Feeling really bummed out about taxes!

[Crayola kiddies]

Don't forget you can claim portions of your utilities, mortgage interest, insurance, toys/supplies, ect Even if you bought the play pens or high chairs toys ect at garage sales or from kijiji you can still claim them, and don't forget you will have to pay cpp. Oh and you can write off a certain portion of your house...... I have an accountant do my taxes and he gets my income way down.

[Monday 2 Friday Mama]

Hi Sweetness, try not to be too bummed before you get the whole picture - no sense borrowing trouble, right ? If you don't mind me asking, how many children are you caring for ? Which province are you in ? I am located in Ontario. The first year that I did home daycare I only made (approximately) 18,000 dollars. (We had just moved to our new home, and I only worked for 9 months of the year, and I was only caring for 2-3 children as I was just getting my client base established) It may have been even less after I deducted my toys/food/office supplies/utilities/housing costs/home insurance. CRA has a fairly good list on their web site listing what you can claim as a business expense. Hopefully you've kept receipts - taking off your expenses can make a big difference in what you "make" annually.

I'm almost sure that you won't be paying 4000 dollars in taxes - it sounds a bit high. That said, just remember even if you can't pay the entire amount at once, you can send post dated cheques and pay it in "installments" over whatever period of time works best for you and your budget. Lastly, we would still be paying taxes even if we worked another type of job - and we'd have to pay all of the other expenses that come with it. (parking/transportation/lunches/office "gifts" etc. /) I know when I worked in an office that this kind of stuff was a real pet peeve of mine. There was always somebody having a birthday, or a baby, or looking for a donation for a walkathon. Don't get me wrong - my husband and I donate to a number of charities and I fully recognize the good work that they do. BUT....a toonie here, a fiver there - it all adds up and it really eats away at your bottom line when money is tight. I often wished that people would be more observant - if someone is brown bagging their lunches, and bringing their own tea bags as opposed to buying a drink maybe they really don't have 20 or 30 dollars a month to donate to different causes. (Okay - vent over)

Try not to panic - taxes are never very satisfying to pay, but they're just part of life. Would it make things easier for you if you just took 20% of each week's earnings and set them aside in a separate account earmarked for your taxes ? That way you wouldn't see the income, and hopefully even after you paid the taxes there would be a little bit left over for something for you. (that's what I do)

[cfred]

I will never, ever do my own taxes. I suck with math and I can't imagine anything more mindnumbingly boring to spend my days at. PLECH! I pay the $300 or so and get H&R Block to do it. There's a specific person at each office who does small business, so I believe he's actually an accountant, not just some guy who took the training to do regular taxes. At any rate, I've only ever owed twice ($1100 each time) over 12 years. Usually though, I get a little back....typically enough to cover the accounting fees.

I can't believe you owe $4000....Holy cow! That can't be right. You can write of EVERYTHING!!! Well, just about. When I buy new furniture, yup, write off. Toys, even for my kids...write off. All groceries (they work out the formula), hydro, heat, gas for the car, car repairs, equipment rented or purchased to maintain the property, flowers in my gardens, new computer (advertising/communication), cell phone and monthly fees, camera, printer ink, internet, netflix....everythin g. I even wrote off my new comforter set. Why not? A couple daycare kids peed and barfed on it, then another pulled a bunch of threads out of it.

My accountant put it well - you can write off anything used for the daycare or even that's in place to make the daycare look appealing to potential or current clients.