Your December Domainer Checklist
Here are 8 things to do ahead of the end of the year.
I have my annual end-of-year meeting with my accountant today and it has me thinking regarding what I need to complete ahead of the end of the year. Here are 8 things domain investors ought to do this month.
1. Plan for taxes – This is the first year of the fresh tax code for U.S. residents. It’s really hard to figure out if the fresh code will be helpful or hurtful and it depends on your unique situation. On the one hand, rates are lower and there’s a fresh 20% deduction for qualified business income. On the other hand, state tax deductions are capped and a handful of other changes might impact your taxes. At a minimum, run a preliminary income statement to ballpark your tax bill.
2. Schedule your Q4 estimated tax payment – U.S. residents need to make their Q4 payment on January 15, 2019. Make sure you have the cash in the bank.
3. Renew, renew, renew – Depending on the tax regime where you live and your accounting method, now is a great time to pull expenses forward by renewing domain names that expire in the next six months. Or push them off to next year if you expect higher income in 2019.
4. Buy a fresh computer and other assets – Again, this depends on your country. In the U.S., now is a great time to buy any assets for your business so you can take the Section 179 depreciation this year.
5. Close out sales – If you’re right now negotiating to buy or sell domain names, timing at the end of the year is key. You can delay a big sale until 2019 if your tax bill is by now higher-than-usual in 2018, or close on it now if you’re falling into a lower-than-usual tax bracket. You can also use timing to your advantage when negotiating with people who also want to get a transaction done on either side of January 1.
6. Get your portfolio in order – There are some great tools for organizing your portfolio and staying on top of expirations. My favorite is Watch My Domains Pro.
7. Review automatic subscriptions – Firms love subscription services since people often renew them even if they aren’t using them anymore. Now is a great time to check all of your subscription services and decide which ones to keep in 2019.
8. Review your strategy – Use downtime over the holidays to review your results in 2018 and set a strategy for the start of 2019. What worked? What didn’t?
