Taxes can’t be avoided, and it’s officially the time of year when tax deadlines start to loom. Each profession lends its own unique requirements to tax time, and that includes process servers. To avoid being served papers by a fellow process server for tax delinquencies, it’s important for all process servers to properly compile and file their taxes with precision.
Be Proactive: Keep Close Records
If you don’t keep adequate records of your expenses and income throughout the fiscal year, you will find yourself with a complicated nightmare when you sit down to file your taxes. Sales, payroll, purchases, and supporting documents should all be part of your record keeping process.
First, identify and file away supporting documents. This includes invoices, paid bills, receipts, deposit slips, sales slips, and voided checks. If you are ever audited, these supporting documents will help you prove that you remained honest with your tax filing. In addition, you need to keep expense records, gross receipts, purchase receipts, travel and gift expense records, asset records, and employment tax records.
Keep Digital and Print Records
We do live in the digital age, which means you will most likely file your taxes online this year. Whether you use Freshbooks, Turbotax, QuickBooks, or another application, you can streamline the tax process and help make everything move quicker if your documents are already saved in digital form.
Track Your Mileage
As a process server, you travel long distances every day, more than most professionals do. Chances are that your travel also involves stakeouts and other efforts required to locate the person you need to provide with papers. This makes you eligible for many different tax deductions, including the transportation tax deductions of 54 cents per mile!
Even your association membership dues and industry publication subscriptions can be tax deductible. Try to work with a tax expert to make sure you take all aspects of your job as a process server into consideration as you prepare your taxes this season. All of your preparation can pay off, literally.
