Virtual Assistant Newsletter

February 27, 2008

In this Issue

• Personal Note From India
• Recommended VA Resource
• VA Job Leads
• VA Profit Tip - Determining Whether to Hire a Tax Preparer or Do Your Own Taxes
• Virtual Assistant Industry News - Industry News and Announcements

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===>Personal Note from India

Hi,

I hope you’re doing well.  As I mentioned last week I’m sharing with you more tax tips.  This week’s feature article discusses doing your taxes yourself or hiring a professional. My husband and I made the decision this year to do our own taxes  using TurboTax. I was quite pleased with the software and the ease of use. This route is not for everyone, but only you can make the choice that best suits your situation. Be sure to read this week’s featured article.

Wishing you all the best,

India Jordan
Your Fellow Virtual Assistant
Virtual Assistant Business

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===>Recommended VA Resource

TurboTax Home & Business 2007 is designed for taxpayers who own their own business and includes everything you need for your self-employment and personal income taxes. It helps you maximize business expenses, home office deductions, and more. You can even create W-2 and 1099-MISC forms for your employees and contractors. For more information or to buy Turbo Tax click here.

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===>VA Job Leads

Assistant Controller - Part-time Contractor through Sept 2008 (palo alto)
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/acc/587606406.html

Contract Bookkeeper
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/acc/586712020.html

Part-time Booking Assistant
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/sls/583364572.html

Web marketing researcher for eco-friendly startup
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/sfc/ofc/572804018.html

Executive Assistant (san mateo)
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/ofc/572456472.html

HTML Coder
http://www.resmatic.net/resmaticinc/detail.php?id=34

Medical Transcriptionist
http://www.mtjobs.com/job_detail.cfm?RowID=14868

Contract Paralegals
http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=69025542

Online/Virtual Assistant
http://jobview.monster.com/GetJob.aspx?JobID=68992306

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===>Featured Article

Determining Whether to Hire a Tax Preparer or Do Your Own Taxes

With the increasing costs of paying a tax preparer to prepare taxes, as well as the increasing availability of inexpensive software and Web wizards to perform this task, many people are deciding to do their own taxes. But while this software has made the task easier, the United States still has one of the most difficult income tax codes in the world for someone who isn’t an accountant or trained tax preparer to try to follow.

So you shouldn’t try to do your taxes yourself unless you feel completely comfortable with doing them. Before you decide to go it alone, you need to consider several factors that will determine whether you have simple taxes that can be done with simple tax software, or if you might not just be better off paying a professional to get you the most deductions and save your time.

For Those With a Regular Job And No Additional Sources of Significant Income

In most cases if you have a job and no additional sources of significant income, other than a little interest on a savings account and some stock dividends, it is relatively easy to do your taxes with a program such as TurboTax or TaxACT. You just follow a little wizard that takes you through each step of the calculations by asking a few simple questions. You have little more to do than answer the questions before your taxes have been calculated.

For the Self-Employed

In most cases self-employed individuals will face many fuzzy areas on deductions for business related expenditures. If you have any major self-employment income you will probably have a lot of questions about what is and isn’t deductible that a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) can answer for you. More importantly, a CPA may know of some deductions you can make that would save you a lot more money on your taxes than the CPA charges. If nothing else, a CPA can save the self-employed person a lot of time, as there is so much for the self-employed individual to account for at tax time each year.

Ideally, for the self-employed person, the guidance of a CPA should be sought at the beginning of the tax year, rather than when the taxes are due for that year. The guidance of a CPA into an understanding of what you have to pay taxes on during the year. With this information you can save on your taxes by making major changes in the way you plan your revenues and expenditures, giving you a greater after-tax net income. Even if you think you have a pretty good idea of what is and isn’t deductible, the laws changes so much from year to year that it is hard for anyone who doesn’t calculate taxes for a living to keep up with these ever-changing, complex tax laws.

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===>Virtual Assistant Industry News