Running a restaurant is complicated enough, even before you start worrying about your business tax preparation. Between managing employees, ordering inventory, and attracting a steady stream of new customers, it’s easy to let deductible expenses or a few purchases fall through the cracks. Fortunately, adopting a year-round strategy can make your taxes a lot easier to deal with, lowering your liability and helping you stay on the IRS’s good side.

3 Business Tax Preparation Tips for Restaurant Owners

1. Deduct All Your Supplies

You probably deduct the cost of your ingredients, like meat, vegetables, and bread, but don’t neglect everything that goes into preparing food. For instance, you can also write off the cost of spices, condiments, cooking oil, and anything else you need to run your business. Your food and beverage costs are deductible whether you sell a dish or have to discard it, so note these expenses at the time of the purchase, not when they’re used.

2. Remember Your Mileage

Does your restaurant offer delivery or catering services for events? If so, you can probably deduct the mileage you travel as long as you track it carefully. Miles driven by your employees in company vehicles are also deductible. It may not seem like much, but those miles can really add up over the course of the year.

3. Take Your Section 179 Deduction

Restaurants are especially capital-intensive, requiring a lot of expensive equipment and occasional major purchases. Fortunately, the Section 179 deduction makes it easy to write off that new stove or walk-in cooler upgrade in one year instead of writing it off over time. This deduction is designed to lower your tax bill and make it easier to invest in your own business.

If you own a restaurant anywhere in the Silver Springs, MD, area, ZP Tax will take the headache out of your business tax preparation. With years of experience and an in-depth understanding of the constantly changing tax code, their team will handle the details for you, so you can focus on what you do best. To get in touch with one of their business tax preparation experts, visit their website now or call (301) 587-4829.