Are You Taking All Your Merchant Deductions on Your Taxes?

 

Keep Track of Your Credit Card Fees, Chargebacks, & Refunds 

The law requires that banks and merchant processing service companies report GROSS REVENUE RECEIVED by the merchant. These entities DO NOT take into consideration the following: 

• Refunds - Merchants issue refunds days or weeks after a sale (the original sale is still counted in your Annual or Monthly Gross Sales
• Monthly processing fees (Your Annual Processing Fees only reports you TOTAL Sales without the Cost!)
• Chargebacks - Chargebacks are costly. Not only is the monthly pulled from your account during the arbitration period and if you lose, it is returned to the customer's credit card! But you also incur Arbitration Fees ($15 - $60) per incident! 
• Cost of Technology - Software and Hardware (either one-time purchase, monthly subscription fees or annual fees)

Are you overpaying the IRS on Credit Card Revenue?

Your Business needs to have accounting procedures in place to keep track of not only your sales revenue but your sales cost (which are NOT REPORTED IN THE MERCHANT SERVICES ANNUAL IRS REPORT) these separate items and YOU need to keep track of them! In other words, don't count on your Accountant or CPA to ask you for this information or actually find them in your paperwork. If your not TRACKING YOUR COSTS, you are losing a lot of money! 

It's simple, create a spreadsheet and then each month look at your monthly statement.    Record the following each month: 

• Total Revenue (found on first page of statement)
• Total Fees (found on the first page or at the end of the statement)
• The Fees will include any monthly fees, the rates paid for each transaction, any per item fees, authorization fees, Brand Assessment fees, any return/refund fees or chargebacks fees and PCI Compliance or Penalty fees. (Pay close attention to your fees)
• Check for any Chargebacks - Record that amount
• Chargebacks are sent to you from your processor by mail or email. Some companies have a BackOffice where you can find a section for NOTIFICATIONS, check there as well! Be sure to answer these chargebacks them in a timely manner!  
• Total Refunds/Returns given back to customers. 

Here's the difference between Merchant Processing Solutions and other processors:

1. We make sure you are PCI Compliant so you are not charged a high NON-Compliance Fee monthly!
2. We make sure you rates are low (interchange plus pricing) 
3. No minimum monthly payments
4. We get notified, along with you, when a Chargeback Dispute has been lodged. We make you aware of this issue and help your collect documentation necessary to win the chargeback.
5. We help you understand your statement and learn how to calculate you fees quickly and easily! 

If you would like to work with a professional team call 
Merchant Processing Solutions today! 
954-938-2420

Do I need Pin-Debit Processing?

 

Do I really save money with Pin-Debit Acceptance?

There are two tupes of Debit Cards: Signature Debit and Pin-Debit. So what's the difference?

Signature Debit: 

A signature debit transaction requires the cardholder to sign a receipt; either paper or electronically as a way of verifying the customer. These cards are processed via the BRANDS Network (Visa, MasterCard, Discover, American Express) and are subject to their interchange rate. These cards are treated just like a regular credit card and require NO Additional Equipment or Set-Up Fees. 

The rates and fees for the SIGNATURE DEBIT via the BRANDS NETWORK ranges from .05% - 1.65% with Transaction Fees between $.04 - $.30.

PIN DEBIT NETWORK

PIN Debit 

A pin-debit transaction,requires cardholders to enter their PINs (personal identification number) into the terminal to verify their purchase. Pin-debit transactions are processed through a different card netwrok called the PIN-DEBIT NETWORK. Some of the brands included in this network are: Accel, Jeanie, NYCE, STAR, or Shazam. The rates charged by these network brands are all different based on the pin-debit company choosen by your bank that assigned you your pin-debit card. You can find which one you have by looking at the front of your card!

The rates and fees for the PIN DEBIT NETWORK ranges froom .05% - 1.30% with Transaction Fees between $.03 - $.21.

PIN or Signature? What’s the best for my business?

Each business must decide for itself what it best for them. But here are some guidelines: 

1. If you do a lot of online or card not present transactions, Pin-Debit does not work for those transactions as it is ONLY set up for In-Person using a Pin-Debit enabled Pin-Pad.
2. You need to register with the PIN DEBIT NNETWORK brands and have an additional set-up on your merchant account. 
3. With the new Durban Ammendment, most Signature Debit credit cards are regulated and can only charge the merchant .05% plus the transaction fee. This is typically cheaper than the PIN DEBT NETWORK. 
4. Ask yourself, how many of my customers will pay me with a Debit VS Credit card. A debit card pulls the money immediately while a credit card will float the money until the bill is due. 

If you need help understanding of deciding on which is best for your business, please call us! 

Merchant Processing Solutions Inc.

954-938-2420