Tax tips for small businesses on LI

Small business owners and sole practitioners can take advantage of some new tax breaks — if they know how use them.

Representatives from the Internal Revenue Service and the NYS Small Business Development Center will be filling people in on the details Friday at a forum held by Congresswoman Carolyn McCarthy (D-Mineola) in Franklin Square.

“Small businesses and entrepreneurs are the engine of our economy on Long Island,” McCarthy said in a news release. “At this critical point on our nation’s road to recovery, we have to do everything we can to pave the way for them to grow and prosper.”

Congress adopted 16 changes last year that can help businesses and the self-employed reduce their 2010 tax bill and future taxes. 

Some of the benefits are easy to digest, like a tax break and tax credit for most employers who hired qualified workers during the last 10  months of 2010. Others get into the nitty gritty of the tax code covering complicated areas like capital gains exemptions, small business tax credits and health insurance deductions for the self-employed.

Certain changes relate to the 2010 tax year only, so employers and freelancers need to learn about them now if they want to take full advantage when they file or amend their tax returns this year. Other breaks won’t kick in until 2013.

The forum starts  at 8:15 a.m. Friday in the Elmont Memorial Public Library, at 700 Hempstead Turnpike.

McCarthy’s office encouraged attendees to RSVP by e-mailing Jessica.Montgomery@mail.house.gov or by calling her district office at 516-739-3008.

-------------------

Read more of Inside Long Island Business