In working with small business I have witnessed, helped with, and heard about many panic creating mistakes. Many of these self-induced problems can happen to any small business, such as fights among partners or not getting your biggest client to sign a sales contract, but there is one that comes up most and this problem can take down a small business faster than the others. 

It is taxes.

There are many things to worry about as a small business owner. Some things you can get away with if you don't know what you are doing, but if you mess up taxes it can crush you financially. As a small business owner you are responsible for not only setting aside money to pay your own taxes, but you also have to worry about withholding taxes from employee pay and collecting sales taxes. In most of these situations the owner was not planning ahead at all so there is no money to pay the taxes let alone any penalties that come with these failures. 

Here are the three most common mistakes I have seen:

1. Failure to submit estimated quarterly taxes.
2. Failure to remit proper amount of employee withholding to State and Federal Government for income and payroll taxes. 
3. Failure by retail businesses to send in sales tax collected on time. 

As a small business owner, make sure you are doing all that you need to in this area. Don't lose your business for failing to make your payments to big brother. 

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