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Excelsior Jobs Program Offers Tax Credits for Software and Video Game Developers

New York State’s Excelsior Jobs Program provides job creation and investment incentives to companies in specific industries including biotechnology, clean-technology, green technology, financial services. More recently the program was expanded to include entertainment, music, and video game production. In a nutshell, the Excelsior Jobs Program provides tax credit incentives for specified businesses in New York State that create and maintain new jobs or make investments. The program is administered by Empire State Development (ESD) which approves program applications and issues certificates to qualifying organizations allowing them to claim eligible tax credits. Software development companies operating in New York State, which

Start Spreading the News…New York State Expands Tax Credit for Musical Productions

New York City has long been recognized as the epicenter for American musical productions, however, legislators recently passed a bill to support the growth of this industry in other parts of New York State as well. Known as the Empire State Music Production Tax Credit, this law encourages music and theatrical production companies to conduct pre-tour activities and perform shows at locations in Upstate New York, by providing a fully refundable 25 percent for certain production and transportation expenditures directly related to the technical period of a show. (The technical period refers to activities performed by the technical personnel of

Work + Play = Vacation Season Tax Deductions

Summer. It’s the perfect time to get away from it all for a few days, or preferably, longer. Of course, when you’re running a freelance business, it’s almost impossible to get completely away unless you throw your iPhone out the car window on your way to your destination (not suggesting that you do this, of course). It’s almost inevitable that a little bit of work is likely going to creep into your summer vacation—or you might decide to add some vacation days onto a business trip that finds you in a trendy hotspot. In either situation, work plus play can

Software Engineer or Designer? Check Out the Toptal Community

We’re always on the lookout for new resources to help freelancers grow their businesses, so we want to share this one with you. If you’re a freelance software designer or software engineer and you’re looking to expand your network of potential new clients and project collaborators, check out Toptal.com. In addition to creating a profile on the site to get new project leads, you’ll also find lots of great content on the Toptal Engineering Blog, a hub for in-depth development tutorials and new technology announcements created by professional freelance software engineers in the Toptal network. For example, one of the

It’s Summer and the Billing is Not Easy: Tips to Avoid a Cash Flow Crunch

Summer—it’s a great time to take a vacation and let things slow down a little on the work front. At least that’s what your clients are thinking. Having a slow month or two is to be expected as part of the whole freelancing gig and sometimes the downtime is a good thing. A good thing that is, unless you can’t afford to bridge the gap between your “regular” flow of income and the shortfall. Before you start really sweating about a complete money meltdown this summer, there are things you can do to avoid one. Start with these tips: Take

Three Must-Have Business Tools for Time-Starved Freelancers

Deadlines, drama, distractions…it’s a wonder that freelancers have time to get anything done. If you feel like you’re always up against the clock when it comes to managing your business, take a minute (maybe two) to check out the following three tools. They’re guaranteed to help you trim the time it takes to manage your business finances and promotions. Save time calculating estimated taxes with the Painless 1099 app. Our friends at Painless 1099 get that being a freelancer is hard—and that the business end of things can be painfully time-consuming. That’s why they created a nifty app to automate

Want to Slash Your Tax Bill? Review the Structure of Your Freelance Business

Like many freelancers, you may have started out doing business “on the side” to either supplement the income you derive from your full-time “day” job or to test the waters before making the plunge into full-time self-employment. In this situation, claiming the money that you make freelancing as additional income on your personal tax return is fine. However, once you decide to pursue freelancing full-time, or you have reached a critical mass in your business, you should take the formal step of establishing a legal business entity. Selecting the right business entity will protect your personal assets from any liability

Discover the Secret Bonus Hidden in Every Freelancer’s Tax Return

It’s just about May and you already filed your taxes—so why (groan) should you keep thinking about them? The reason is simple: You get a clearer picture of where you stand financially now, and what you should do to improve that standing in the future when you prepare to file your tax return. Consider it a secret bonus rewarding you for the time spent sifting through paperwork and electronic documents to satisfy the IRS. Before you file all of your tax documents away neatly for another year, scan your return with the following questions in mind to help you decide

*@#$! Did You Miss the Tax Filing Deadline? Help is Here!

It’s an uncomfortable (and inconvenient) truth…more people than you’d be tempted to think fail to file their taxes by the April “Tax Day” deadline. If you’re one of them, you may be sweating—or cursing—a little, especially when you keep hearing people talk about everything they’re going to do with the awesome refund they are getting. Well, what’s done is done, so it’s time to pack up the pity party, roll up your sleeves and take action to prevent your failure to file your taxes from having seriously dire consequences for your future prosperity. Unfiled taxes: Act now for best results.

Tax Day Deals and Freebies 2016

Is your Form 1040 still laying on your desk, staring at you? Silently mocking you? If it could only speak it would scream, “Complete me! Complete me!” So go on, complete your tax return before April 18…please! If you don’t, you know the story: late filing fees and…Gulp…non-payment penalties. We won’t lecture you here, however, that’s a job best left to the IRS. Instead, we’ll aim to ease your stress a little bit by letting you know about the Tax Day Freebies that you are entitled to, regardless of whether you finish your taxes or not (and we recommend that

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