From the blog - Tennessee Tax Law - a very succinct review of the new business tax law which will start changing business taxes in the year 2014.
The most important piece of information was that small businesses grossing less that $10,000 no longer need to worry about this tax. These businesses grossing more than $3,000 and less than $10,000 will still have to pay a minimal business tax fee, but no more reporting and paying the tax. If you want to read the full blog click on the link from my blog to get all the scoop.
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Keep your guard up!
Small business owners get told a lot of things. They get told things by their customers. They get told things by their suppliers. They get told things by their families. They get told things by their friends. They get told things by their competitors. They get told lots of things.
It's difficult during the course of the day to figure out what it true and what is false and what to act upon and what to ignore. The best advise I can give is to think a little bit before acting or reacting.
Here are some examples. I had a client who called all bothered because she'd received a letter from an organization stating that she was required by law to post in her shop certain information for her employees and this company would, for a fee, provide her with the proper information to post that would make her compliant with the law. The letter made it sound like this was a new law and that inspectors would be coming around soon to verify that she had this information posted for her employees to read. If the information wasn't posted, she would be fined.
There's always some truth in a good lie. There is information required to be posted for employees to read and be aware of their rights. This information can be printed for free from the tax authority's web site. The State of Tennessee has this information. Laminated pages can be purchased but it's not necessary. If something is required to be posted, it is usually provided for free. Not all the time, but I'd check into that before I paid any money for a display.
Recently I was told by a small businessman that foreigners, he didn't specify which group of foreigners, but I got the impression he wasn't talking about people from the North which used to be the main type of foreigner here in the South, but people from and born in another country. These "foreigners" don't have to pay sales taxes because the state wants them to open businesses here. I told him I'd never heard of this and was certain it wasn't true.
It's not true. First I looked on Snopes.com and found it was an urban legend that had been making the rounds for years. Next I called the state to make sure. But maybe as a small business owner you don't have that kind of time. Let's apply some logic to then.
Would the state legislature pass a law to help out people who can't vote them back into office and hurt people who can? I can't see that happening at all. If such a law was passed, wouldn't the press let us all know? I never heard anything about it. Believe me, if the Republicans advanced this, the Democrats would let everyone know and the reverse if the Democrats brought this to the floor. It pays to keep an ear open for current events.
I've also been told that one Tennessee county paid a different liquor tax than another. Bring logic into it again. A state tax is a state tax. Counties don't have the ability to change it. State taxes are the same throughout the state.
Another individual was upset that health insurance premiums were going to be added to gross pay on the W-2 and taxed. Gross pay is gross pay. Nothing can be added to gross pay.
As a small business owner, you need the best information you can obtain to make a decision. Sometimes the information you need is right there in your head. Does it make sense? Even if you don't have the time to check everything out, logic and knowledge of the way things work will take you far. People don't mean to pass on false information, but sometimes they don't think before they speak. The old adage is still true: Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you read. Except my blog, of course, you can believe 75% of it, maybe even 80%.
It's difficult during the course of the day to figure out what it true and what is false and what to act upon and what to ignore. The best advise I can give is to think a little bit before acting or reacting.
Here are some examples. I had a client who called all bothered because she'd received a letter from an organization stating that she was required by law to post in her shop certain information for her employees and this company would, for a fee, provide her with the proper information to post that would make her compliant with the law. The letter made it sound like this was a new law and that inspectors would be coming around soon to verify that she had this information posted for her employees to read. If the information wasn't posted, she would be fined.
There's always some truth in a good lie. There is information required to be posted for employees to read and be aware of their rights. This information can be printed for free from the tax authority's web site. The State of Tennessee has this information. Laminated pages can be purchased but it's not necessary. If something is required to be posted, it is usually provided for free. Not all the time, but I'd check into that before I paid any money for a display.
Recently I was told by a small businessman that foreigners, he didn't specify which group of foreigners, but I got the impression he wasn't talking about people from the North which used to be the main type of foreigner here in the South, but people from and born in another country. These "foreigners" don't have to pay sales taxes because the state wants them to open businesses here. I told him I'd never heard of this and was certain it wasn't true.
It's not true. First I looked on Snopes.com and found it was an urban legend that had been making the rounds for years. Next I called the state to make sure. But maybe as a small business owner you don't have that kind of time. Let's apply some logic to then.
Would the state legislature pass a law to help out people who can't vote them back into office and hurt people who can? I can't see that happening at all. If such a law was passed, wouldn't the press let us all know? I never heard anything about it. Believe me, if the Republicans advanced this, the Democrats would let everyone know and the reverse if the Democrats brought this to the floor. It pays to keep an ear open for current events.
I've also been told that one Tennessee county paid a different liquor tax than another. Bring logic into it again. A state tax is a state tax. Counties don't have the ability to change it. State taxes are the same throughout the state.
Another individual was upset that health insurance premiums were going to be added to gross pay on the W-2 and taxed. Gross pay is gross pay. Nothing can be added to gross pay.
As a small business owner, you need the best information you can obtain to make a decision. Sometimes the information you need is right there in your head. Does it make sense? Even if you don't have the time to check everything out, logic and knowledge of the way things work will take you far. People don't mean to pass on false information, but sometimes they don't think before they speak. The old adage is still true: Don't believe anything you hear and only half of what you read. Except my blog, of course, you can believe 75% of it, maybe even 80%.
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