Hi.
My name is Phyllis Grimes
and I work for the IRS.
I'm the Director
of Communications for the Small Business
and Self-Employed Division.
I have some information that
I'd like to share with you.
We have a lot of information
on our website that really is important to the small
business community.
Let me start by giving you
the address to our website.
It's irs.gov/smallbiz.
That's b-i-z.
We want the small business owner
to know that the IRS is here to help.
On our website you will find
so much information that will be relevant to you
whether you are starting your business,
growing your business or just helping your business
to manage and thrive.
Here are a couple
of things that you'll find on that website.
First you'll find a link
to several videos and webinars that we have put on there
to help you understand several components
of your tax obligations.
These webinars are
specifically geared to provide information to you,
the small business owner, about a variety of topics.
Click through
all the various topics and take a look at some
of these webinars.
These webinars are
available 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
So they're available
when you are available.
In addition to our videos
and webinars we also have a tax calendar.
This is a great tool
for you to download straight onto your computer,
download onto your laptop, so that you can receive
reminders about important due dates and know what's coming
as not only your business unfolds but as
the months unfold.
In addition to that we have
an opportunity for you to sign up
for electronic newsletters.
We have what we call
e-news for small businesses and e-news
for payroll providers.
So you know you may not
always think to go onto the IRS website
but by signing up for these electronic newsletters
information can be delivered directly to you
as it becomes available.
It will come straight
into your email box and it comes from
a trusted source: the IRS.
You know, there is
so much information that's out there,
it really is hard to really understand
what you need to know and what might be
nice to know.
And I think the website will
give you an opportunity to click on the information
that's most relevant to you, that's most
important to you.
In addition it's really
important that you, as a small business owner,
keep up with the deductions and credits that are
available to you.
Particularly this year,
we've had two important deductions and credits
that I'd like to talk about.
First with our small business
healthcare tax credit; this is an opportunity
for the small business owner to afford insurance coverage
for their employees either for their first time
or to continue to offer insurance coverage.
In addition we have
a new deduction that is important for small business
owners to know.
In the past, as small business
owners acquired assets, they were required
to depreciate those assets over many, many years.
With 2011 there is
an opportunity for small business owners to acquire
assets and be able to deduct right in the same
particular year.
That really is important
but is only useful if small business owners know
about it and can take full advantage of it.
Those are just two deductions
and credits that I wanted to talk about but there
are so many more.
So again I have to direct you
back to our website, irs.gov/smallbiz,
so that you can really understand
all the deductions and credits that are
available to you.
And believe it or not,
the IRS is on YouTube and we're on Twitter.
So follow us there as well.
We provide short bursts
of information because we know your time is important
but it does give you the information that you need
to stay current and to stay connected.
Lastly I'll mention
for our website, we have a small business
tax workshop.
You know in years past,
if you needed to go to a workshop you had to leave
your office, attend the workshop perhaps all day, taking
time away from you running your business.
Our small business tax
workshop is available online and you can take a segment
or two as it's available to you when you have the time.
You may want to find out
about recordkeeping.
You may need to figure out
if you're starting your business how, what your status is
in terms of being a sole proprietor or a partnership.
We have all
of that information available to you and it can
be accessed anywhere, at any time.
So again please make sure
that you understand that the IRS is here to help you
and we want your business to succeed.
Visit us at
irs.gov/smallbiz so we can help you
in this endeavor.
Good luck.