10 Tax Tips for Travel Advisors for 2020
经过Daine Taylor/
随着新年的临近,税收季节也随之而来,旅行行业为新的旅行目的地和旅游产品的涌入做准备,代理商的所有者和旅行专业人员也应关注他们的财务记录。beplay银行卡
为了帮助顾问和代理商更好地管理自己的业务并为即将到来的税收季节做准备,精品旅行顾问的共同所有人安吉·赖斯(Angie Rice)和珍妮弗·汉德(Jennifer Hand Travel Pro)的所有者詹妮弗·汉德(Jennifer Hand)通过他们的经验分享了他们的一些见解作为CPA和旅行顾问。
To that end, here are some useful tips to help balance your books, protect your private information, and generally manage your business before tax season arrives.
1.知道什么以及何时费用。
For travel advisors and agency owners, knowing what to expense is important. From fam trips researching new destination offerings, to furniture and equipment for your small business, deducting business expenses is key to managing your affairs while still staying profitable. But knowing what and how much to expense is essential to keeping the IRS off your back.
就推论而言,要知道的最重要的事情是,您是否选择扣除某些东西取决于您,但由IRS确定这些扣除是否有效。如果您陷入资金不当,您可能会受到多年的审查,因此获得一些好的建议并合理地扣除是有意义的。如果您过分审核,甚至一次被审计,那将是不值得的。
You really have to think about every deduction as having to directly benefit your business, and you have to always be able to justify your expenses, and how they help run your business.
For example, when Angie Rice goes on fam trips or checks out bookable destinations for her clients, she makes sure to make the most of it. “I’m taking notes, I’m following up with clients, I’m posting on social media, and typically, my trips result in three to four bookings within a three- to six-month period after my travel. So I can clearly justify, if I ever need to, to the IRS, that my travel had an impact on my income, and therefore was a justifiable expense.
“It’s no different than a retailer going on a trip to New York to look at the latest fashions. When travel advisors are going to new markets to really see what would appeal to their clients,” said Rice, “by all means, that’s a business expense.”
2.期间在家d advisors can deduct home-office expenses.
期间在家d advisors have the option to deduct reasonable expenses for their home office.
“A lot of your home expenses can be deducted in some form or another,” said Hand. “However, there are implications for when you sell your house, if certain deductions were used. Again, just be reasonable and save whatever you’re going to need to justify it.”
You can write off a portion of your office space that’s used for your business. Additionally, if you furnish the office in your home, that would also be a depreciable asset that can lower your taxes.
Knowing where to get good information, including the IRS website, is an important step for a successful tax season. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
3. Don’t be too aggressive with your deductions.
“One of the biggest mistakes I see advisors making is they’re overly aggressive with their deductions and not keeping good records,” said Hand.
当顾问决定注销诸如车辆之类的东西时,应小心。您应该采取清晰的途径,将行驶里程写出,因此,如果您要去机场和从机场等,IRS的标准费率是每英里的标准费率。这可能是一种更好的采用方法,因为很难证明旅行顾问仅用于商业目的的汽车是合理的。
“And the biggest mistake I see is people intermingling funds between cash and credit card. It is always best to keep all your business transactions flowing on business,” said Hand. “It’s just easier and makes things look more professional.”
4. Know where to go for reliable tax information.
“The IRS has a great website. I’ve found it to be very user-friendly for consumers, including travel advisors,” said Rice. “And often associations like ASTA do a wonderful job of providing information for travel agents that are business owners, and they sometimes cover tax topics as well.”
Advisors should also check their local networks. Ask people who own small businesses, whom they use for their business taxes. If you find a small business owner, or especially a travel agency owner, find out who gives them tax advice and who does their taxes. You can pay for a one-time consultation, and just have someone go over your financial records, and talk you through how best to handle your taxes.
5.保护您的个人和业务数据。
在保护您的业务数据和客户信息时,永远不要太谨慎。无论您有客户通过纸张或电子邮件向您发送他们的文档,都不要以不安全的,不兼容的方式传输重要的客户信息。
赖斯说:“您想确保确保这些信息安全。”“请确保,当您在客户提供信息的范围内进行网络托管时,您要确保与网站的主机合作,以确保该数据安全。
“A lot of travel agents take down credit card information and then destroy the information after they’ve made the booking.” They don’t save the client’s credit card info, they just reobtain it from returning clients when they’re ready to book.
在您拥有更多基于纸质业务的范围内,许多代理商选择获取信息并将其切碎,以便他们在预订客户之间没有副本。在每次预订之前,让客户重新提交文档可能会稍微一些方便,但是这些方法有助于保护其私人信息,并使您的业务更加安全。
A good CRM is also a great long-term investment for advisors concerned about cyber security.
Advisors need to know what to look for in a CPA. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
6. Know what to look for in a CPA.
It doesn’t matter how much you think you know, or what kind of software you have, it really does pay to use a good accountant. But make sure the tax professional you use is well-versed in the workings of your particular business.
“您不必使用昂贵的会计师,但是您确实希望有人在您的业务结构,业务类型以及所拥有的费用类型。”“即使我持有CPA许可证,我也知道商业税不是我的强项。我得到了一些非常好的建议,可以通过使用税务专业人士为我节省很多钱。”
Tax professionals have different niches, so finding a tax accountant, or preferably a CPA that has experience working with other travel advisors, or in industries that run and are similar to travel agencies, will be instrumental in pairing advisors with the right tax professional. Make sure you explore all of the factors of your business to find the best tax professional to meet your needs.
“在这个时代,与您所在地区的当地旅行专业人员和小型企业主联系起来,要寻求推荐,这确实很容易。”“最好的CPA始终是通过口碑通过推荐找到的。但是当地的银行家和小型企业会计师是也可以提供帮助的资源。”
7. Budgeting is key.
The best way to plan for taxes is to plan for all of your expenses, according to Hand. “Budgeting is something that most travel professionals don’t really pay attention to. We’re worried about finding clients, about learning products, and getting bookings and collecting final payments, but you should be operating from a budget.”
Advisors should be paying attention to how much money is coming in and going out. “It’s easy to get caught up and totally lose track of how much money you brought in for the year. Then you get to the end of the year, and you either owe a lot of taxes or you really haven’t been profitable.”
预算是关键,做财务报表r closing your books formally once a month is ideal, once a quarter is minimum. That will really help keep you on track, keep a closer eye on your business, and give you an idea of how much you’re going to owe in taxes.
Understanding the tax implications of using ICs is vital. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
8. Understand the difference between ICs and employees.
“I think as it relates to travel advisors, we’re hearing a lot about the IC [independent contractor] model, particularly in California and now on the East Coast,” said Rice. “When looking at Independent contractors versus employees, I think it’s important if you have independent contractors that you really understand the rules, the laws, and the tax consequences that are involved.
“如果你想与独立的反ctors over employees, you’re going to want to work with a tax accountant that can help you.” It’s essential that agency owners understand how these different factors will ultimately affect their businesses.
9. Don’t get mislabeled by the IRS.
Be careful how you treat your business. There is a difference to the IRS between hobbyists and businesses. “You can’t treat your travel agency like a shelter to put a quarter of your cable and internet and water and mortgage,” said Hand. “I mean, you can try it, but whether it sticks or not is up to the IRS.”
尽管此建议与所有人,甚至大多数旅行专业人员无关,但每个人都应该牢记的是,以避免被国税局错误地标记或呼唤。
“不要在社交媒体上发布这是一场兼职演出,”手说。“如果您每周或每月几次工作,美国国税局就不会让您像在家中的全职业务一样对待您的代理商。”
10.跟踪您的收据和财务记录。
This should go without saying, but advisors really need to keep their financial records as complete as possible.
“通常,您正在旅行与客户见面,见咖啡或午餐。这些可能导致大量的偶然费用。”赖斯说。“这些费用,用餐和娱乐可以被视为商业费用。”但是,如果没有维护良好的费用记录,将来可能会使您更加自付费用。
美国国税局不一定需要您的所有收据。通常,您的银行对帐单可以显示您的费用以及它们与您的旅行业务的关系。但是,您确实需要尽可能地将记录保持在尽可能的完整。
“I always keep my receipts. I write who I had lunch with, I write the date, and whether it’s a client or a supplier. And at the end of the month, I update all my accounting records, so that by the end of the year, I’m up to date.”
*A special thanks to Angie Rice of精品旅行顾问和Jennifer Hand Travel Pro的Jennifer Hand为这篇文章贡献了时间和见解。