Tax time is almost upon us. For some, it brings the sweet financial reprieve of a refund after holiday spending has left them broke. For others, it brings more dread, but it has to be done. If you are staring tax time in the face, you should know that there are plenty of tax preparation services available, from cheapest and easiest to most expensive and complicated. Do not worry; even if you do your taxes yourself, you can always have a professional check them over for errors.

Submitting tax documents online is preferred by millions upon millions of tax filers. Transmitting the information online contributes to faster receipt and equally faster processing. Not everyone, however, is sold on the idea of sending electronic correspondence containing sensitive information. Fears over an identity thief procuring the info by way of hacking or other means leads many to stick with the old "tried and true" method of mailing documents. Of course, this may create a few concerns for someone who positively needs a returns to arrive at the IRS service center on time.

When you have a small business, you likely rely on a small group of employees to cover many tasks. While a big company with a large budget can afford to hire a larger staff who are assigned more specific tasks by the job titles they hold, the lines are sometimes blurred with a small business when it comes to tasks that people in certain jobs take on. Whatever the case may be in your company, you will be sure to mess up the accounting for your small business if you make the following mistakes.

Most hotels are open 24 hours every day, and some of the necessary accounting is optimally performed during the overnight hours. Hotel managers can help assure the integrity of monthly accounting statements by ensuring that each nightly audit is performed correctly. At a larger hotel, the night auditor might be one of several employees on duty. If you operate a smaller hotel, the night auditor may be the only employee on the night shift.

Some tax filers are eligible for a tax credit for contributing to an individual retirement account. In addition to the standard tax-deferred benefits of an IRA, a tax credit is received up front. The specific amount of the credit can sometimes be affected by whether the account is a traditional IRA or a Roth IRA. The Credit for Qualified Retirement Savings Contributions is informally referred to simply as the saver's credit.

A divorce can be an exceptionally stressful and complicated time -- especially financially. But one of the major difficulties that can occur is attempting to file your taxes while you're going through a divorce. Here are a few things that you'll need to know during this process, though ideally you may also want to consult with a professional. You're Still Considered Married Unless You Divorced Before January 1st The IRS considers you to be married as long as you started the year married.

You're a business owner who takes care of your own books and you're confused about overtime pay. That's understandable, as many owners try to avoid this situation as much as possible. However, you should still understand the basics of overtime pay in case it ever becomes a problem. Understanding When Overtime Is Necessary Workers who are under the age of 16 are limited by the number of hours they can work, but anyone over that age is not limited in the number of hours he can work in a week.

The self-employed who work at home enjoy several perks as a result of their position, like the short walk to work and the lack of annoying cube-mates. As a trade-off, those who have themselves as a boss need to be extra careful when it comes to their financial dealings. Most people know about the benefit of using their homes and vehicles as tax "write-offs," but this class of workers often comes to the attention of IRS auditors, resulting in the dreaded audit.

When you start your own small business, it comes with lots of new opportunities and responsibilities. One way to fulfill both of them and make sure your business stays open for as long as possible is to start off with good record keeping. While it's not very exciting, record keeping could make a world of difference to your ability to keep your company in the black. So, how can you create good records from the beginning?

If you have still not done your taxes, you have a short amount of time to get them done. Here are a few things that you need to be aware of as you file your taxes this year. There Are New Health Insurance Forms One of the biggest changes you will notice as you file your tax returns is the health care section. If you have insurance, you should have received either a Form 1095-A, 1095-B or 1095-C.