20th April, 20th July, 20th October and 20th – 31st January… No, I haven’t gone mad! Many business owners tremble when these four dates are mentioned because it is when quarterly taxes are due and a portion of the income earned with blood, sweat and buckets of tears goes straight into the tax man’s pocket. The economy is well on its way to recover but there are still some sole-traders out there whose businesses continue to struggle and the thought of quarterly taxes or payment of their monthly Social Security contribution can send them into a panic.
One of the first things I advise new clients to my office is no matter how difficult it gets, they must always make sure to pay Social Security and the Tax Offices within established deadlines because failure to do so can set off a series of events that can snowball and leave the business owner with a mountain of ever increasing debt when late-payment interest is added on top of an existing debt. What can one do though if it is impossible to make payments on time?
Now that we have passed the halfway mark of 2018, many business owners reflect on how their business has fared so far and either give themselves a slap on the back for a job well done, plan adjustments that need to be made to improve productivity and their profit margin or sadly, even consider closing their business down altogether.
