Learning how to pay sales tax properly is a complex task for a lot of business owners says Edmonton bookkeeping. There are many things that business owners have to know about in order to collect, remit and file sales tax properly. If entrepreneurs make mistakes throughout the year, they may end up paying additional interest charges as well as penalties. There are many things that business owners can keep in mind when they start collecting GST that can help ensure they are not paying any additional money.
Businesses remaking under $1.5 million a year have the option of filing their GST on a yearly basis. This is often beneficial because business owners will not have to pay are the administrative burden associated with filing more often. Not only will this save them time, but it will often save them money in charges from their Edmonton bookkeeping company. However, business owners should keep several things in mind if they are deciding to file their GST only once a year.
If they are not keeping track of their finances, and do not have the updated financial statements, they might end up filing their GST at year-end, and discovering they have made mistakes. Since sales tax is due to be filed three months before business owners corporate taxes, if they file prior to their year-end, they will not have the opportunity to catch mistakes that might exist. However, if they file at the same time as their corporate year-end, they may end up with interest charges. Therefore, Edmonton bookkeeping says the decision business owners have to make, is whether they want to chance to have errors in their GST returns, and maybe paying penalties, or do they want to file three months late and avoid any penalties.
One way that entrepreneurs can avoid paying additional interest charges if they file their sales tax at the same time that they file their corporate year-end is by making their GST payments in instalments. Not only is this possible to do without filing, and can help ensure an entrepreneur is not spending the money throughout the year and can help them keep track of all of the sales tax that they have collected.
If an entrepreneur wants to file at their actual sales tax year end, which is three months before their corporate year-end is due, they need to ensure that they are using an Edmonton bookkeeping company like always bookkeeping in order to stay on top of their financial statements to ensure that they are as accurate as possible. By keeping accurate financial statements, an entrepreneur increases the chances of having their quarterly GST filing be accurate so that when they file their sales tax, it is less likely to come back as incorrect and charge the entrepreneur penalties.
There are several things that entrepreneurs need to keep in mind when it comes to managing their sales tax properly and efficiently. By careful planning, and diligent record-keeping, Edmonton bookkeeping says that entrepreneurs should be able to file yearly and whether they make instalments or not, avoid penalties.
Edmonton Bookkeeping | How To Pay Sales Tax Properly
There are many things that entrepreneurs need to do in order to ensure that there being as well as filing their sales tax properly says Edmonton bookkeeping. Not only do they need to know when their annual filing deadline is, and how to keep updated financial statements, so that when they do file, it is accurate. But also, they need to ensure that if they are not making regular monthly instalments, there keeping the money that they are collecting separately so they do not risk spending it. Aside from that, calculating sales tax can be very complicated, and entrepreneurs need to take due care when calculating this.
If entrepreneurs believe that they do not need any additional help, because are using accounting software like QuickBooks or QuickBooks online, they need to be aware of the fact that not all accounting software are able to handle the complexities associated with calculating sales tax accurately says Edmonton bookkeeping. In order to ensure that they are using their software correctly, they need to also be aware of all of the features their software has, and all of the weaknesses in regards to calculating sales tax.
One of the best ways that an entrepreneur can ensure that they are calculating sales tax accurately is to hire and Edmonton bookkeeping company such as always bookkeeping. Not only will they be able to help an entrepreneur ensure that they are keeping their financial statements updated so that their year-end sales tax filing is more likely to be accurate. But bookkeepers are also able to file GST on the half of business owners. They just need to ensure that they get their bookkeeper the form that the Canada revenue agency sends them when they set up their GST number. They also need to sign a consent form that gives the bookkeepers the authority to file sales tax on their behalf. Bookkeepers have what is called a rep identification number that allows them to not only file GST, but also represent owners while talking to CRA.
Other than taking care to calculate sales tax, and keeping their financial records updated, entrepreneurs also need to ensure that they are managing their GST number correctly. For example, if an entrepreneur was using a GST number when they were a proprietorship, that number is not going to transfer over to their corporation. Corporations are completely separate legal entities and therefore require a completely new and separate GST number. Business owners will then need to ensure that they are closing that GST account from their proprietorship, so that CRA does not self-assess them additional taxes.
Managing sales tax is a very complex issue, and whether they decide to do it themselves, or if entrepreneurs are hiring and Edmonton bookkeeping company to help them out with it, by keeping accurate records, separating the funds that they have collected, paying instalments and filing on time are all going to help an entrepreneur ensure that they are avoiding penalties as well as avoiding paying unnecessary interest charges.