10 Tax Tips for Travel Advisors for 2020
by戴恩·泰勒(Daine Taylor)/
As the New Year approaches, so too does tax season, and as the travel industry prepares for an influx of new travel destinations and tour offerings, agency owners and travel professionals should also keep an eye on their financial records.
To help advisors and agency owners better manage their businesses and prepare for the upcoming tax season, Angie Rice, co-owner of Boutique Travel Advisors, and Jennifer Hand, owner of Jennifer Hand Travel Pro, have shared some of their insights through their experience both as CPAs and travel advisors.
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。
对于旅行顾问和代理商所有者来说,知道要花费的钱很重要。从研究新目的地产品的FAM旅行,到为您的小型企业的家具和设备,扣除业务费用是管理事务的关键,同时仍保持盈利。但是,知道要花多少钱和多少费用对于使国税局远离您的背部至关重要。
As far as deductions go, the most important thing to know is that whether or not you choose to deduct something is largely up to you, but it’s up to the IRS to determine if those deductions are valid. If you get caught mismanaging your funds, you could be under scrutiny for years, so it makes sense to get some good advice and be reasonable with your deductions. If you go overboard and get audited even one time, it’s not going to be worth it.
您确实必须考虑所有推论,因为必须直接使您的业务受益,并且您必须始终能够证明您的费用以及它们如何帮助您的业务合理。
例如,当安吉·赖斯(Angie Rice)进行家庭旅行或为客户查看可预订的目的地时,她确保充分利用它。beplay银行卡“我正在做笔记,正在跟进客户,我正在社交媒体上发布,通常,旅行后三到六个月后,我的旅行会导致三到四个预订。因此,如果需要,我可以清楚地证明,如果需要,我的旅行对我的收入有影响,因此是合理的费用。
“这与前往纽约旅行的零售商看最新时尚。赖斯说,当旅行顾问去新市场以真正了解对客户的吸引力时,一定是商业费用。”
2.家庭顾问可以扣除家庭办公费用nses.
家庭顾问可以选择为其内部办公室扣除合理的费用。
“您的许多房屋费用可以以某种形式扣除,” Hand说。“但是,如果使用某些扣除,则有影响。同样,只要合理,并保存您将需要证明其合理性的一切即可。”
您可以注销用于业务的办公空间的一部分。此外,如果您在家中提供办公室,那也是可以降低税收的折旧资产。
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.
“我看到的顾问犯的最大错误之一是,他们的推论过于激进,没有保留良好的记录。”
Advisors should be careful when they decide to write off things like vehicles. You should take the precautious route of writing off your mileage, so if you’re [going] to and from the airport, etc., the IRS has a standard rate they apply per mile. This might be a better approach to adopt because it’s hard to justify that a car is being solely used by a travel advisor for business purposes.
“我看到的最大错误是人们在现金和信用卡之间混合资金。始终最好让所有业务交易在业务上流动。”“这很容易,使事情看起来更专业。”
4. Know where to go for reliable tax information.
“美国国税局有一个很棒的网站。我发现它对包括旅行顾问在内的消费者来说非常友好,”赖斯说。“而且经常像ASTA这样的协会在为企业主的旅行社提供信息方面做得很好,有时也涵盖税收主题。”
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. Protect your personal and business data.
When it comes to protecting your business data and client information, one can never be too careful. Whether you have clients send you their documents through paper or email, don’t ever transmit vital client information in an insecure, non-PCI compliant way.
赖斯说:“您想确保确保这些信息安全。”“确保,当您网络托管以在客户提供信息的范围内,您要确保与网站的主机合作,以确保数据安全。
“许多旅行社删除信用卡信息,然后在预订后销毁信息。”他们不能保存客户的信用卡信息,他们只是在准备预订时将其重新归还给客户。
To the extent that you have more of a paper-based business, a lot of those agents choose to take their information and shred it so that they don’t have a copy between booking clients. It might be slightly less convenient to have clients resubmit their documents before every booking, but these methods help protect their private information, and make your business more secure.
对于关心网络安全的顾问来说,好的CRM也是一项巨大的长期投资。
Advisors need to know what to look for in a CPA. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
6.知道在CPA中寻找什么。
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.
“You don’t have to use an expensive accountant, but you really do want someone who is savvy in your business structure, and the type of business you have, and the type of expenses you have,” said Hand. “Even though I hold a CPA license, I knew that business taxes weren’t my forte. I’ve gotten some really good advice that saved me a lot of money over time by using a tax professional.”
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.
“In this day and age, it’s really easy to connect with local travel professionals and small business owners in your area to ask for a referral,” said Hand. “The best CPAs are always found through word-of-mouth, through referrals. But local bankers and small business accountants are resources that can also help.”
7.预算是关键。
根据手说,计划税收的最佳方法是计划所有费用。“预算是大多数旅行专业人员并不真正注意的事情。我们担心寻找客户,学习产品以及获得预订并收取最终付款,但您应该从预算中运营。”
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,经济陈述或每月正式完成书籍是理想的,每季度最低一次。这确实将有助于您保持正轨,密切关注您的业务,并让您了解要欠税款多少。
了解使用IC的税收影响至关重要。照片:Shutterstock.com。
8.了解IC和员工之间的区别。
“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.
“如果您想与员工的独立承包商合作,您将想与可以帮助您的税务会计师合作。”代理商所有者必须了解这些不同因素将如何最终影响其业务,这一点至关重要。
9.不要被国税局误标记。
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.”
While this advice isn’t relevant to all, or even most travel professionals, it’s something everyone should keep in mind in order to avoid being mislabeled or called out by the IRS.
“Don’t be posting on social media that this is a part-time gig,” said Hand. “The IRS is not going to let you treat your agency like a full-time business out of your home with all those deductions if you’re only working an afternoon a week, or a few times a month.”
10. Keep track of your receipts and financial records.
这应该不用说,但是顾问确实需要使他们的财务记录尽可能完整。
“Oftentimes, you’re traveling to meet clients, meeting over coffee or lunch. These can result in a sizeable number of incidental costs,” said Rice. “These expenses, meals and entertainment, can be justified as a business expense.” But without a well-maintained record of the expenses, it may end up costing you even more out-of-pocket in the future.
The IRS doesn’t necessarily need all of your receipts. Often your bank statements can show your expenses and how they relate to your travel business. But you really do need to keep records as complete as you possibly can.
“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。