Do you know what you can expense?

Did you know you that you can actually claim your Starbucks Coffee on your income tax?? Whenever I find myself having my team meetings or client meetings at the local Starbucks, I always pick up the tab and get a receipt.  For someone who spends on average three days a week at Starbucks, The annual total can add up:

$5 coffee  x  3 a week  x  52 weeks  =  $780 a year

Wow!! Now that I think about it, i drink a lot of coffee! This could be a all inclusive vacation down south if stopped drinking it.

*NOTE that doesn’t include picking  up the tab for my clients or my team, so add another $5-$10 on at least half of the weeks, totaling an average $1560 a year.

This is just one expense that really adds up to help reduce your income tax.

As an Entrepreneur and Small Business Owner, you are able to expense all “ordinary and necessary expenses incurred in order to earn business income”.  In other words, if it helps you…

• run your business
• generate income
• expand your business
• benefit your business

…then you can write-it off.

All business expenses are not the same for each industry, so be sure to do some research online before claiming your nail clipper as an expense for a construction company.

Here is a short list of links to get you started on what you can write-off against your business income:

• Canada Revenue Agency: Business Expenses
• About.com: Business Expenses
• eHow: List of Tax Deductions