One question many network marketers and home business owners often ask is what they can do at year end to lower their income tax bill. Here are my top 3 year-end tax tips. Take action between now and December 31st and it can pay big dividends for you when you file on April 15th of next year:

1. Accelerate Expenses. Stock up on fax paper, printer cartridges, and other office supplies, cash flow permitting. Prepay subscriptions, equipment repairs, and travel bookings. Pay your January office rent in December. Pay cell phone, insurance, and utility bills now rather than waiting until after Jan. 1st. Most small and/or home businesses are ‘cash’ basis taxpayers, so paying bills early allows you to maximize your deductions on this year’s return.

2. Defer Income. Any payments your company can receive during the first week of January as opposed to December will reduce your tax bill for this calendar year. Every cent of income deferred until after January 1st will not be recorded as income until next year… and will typically will not be filed on a tax return until April of the following year! Deferring income tax in this manner is a good strategy for most sole proprietors, and also benefits small businesses structured as partnerships, LLCs and S Corporations

3. Update your Records. Most small business owners hate the record-keeping required by the IRS, and typically run so hard taking care of clients and the day-to-day operations of their business that bookkeeping and tax details get pushed to the back burner… until it’s too late! The difference between tax planning and tax preparation is Dec. 31st. If you spend extra time between now and Dec 31st to get your books/P&L up-to-date, accurate, and complete, then you’ll have the information you need to make informed decisions that can reduce Uncle Sam’s tax bite. An even better strategy to doing it yourself might be to outsource the paperwork, bookkeeping headaches, and tax forms to a professional. You'll free up your time to do what you do best, lower the cost of keeping your books in house, plus gain access to a professional who spends all day, every day working with small business owners to increase their profit and lower their taxes.

Jim Flauaus is President / CEO of Anchor Accounting & Tax, and specializes in helping network marketing and other home business owners discover dozens of audit-proof deductions, credits, and strategies to slash taxes and keep more of what they earn. Visit http://www.anchoraccountingandtax.com for more information on this topic. You can also register there to receive a free copy of the special report, "3 Key Ways to Save Thousands of Dollars on Your Tax Return This Year".