Taxes in most countries are a normal part of every business, your sales are taxed, you have to pay certain fees for certain activities (i.e. point of sale, waste producing etc.) or your profits are taxed. Remember, it could be you’re subject to all of those taxes and more. In most countries you’d also be liable for withholding and paying taxes on payroll expenses. In short some could say that each and every step can be taxed. Whether they are, is part of a countries own legislation and political judgments, but matter of fact is that when doing business, you’re subject to some kind of tax. 

So how does one come about and ensure all taxes are orderly declared and paid to the authorities? Key word to all of this, as we’ve mentioned several times actually, although in different context, is keeping all your accounting records and documents in neat and tight order. Have them all labelled, stored, ensure each and every accounting record you make, is supported by documents, and what’s more, ensure they’re documented following all required applicable regulations.

The latter is not just so you could declare your taxes properly, but also for purposes of tax review should you be visited by tax authorities. The first thing they’re mostly interested in, is the internal guidelines you have for your accounting – document describing how certain transactions are treated, documents created and stored, entries made etc. This is their guidance on how to read and “translate” your accounting.

Note that in most countries you can be held liable for unorderly accounting where documents aren’t present, entries are made without any substance etc. As I’ve said many times, have your documents prepared and orderly stored when making the entry in the first place. Only then can you really know what you accounted where and why, and only then can you be sure you’ve declared everything you ought to. Obviously the latter presumes you understand your local tax legislation.