Advice for Small Business Owners on State and Local Sales Tax Filing

Entrepreneurs in North Carolina have a hurdle jump through this month as they file their monthly and quarterly taxes with the Department of Revenue. A new state sales tax increase that went into effect on September 1, 2009 is to blame for the recalculation. The state quickly approved the increase in order to restore some of their budget deficit from the recession forcing the state’s Department of Revenue to try and get hundreds of thousands of small business owners the correct calculation worksheets. Although they have posted the updated worksheets online, critics of this solution worry those small business owners who do not have internet access will end up incurring costly penalties and will have to re-file. A Department of Revenue spokesperson says that businesses that do not have internet access can call toll free (877-252-3052) to have a representative help them calculate their owed taxes over the phone. At the same time state and county taxes are also changing in North Carolina starting this month. This kind of change is not uncommon among states and municipalities. Be sure to check with your tax preparer or your state’s Department of Revenue for the latest information. 

Is Social Networking A Waste of Time for Small Biz?

According to a recent survey of small business owners social networking just might be a waste of time. The survey of 500 small business owners with less than a hundred employees by Citibank/GfK Roper finds that:

• Three-quarters say that have not found sites like Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn helpful for generating business leads or expanding business in the past 12 months.
• 86 percent have not used social networking sites for information or business advice
• 10 percent have sought information and business advice from blogs.

Meanwhile small business owners are beefing up their websites to attract business and using search engines over social networking. Could it be that the business owners surveyed just aren’t using social networking tools to their advantage?  Get first hand advice from the creator of Twitter, Jack Dorsey on successfully using his tool for your small business success by clicking here. Social networking is really paying off for Park Avenue Coffee and Sweat Gym. Click here to see how these entrepreneurs are attracting and keeping customers.