If you own your own home business you likely know that there are great tax benefits involved, but it is easy to miss out on these if you do not have things in order. There are certain things that you must have on hand to legitimately claim something on your taxes as an expense, and there are other things that are easy to forget to utilize. Continue reading this article if you want to learn how to make the most of the current tax codes.

The most important thing you can do for your businesses tax situation is save every receipt and match them to any checks or credit card charges that you have. It is essential that every receipt that you possess is itemized. There may be certain things that are not deductible that was made with the same purchase, such as a gallon a milk you bought at the same time as office supplies, and the fact is that this is required by the government if you happen to be audited.

The worst thing that you can do is claim something on your taxes that you can not verify later. You will be dealing with a much higher expense than the taxes you would have paid, due to penalties and fines that would be levied against your business. Have a folder set aside in the various places that you spend a lot of time to ensure that you have all of your receipts in one place, and then organize them at least weekly to ensure that you can easily match them with your credit card and bank statements.

Do not lose sight of all of the things that you can legitimately write off. For instance, even if your office is in your home, you can write off a portion of your mortgage, utility expenses and any other expenses that are related to your business. It is important to ensure that your phone lines are exclusively used for business purposes so that you are not forced to go through your bills to show which calls are business related.

Saving for retirement is a great way to save on your tax liability as well. There are a number of retirement savings plans that allow you to save up to three thousand dollars each year, pre-tax. Depending on your tax bracket, you could save up to one thousand dollars in taxes, just for saving for your retirement. The added bonus is that these savings plans allow you to withdraw from them for certain reasons without penalty, and are immune from debt collectors, excluding certain government entities.

Now that you have read this article you surely know how important it is to your business to keep your financial records in order. If you put the information in this article to use you will find that you have more money to put back into your business each year to help you grow and maintain your business.