2020年旅行顾问的10条税务提示
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.
为此,这里有一些有用的技巧,可以帮助您平衡书籍,保护您的私人信息并在税收季节到来之前管理您的业务。
1. Know what and when to expense.
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室费用。
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。”
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.
知道在哪里获得良好信息,包括IRS网站,是成功纳税季节的重要一步。照片:Shutterstock.com。
3.不要对扣除措施过于积极进取。
“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.知道可靠的税收信息去哪里。
“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。”
顾问还应检查其本地网络。询问拥有小型企业的人,他们用于商业税。如果您找到一个小企业主,尤其是旅行社所有者,请找出谁向他们提供税收建议以及谁缴税。您可以进行一次性咨询费用,然后让某人仔细阅读您的财务记录,并通过如何最好地处理您的税款。
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.
“You want to make sure that you keep that information secure,” said Rice. “Make sure that, when you’re web hosting to the extent that clients are providing information, you want to make sure that you’re working with a host for your website that keeps that data secure.
“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。
顾问需要知道在CPA中寻找什么。照片:Shutterstock.com。
6.知道在CPA中寻找什么。
您认为自己知道多少,或者您拥有哪种软件,使用好的会计师确实需要支付。但是,请确保您使用的税务专业人员在您的特定业务的运作方面非常精通。
“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.”
税务专业人士有不同的利基市场,因此找到税务会计师,或者最好是具有与其他旅行顾问合作或运营并且与旅行社相似的行业经验的CPA,将有助于与正确的税务专业人士配对。确保您探索业务的所有因素,以找到满足您需求的最佳税收专业人员。
“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. 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.”
顾问应该关注要进出多少钱。“很容易被抓住,完全失去了您一年中带来的钱。然后,您要到今年年底,您要么欠大量税款,要么您真的没有盈利。”
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。
Understanding the tax implications of using ICs is vital. Photo: Shutterstock.com.
8.了解IC和员工之间的区别。
赖斯说:“我认为,与旅行顾问有关,我们听到了很多有关IC [独立承包商]模式的信息,尤其是在加利福尼亚州,现在在东海岸。”“在查看独立承包商与员工时,我认为,如果您有真正了解所涉及的规则,法律和税收后果的独立承包商,这很重要。
“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.不要被国税局误标记。
请小心您如何对待业务。业余爱好者和企业之间的国税局有所不同。“您不能像庇护所一样对待旅行社,以放置四分之一的电缆,互联网以及水和抵押,” Hand说。“我的意思是,您可以尝试一下,但是它是否坚持取决于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.
This should go without saying, but advisors really need to keep their financial records as complete as possible.
“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.
“我总是保留收据。我写我和谁一起吃午餐,写日期,是客户还是供应商。在本月底,我更新了所有会计记录,因此到年底,我是最新的。”
*特别感谢Angie Rice精品旅游顾问,詹妮弗·珍之手nifer Hand Travel Pro for contributing their time and insights to this article.