I used to file my taxes pretty close to the deadline. Even though I had my documents in hand, I didn’t talk to my accountant until early April.
Now that I work at an accounting firm, I know that it’s better to file ASAP… especially if you need to file individual and business taxes. In this article, I’ll tell you about the benefits of filing early (and what I mean by “early”).
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve provided monthly accounting and tax services to small businesses for 60 years. That means we’ve experienced 60 tax seasons, answering thousands of questions like these:
- What are the four main benefits of filing my business and individual taxes early?
- When is “early” for business tax filing?
- When is “early” for individual tax filing?
4 Benefits of Filing Your Taxes Early
Here are the four main benefits of filing your taxes early.
1.) Be More Prepared to Pay Taxes
If you work with CSI, you’ll know what you’ll owe in taxes several months before the April 15 payment deadline. But if you don’t know your liability, it’s better to file sooner so you’ll have more time to prepare for the payment.
2.) Beat the Crowd
Every accounting firm experiences a huge rush for the March 15 business tax deadline, and then another for the April 15 individual tax deadline. The spike is unbelievable. When you file before the crowd does, you reap these benefits:
- More scheduling flexibility. Instead of getting stuck with the worst time slot (the only one available for weeks), you get to choose the option that works best for you.
- More time to talk to your accountant. If you schedule an appointment before the rush, your accountant will have time to answer as many questions as you want! You won’t get pushed out the door because another client is waiting.
- Lower risk of needing an extension. Many annual tax preparers will “accept you as a client”, knowing they can’t get to you before the deadline. Then they charge you for your extension, and you’ll owe penalties if you don’t make your tax payment on time. Avoid all of this by talking to your accountant sooner!
3.) Limit Fees & Penalties
Remember, by filing early, it’s much easier to avoid fees and penalties related to not making your tax payment on time. However, despite this, we’ve seen business owners put off filing because they weren’t ready to part with the cash.
In one case, a client skipped quarterly estimated tax payments and paid IRS penalties instead. To him, it was worth keeping the money throughout the year. It wasn’t illegal, but it was costly, as penalties and interest accumulate over time. But by filing and paying his taxes sooner, he limited how long penalties and interest could grow.
4.) Get It Over With
Title says it all. Don’t worry about missing the deadline, paying fees and penalties, or dreading not knowing what you’ll owe in taxes. Just get it done and move on!
Early Business Tax Filing
The deadline for business tax filing is around March 15 each year. But when is the earliest you can file? The end of January. By the end of January, accounting firms typically have the new year’s tax filing software, and the State programs and IRS are ready to start taking electronic filings.
However, you can call your accountant even sooner. Regardless of whether or not they can file yet, they can prepare your taxes as soon as your December books are wrapped up.
If you work with a monthly accounting firm like CSI, we already handle your books, so we can prepare your business taxes as soon as possible. The only thing that can slow us down is if a client is not providing the information we need to wrap up their December bookkeeping.
If you work with CSI and miss the business tax deadline, we’ll do our best to file your business and individual taxes by April 15, so you are only subject to consequences for missing the business tax deadline.
Early Individual Tax Filing
The deadline for individual tax filing is around April 15 each year. Ideally, you’ll want to file your individual taxes right after your business taxes – so sometime in February or March is ideal.
That’s because the individual tax deadline is much busier for accounting firms. There are more individuals filing taxes than businesses filing taxes, and individuals can have complicated tax preparation processes if they have a lot of things going on outside of their business, such as owning rental properties or stock trading.
If you want to beat the rush and take advantage of the benefits in this article, you’ll be calling your accountant way before April!
Call Now & Reap the Benefits!
Now that you know about the four main benefits of filing your business and individual taxes early, that you should file your business taxes at the end of January, and that you should file your individual taxes in February or March (right after your business taxes are filed), are you ready to check out monthly accounting services?
If so, please consider CSI Accounting & Payroll! We accept new clients all year long. To see if we can be a good fit for your business, click the button below for a free consultation:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, learn more about what our monthly accounting and tax filing services may cost you by clicking the image below:
