W-2's and 1099's soon if you haven't already, and you need to categorize all your expenses to make sure nothing is missing. See the guide below to help you compile your tax information.

 NEW FOR 2009! INCOME TAX CHANGES

 Making Work Credit

First Time Homebuyer Credit

Expanded Educational Credits

Unemployment Compensation Partially Untaxed

Deduction for Sales and Excise Taxes on New Motor Vehicles

Expanded Standard Deduction

Standard Mileage Rate of 55 Cents Per Mile

Vehicle Depreciation Limits

IRA and Roth IRA Contributions

Additional Child Tax Credit

Higher Earned Income Credit for Taxpayers with Three or more Qualifying Children

 If you need explanation of the above, ask your tax preparer or give us a call.

 If you are a company driver, you can refer to our website, www.PBSTAX.com to price out the cost of having us prepare your tax returns. If you are an owner-operator, check out our income tax organizer for the typical truckers expenses and also use it as a guide to LOWER TAXES also on PBSTAX.com.

 Guide to compile your tax information:   

 1.      Total your income received as an Independent or from your settlement sheets.  When your 1099's do come, you can compare the total with what appears on your 1099s.  If they are different, try to find out why.

2.      Separate all your business expenses by category such as fuel, parts, repairs, tires, insurance, telephone, tolls, supplies and loading & unloading expenses.  Your expenses should come from checks written, cash spent, credit and debit card statements and deductions from settlements.  Since we normally use nights away to compute meal expense, you don't need to save meal receipts.  Your logbook will suffice.

3.      Have all contracts on purchases and/or leases for equipment acquired during the year including loan information if financing was used.  You will need dates for any equipment sold along with the sales price unless the equipment was traded in on a new purchase contract.

4.      Compute the nights you're away from home on the job.

5.      Compile your personal information such as mortgage interest, property taxes, interest and dividend income, income from sales of stock and rental property information.  Remember, if you sold stock, you will need to know when it was originally purchased, how much you paid for it, and the date and amount of sale.  If you sold a property you will need to know date acquired, cost and cost of any improvements over the years.

6.      Company drivers need to gather their W-2's and compute the number of nights they were gone on the road.  Also, you need to compile any business expenses incurred such as union dues, telephone, clothing and laundry. You will need to deduct any reimbursement received.

7.      Indicate if you have or are going to make any contributions to an IRA, SEP, Keogh or 401K Retirement Plan.

8.      Indicate estimated taxes paid with the corresponding dates.

Some truckers will compile the information, total it, and input it into the computer.  Others will make a schedule of all the expenses by category.  Still others will total each pile. There are those who will gather everything, throw it into a box (the shoebox method), and send it to their tax preparer for them to do the bookkeeping.  If you do use a tax preparer for your returns, remember that the more you do, the less cost you incur in the preparation of your return.  If you can summarize all your expenses by category and get it on paper, it will cost less than if your tax preparer has to do it.  Whether you summarize or just send it off to your tax preparer, get your tax returns done early.  By doing this, it gives you a chance to correct any errors and spot any omissions but, prior to your receiving your tax returns, it allows your tax preparer ample time to ask you for any missing information or to discuss different possibilities for deductions that arise during the preparation of a tax return.

 TAX TIP

 Residential Energy Credits Reinstated. These include insulation, storm windows, and heaters. There are larger credits for solar equipment and other alternative energy improvements.

This article has been presented by PBS Tax & Bookkeeping Service, a company which has been providing income tax and bookkeeping services to the trucking industry for over a quarter century. If you would like further information, please contact us at 800-697-5153.  visit our Web Site at www.pbstax.com.

 "Everyone's financial situation is different.  This article does not give and is not intended to give specific accounting and/or tax advice.  Please consult with your own tax or accounting professional."

Everyone's financial situation is different. This article does not give and is not intended to give specific accounting and/or tax advice. Please consult with your own tax or accounting professional.

This article has been presented by PBS Tax & Bookkeeping Service, a company that has been providing income tax and bookkeeping services to the trucking industry for over a quarter century. Contributions to this article were made by Shasta May, Director Business Development for PBS. If you would like further information, please contact us at 800-697-5153. See our website at www.pbstax.com.