IFTA and Income Taxes in April

Are there any two worse months than January and April for truckers? IFTA and quarterly taxes fall together all the time, but in April, we get the personal income tax too. Quarterly business taxes AND IFTA AND income taxes make these months horrible. TruckingOffice PRO can help by making your IFTA filing simple and fast.

Paperwork Overload

April 15th. Income taxes are due. That’s why many owner-operators focus on getting their taxes done and over with as fast as possible.  We may have accountants to figure out business taxes (which is why TruckingOffice PRO can export your data to QuickBooks with a couple of quick steps) and maybe we have an accountant handle our personal income taxes too.  But it’s still a lot of paperwork to do. 

These aren’t tasks we can do easily during a rest stop on the road.  Messing up the 1040 or a Schedule C for self-employed owner-operators can create a financial mess that will take months to solve.  Concentrating on the numbers takes time and careful attention, even if most of the “paperwork” is now all online.  Fixing those numbers online can be time-consuming.

They could also result in being audited, but that’s not the worst thing that could happen. Failing to pay the correct amount in income taxes can result in quarterly penalties, and potentially imprisonment. Even though the odds for penalties that harsh are slim, is that really a risk you think is worth taking? Not paying income taxes on time or the correct amount could put everything you’ve worked for in jeopardy.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways owner-operators can ease the stress of filing IFTA and income taxes.

IFTA and Income Taxes Requirements

IFTA and IRP use the same numbers.  TruckingOffice PRO computes each of these taxes for you.  No problems there.  But the income taxes aren’t based on the miles per state like IFTA and IRP are.

Owner-operators know that there are different requirements for IFTA and income taxes. While there is some overlap, what they need to accurately file both. IFTA fees require owner-operators to take note of how much they fill up in specific states. They also require drivers to report how far they drive in each jurisdiction. While this is required for IFTAs, federal income taxes are a different story.

Federal income taxes require owner-operators to report much more information.  Business expenses might be tax-deductible.  Or not.  It’s important to know what you can deduct from your business tax filing and your personal income tax filing.   Office supplies, truck maintenance, and hotel rooms?  Which expenses are deductible and which aren’t?   

Knowing everything that’s required for filing income taxes and having it conveniently located in one place could seriously make taxes less stressful. 

Organizing for IFTA and Income Tax

Tax time is the same time of year every year, so why not get a head start on it? The earlier you file your IFTA and income taxes, the sooner you can get back to doing what you love. All it takes is keeping all your important tax-related files organized and in one place.

This makes it easy for you to locate and share them with your tax professional once that time of year comes back around. This type of system in place reduces stress by saving time and increasing accuracy. An early start allows you to find any mistakes prior to filing. Less time spent on paperwork and lower odds of making a mistake seems like a win-win for owner-operators.

How does an owner-operator get organized?  By using trucking software to manage their trucking business.  By using a complete system (not just an IFTA filing software or invoicing program) that tracks all your business expenses, you’ll be ready for the accountant or tax preparer in days after New Year’s.  TruckingOffice PRO tracks dispatches, routings, invoices, maintenance, and expenses with one program. 

TruckingOffice PRO Organizes Your Trucking Business

If you’re looking for a complete trucking software to manage your trucking business, you’re probably looked around the internet and found the big names.  The trucking software packages that work for a big trucking company with hundreds of vehicles cost too much for a single owner-operator working with one truck. 

Do you need all those bells and whistles?  Why pay for them if you don’t need them?

Is Your Trucking Business Ready for April Taxes?

Take a look at TruckingOffice PRO instead.  IFTA?  IRP?  We do them in seconds without any extra data entry because the program reuses the data already entered at the dispatch.  Expenses can be tracked by importing data from your fuel card or credit card.  Maintenance records of work completed as well as scheduling work for the future keeps you in compliance with DOT and FMSCA requirements, making an audit nothing to worry about. 

Every important aspect of your trucking business is organized with TruckingOffice PRO.  So when IFTA and income taxes are due in April, you’ll be prepared.

  •  TruckingOffice PRO trucking software will electronically log miles makes IFTA filing seamless.
  • Preparing your invoices and tracking late pays will ease your worries about cash flow.
  • Entering your expenses is easy and fast so that you won’t miss a single deduction that you deserve to take.

If you don’t believe us, you can try for yourself by starting your free trial today!

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