Usually, April 15th marks Tax Day, the last day to file your U.S. taxes. Due to a holiday, we get a three-day reprieve. If you are like many of your fellow entrepreneurs, this weekend won’t be spent enjoying the warmer spring weather, but rather playing catch-up with your tax filings! Here are 5 last minute small business tax tips: 

1. Don’t forget about your health insurance premiums! Businesses employing less than 25 people and earning less than $50K annually may qualify for up to a 35% credit for premiums paid. Small Business CEO has more surprising health insurance tax tips on their site, check it out.

2. Don’t forget about any Section 179 expenses you might have. Section 179 refers to certain property that is used to conduct your business–printers, computers, vehicles, etc. The limit for deductions has been increased to $500K for non-vehicular property for 2010 and 2011 tax years. For vehicles used 100% for business purposes, the deduction limit is $3060 (2010) and $3160 (2011). There’s an entire website dedicated to Section 179 expenses that may help.

3. Write off those travel and entertainment expenses. Sarah Kessler at Inc.com has a quick and dirty guide on how best to do this. So dig out those receipts from your client luncheon and don’t forget to itemize them!

4. If all else fails, file an extension. All taxpayers are entitled to a six-month extension in filing their taxes. But be forewarned: an extension on filing doesn’t equal an extension on paying.

by WILD WOMEN ENTREPRENEURS