Skip to content
  • Survey of Rural Challenges
  • Small Town Speaker Becky McCray
  • Shop Local video
  • SaveYour.Town
Small Biz Survival
The small town and rural business resource
Small town main street
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS
Small Biz Survival
  • In a fabric store, a dark-skinned woman with long salt-and-pepper colored hair is using a laptop notebook to manage the business
    entrepreneurship | management | organization | rural | tax matters

    The End of Year Checklist for Small Businesses

    December 25, 2025December 20, 2025

    I’ve been in business a long time now, from retail to service to ag, and I’ve learned some things about wrapping up one year and getting ready for the next. Some of it I learned the hard way! Whether you run your business on paper, desktop software, mobile or cloud services, there are common tasks…

    Read More The End of Year Checklist for Small BusinessesContinue

  • IRS logo
    entrepreneurship | tax matters

    Four Things to Know about Taxes and Starting a Business

    November 14, 2017November 5, 2017

    When you’re starting your business, you really don’t want to be thinking about taxes. Here’s the basics from the IRS: Four Things to Know about Taxes and Starting a Business. The article includes the 5 kinds of taxes you need to be aware of, but probably aren’t, when you start your business.    

    Read More Four Things to Know about Taxes and Starting a BusinessContinue

  • IRS logo
    entrepreneurship | tax matters

    You probably should be making estimated tax payments to the IRS

    November 7, 2017November 5, 2017

    If you’re self-employed (running a business), you need to know that the IRS expects you to make estimated payments each quarter. “Taxes are pay-as-you-go,” the official IRS page said. “This means that you need to pay most of your tax during the year, as you receive income, rather than paying at the end of the…

    Read More You probably should be making estimated tax payments to the IRSContinue

  • A horseback rider stands next to a pickup truck pulling a stock trailer.
    entrepreneurship | tax matters

    2015 Standard Mileage Rates from the IRS

    December 23, 2014December 21, 2014

      The 2015 standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) will be: 57.5 cents per mile for business miles driven 23 cents per mile driven for medical or moving purposes 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations The business, medical, and moving expense rates…

    Read More 2015 Standard Mileage Rates from the IRSContinue

  • Deducting your home office – webinar Wednesday
    entrepreneurship | rural | tax matters

    Deducting your home office – webinar Wednesday

    September 8, 2014November 2, 2015

      Rural business owners commonly use part of their home in their business. This can include using an extra bedroom as a home office, an specific area of one room for product crafting such as sewing, an exterior building like a shed or garage for production or research, or a specific section of your lot or…

    Read More Deducting your home office – webinar WednesdayContinue

  • Webinars on hiring independent contractors and avoiding common tax mistakes
    announcement | entrepreneurship | tax matters

    Webinars on hiring independent contractors and avoiding common tax mistakes

    April 30, 2014August 27, 2014

      Independent contractors and related tax questions are some of the most common questions we get from readers, so I was glad to see these webinars offered by the IRS Small Business/Self-Employed Division during Small Business Week. The webinars will cover: What to do when you hire and pay independent contractors, and How best to…

    Read More Webinars on hiring independent contractors and avoiding common tax mistakesContinue

  • Phone with IRS2GO app
    tax matters

    IRS? There’s an app for that

    February 12, 2014August 27, 2014

    Waiting on an income tax refund? Wondering about the status of your tax return? The IRS has an app for that, IRS2Go. In fact, the IRS has had an app since 2011, and the new version 4.0 is now available in both English and Spanish, for iPhone and Android. Refund status info is updated daily, not minute-by-minute…

    Read More IRS? There’s an app for thatContinue

  • IRS Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self-Employed
    entrepreneurship | tax matters

    IRS Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self-Employed

    December 31, 2013August 27, 2014

    IRS Tax Calendar for Small Businesses and Self-Employed, has been discontinued after 2013. This was the printed wall calendar that used to list the due dates on the pages of each month. However, the IRS said that an IRS Tax Calendar and most of the information previously contained on it can be found at www.irs.gov/taxcalendar. The calendar dates…

    Read More IRS Tax Calendar for Small Business and Self-EmployedContinue

Page navigation

1 2 3 … 10 Next PageNext

Howdy!

Glad you dropped in to the rural and small town business blog, established in 2006.

We want you to feel at home, so please take our guided tour.

Meet our authors on the About page.

Have something to say? You can give us a holler on the contact form.

If you would like permission to re-use an article you’ve read here, please make a Reprint Request.

Want to search our past articles? Catch up with the latest stories? Browse through the categories? All the good stuff is on the Front Page.

More of the best of Small Biz Survival

TREND 2025: Retail’s Big Split: what small town retailers can do now

Posted on December 11, 2024

99% of the best things you can do for your town don’t require anyone’s permission

Posted on January 2, 2024

Get started as an outdoor outfitter without breaking the bank

Posted on August 28, 2023

How to get customers in the door of small town and rural retail stores

Posted on February 19, 2023

Partners

We partner with campaigns and organizations that we think best benefit rural small businesses.

Logo with "Shop Indie Local"
Graphic of US currency with the text Move Your Money, bank local, invest local
Multicolor logo with text that says "Global Entrepreneurship Week"
Save Your Town logotype
Copyright © 2006–2026 Becky McCray • Site by Webdancers
  • Front Page
  • Latest stories
  • About
  • Guided Tour
  • Subscribe
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact
  • RSS