May 12, 2025 • 44 mins
TAXTALK4U Small Business Week. Tax tips for Small Businesses, Owner Operator Truckers tax tips and scam to avoid, Starting a business, Employer Identification Numbers EIN, How your business is classified, Keeping adequate records, bookkeeping. Trucker Taxes & Bookkeeping @Truckertaxtools.com Resolving tax debt, Trust Fund Penalties Tips for solving IRS Debts, Offer in Compromise, Non-Collectible, Partial Pay agreements @Taxationsolutions.net Tax Relief. Common scams targeting taxpayers.
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Tax Talk 4 U is broadcast live Mondays at 10AM ET and Music on W4CY Radio (www.w4cy.com) part of Talk 4 Radio (www.talk4radio.com) on the Talk 4 Media Network (www.talk4media.com). Tax Talk 4 U is viewed on Talk 4 TV (www.talk4tv.com).
Tax Talk 4 U Podcast is also available on Talk 4 Media (www.talk4media.com), Talk 4 Podcasting (www.talk4podcasting.com), iHeartRadio, Amazon Music, Pandora, Spotify, Audible, and over 100 other podcast outlets.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
The topics and opinions express in the following show are
solely those of the hosts and their guests, and not
those of W FOURCY Radio. It's employees are affiliates. We
make no recommendations or endorsements for radio show programs, services,
or products mentioned on air or on our web. No
liability explicitor implies shall be extended to W FOURCY Radio
or its employees are affiliates. Any questions or comments should
be directed to those show hosts. Thank you for choosing
(00:20):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Farry gen Fowler EA brings you tax Talk for you
right here on W four CY Radio and Talk for TV.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
As an enrolled agent and a national leader.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
In tax resolution as well as Trucker bookkeeping and tax planning.
With over thirty years of experience, Barry will break down taxes, bookkeeping,
tax planning, and tax relief.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
For individuals and businesses just like you. So let's have
some tax talk for you with your host, Barry gen Fowler.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Hey, welcome in, good morning. It's a great Monday morning again.
Always glad to be here in tax Talk for you.
Make sure you get over to tax TALKFORU dot com.
Click subscribe you can go to our Facebook page, click
like and follow. We really appreciate you joining us here today.
(01:23):
We're talking small businesses. So maybe you're just looking to
get into business. Maybe you're an owner operator trucker and
you're looking to move away from being a a W
two driver and you're just getting.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Started, and maybe you've been in business for a while,
and you.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Know all these things that information we're going to be
providing to you, uh here in this program is going
to help you in your business, run your business, maybe
stay in compliance in your business so that you don't.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
Have, you know, future problems.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
And so we're talking small business today, and you know,
if you've got questions, feel free to send us the questions.
We're going to answer those questions as we go through this.
But if you're getting out starting a new business, need
to do a couple of things. First is decide on
the appropriate business entity, whether it's a sole proprietorship, partnership
(02:23):
corporation es CORP, or LLC single member multi member. You've
got to establish those structures, and those structures are stablished
within your state. So if you're going to do a
corporation or an LLC, you're going to go to the
Secretary of State's office in your state and file the
(02:46):
paperwork to establish that company. Including limited liability companies or
limited liability partnerships, those are all going to be with
your Secretary of States. Sole proprietorship. If you're going to
do a D be A Usually it's done you know locally. Uh.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
So you would go down to your local tax office usually.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
And get that assumed name. Now you got your name
of your company. Now what Well, the next step is
get that employer identification number. You know, it's kind of
like your Solid security number. So it's an EI N
employer identification number. It is a federal tax identification number
that's going to be used to identify your business.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
Generally, most businesses.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Are going to need an EI and you can apply
for that, you know, through the i r S site,
or you can file SS four.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Uh, you can file online. You can do that. Now,
when you're doing.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
That, make sure you're following through with the information that
you're getting from the I r S. So, you know,
let's say you've established an LLLC and you put it
in as A one and you're checking the box that
you wanted to be an escort. There's more paperwork to
file to become an escort. Just because you check the
(04:08):
box doesn't mean the IRS is designating you as an escort.
Matter of fact, a letter that they give you will
tell you exactly what they're expecting from you and what
to file. Read it, Read it, read it, and if
you don't understand it, talk to your tax preparer, give
them a call, have them interpret and make sure that
(04:29):
you're going to be in client compliance because there's certain
boxes when you file that SS four that's going to
make you file payroll forms or file your tax return
in a certain way. So if you're an LLC and
check multi member, then it's going to tell you you're going
to have to file a ten sixty five and it'll
tell you when your first one is due. If you
say you're going to have employees during this first year,
(04:52):
they are going to automatically or require you to file
payroll tax forms. So you know, making sure that you've
done things right is extremely important.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Now you see, here's the problem.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
You checked off you're going to have employees, you don't
have employees, you don't hire a payroll service, you don't
even get into business for six months, or you're just
getting started. So you needed to establish the company. You
needed to get your website going, you needed to get
everything else moving before you start really operating this business.
(05:29):
So you die in your eyes and crossing your t's.
But you didn't have payroll. The IRS expected payroll forms. Well,
now you're late in filing even if it's a zero return,
and the IRS starts charging penalties. Matter of fact, they
even assume what your payroll was, and they start charging
your interest in penalties on what taxes is they're assuming
(05:51):
was due. And so now you've got to recover from
that and get them to You got to get in
and then file those zero returns, which waives the taxes
but doesn't waive the penalties. So you've created a problem,
and the problem continues to get worse because hey, you
didn't read the letter. B. You didn't really know what
they were asking or see. You're like a lot of
(06:13):
our clients that we bail out of these problems. You
had no knowledge that if you didn't have payroll, that
you were still required to file the forms. You also
didn't know that you had to file additional forms to
become an escort because you didn't understand what you were reading.
If you read the letter, so you know, get some help.
(06:36):
That's what we always advise you. You know, whether it's
here us AT truck or tax Tools, or you know
us AT Taxation Solutions, a tax Relief or somebody else
that's knowledgeable in your business. You need a good tax
advisor to give you good help to save you from
(06:57):
what you didn't know about the tax SCOE.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
You know that also goes with you know, filing eleven
twenties or eleven twenty ses. So you have an entity
that you are a corporation, so you have.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
John Doe's Baking ink, and you filed for your EI
in number. The letter came back and said you have
to file eleven twenty or if you wanted to be
an escort, you needed to file an AA twenty three
and the twenty five fifty three to request escort status,
which you didn't do. And the I r S says
(07:32):
your first return was due March fifteenth, twenty twenty four
or twenty twenty five, and you didn't file it because
you didn't have any revenue. You didn't really start operating
the business. The IRS still requires that return and you
still got to file that return, and now the IRS
is assessing penalties. So you know, knowledge goes a long way.
(07:57):
Somebody to help you and guy you to have the
right knowledge and the right information is golden, especially when
you're running a business. To get the help that you
need and let the professional people that have the knowledge
in the tax industry guide you every step of the way.
(08:21):
You know, don't get stuck in the mud and the
minutia of hey this is the paperwork or having to
study up to understand the tax code. You know, go
to Trucker tax tools dot com. Especially if you are
a trucker, we can help you. We have the knowledge
to be able to help keep your life running smooth,
(08:43):
keep you working. I mean you as an owner operator.
If you're on the road and you're an over road trucker,
the last thing you really want to do is to
come home and deal with paperwork, or deal with paper
work before you go on the road, or deal with
paperwork when you have.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
To stop the rest.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
You know, you want to be able to spend time
talking to your family, being with your family, and that
is what you need to do as opposed to sitting
down and doing all the paperwork that may be required.
It's bad enough that you know, you've got to keep
track of everything else that you have going on to
venture into dealing with taxes or bookkeeping, and you want
(09:27):
to make your life a little bit easier, and that's
what we do at.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Truck or Tax Tools.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Now, if you're a W two driver over the road
and you're looking to actually get out and become an
owner operator, have your own truck, your own business. And
one of the things that I suggest is oh IDA
Foundation has a great program that they run. It's about
(09:53):
three days long and it's in October and it's in
Blue Springs, Missouri, just down the road from o Ida
Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association, and it's called Truck to Success.
The go online look up Truck to Success o IDA
Foundation and register to come to that event.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
I'll be there.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
I talk about bookkeeping, taxes, lease, purchase entities, the whole
works at this seminar, So you know, make sure you
come and join us there.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Hey, we're going to take a quick break and then.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
We're going to continue talking about small businesses and what
you need to run your small business to make sure
as you get started on the right foot.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
We'll be right back after this.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We have only scratched the surface of today's show. Please
stand by as Barry G. Fowler will be right back
with tax talk for you. If you owe the I
R S or are going through an IRS audit, don't
go at it alone. Called Taxation Solutions tax Relief that
(11:00):
eight eight eight nine three zero one zero one six.
We are your solution for IRS, TETs, audits, back taxes, garnishments.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Leans and levees.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Whether you're an individual or business, you need a solution
and a strong aggressive tax resolution. Don't let the IRS
walk go over you. Stop the IRS.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Now call eight eight eight nine.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Three zero one zero one six or go to Taxationsolutions
dot net now for a free no obligation consultation. Let's
get back to tax stock for you with more tax
stock once again.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Here's your host, Barry G. Fowler.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
You know we're talking small businesses today, but this really applies.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
To all businesses.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
So as you go through and you're starting your business,
you want to make sure if you're doing business, you
know the right way, you're keeping track of the right information.
Record keeping, bookkeeper all becomes very important. Good records, good
bookkeeping is going to help you monitor the progress of
(12:16):
your business. So when you have financial statements, you know,
and you're preparing them, You're going to identify the sources
of income. You're going to keep track of your deductible expenses,
keep track of your basis in your property, be able
to use those to be able to prepare your tax returns,
and then it would be supporting the items that you're
(12:39):
having on your tax return. You know, both income and
the deductible expenses. So you know, record keeping is important,
So develop a system. And whether you're using you know,
Trugger tax tools as an owner operator or you're a
small business and you're using this to do your record
(13:02):
keeping out there, having a system in place makes life easier.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
So we have a system that we use for every one.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Of our clients, and our system is really communicated to
our clients. You know, we're getting the records that we
need from you as our client, each and every single
month to be able to provide financial statements that are usable.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
In your business.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
So we're gathering such things as your bank statements, your
credit card statements, your cash receipts, even recepdes for larger
items that you're purchasing, so that we can just determine
whether these you know, let's say repairs should be capitalized
for like an engine replacement or transmission, or if they
(13:57):
should be expensed if you're by other equipment, making sure
that it's capitalized and depreciated the correct way. Tracking your
loans even because you're paying principle and interest is a
tax deduction, principle is not. It's just a reduction of liability.
Making sure that you're finding all the expenses in your business. So,
(14:22):
you know, having somebody that can help you or do
book keeping for you takes the burden off the minutia
of day to day little things that you get bogged
down in and you can spend the time running your
business identifying the good, the bad, the ugly of your
business and how to make improvements in your business to
(14:44):
be successful. So you know, those those kind of things
become highly important to you as a business owner. Now,
what kind of records should you be keeping as the
business owner? So depending on your record keeping system.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You know, we.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Always tell our truckers and over the road guys that
a year on the road best thing in news have
a folder sitting there or even a box you know
with folders in it that you know you can have
a separate folder for fuel, separate folder for maintenance, separate
folder for supplies, and you can separate everything there so
(15:29):
that you put in the receipts in there.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
You know, a good way.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Of keeping track of them too is even on your
phone and take a picture of the receipt, put it
in a file folder by year, by a month, and
be able to keep track of that as well. You know,
you want to make sure that you do have those receipts.
But you know, if you're using least on and you're
getting settlement statements, what you're charging on your maybe your
(15:57):
common Data card or your fuel card or their card
is going to come right off your settlement statement, so
we'll be able to deduct that from the settlement statement.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
But if it's.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Going through your bank account, then you know, yes, you
want to make sure that you've got the receipts and
the support and the information that you need in case
you would go through an audit. But also you know,
if you're looking at your financials and something seems really
out of place or odd, you might be able to
go back to those receipts and understand that, hey, there
(16:29):
was something different that happened this month that is out
of the ordinary, and you know, part of establishing a business,
it's talking about budgeting. If you go back to one
of our podcasts, Budgeting one oh one, where we talk
about budgeting for both business and personal. You know, if
you've come up with a budget for the business, you'll
be able to look and to help identify trends and
(16:51):
what's the difference between what actual expenses you had versus
what you were.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Planning, you know, for the future.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Now people always ask me how long should I keep
proceeds for? And it's really funny. We just got a
text message from Carol asking, oh, you're right here outside
of Houston here. Well, Carol, you asked how long we
should keep receipts. Well, that's exactly what we're about to
(17:23):
talk about. The length of time you should keep a
document depends on the action, expense or the event that
is for that receipt. So you're gonna need to keep
your records as long as it's needed to prove the
income or the deductions on a tax return. So, you know,
(17:44):
what we always look at is this is you know,
if it's a general expense, you know, you keep those
receipts roughly you know, five to seven years. Now, HIGHRS
doesn't usually go back and audit back more than two
or three years, but keeping those receipts out there for
a little bit longer is a good idea. Now, if
(18:06):
it's like a truck or a tractor, a fixed asset,
you're going to want to keep that receipt from the
day you bought it till roughly three five years after
you've sold it or abandoned it or got rid of it.
And what I tell you is is on your tax return,
(18:27):
make sure whoever's preparing your return gives you the fixed
asset depreciation listing review that every year with your tax return,
because those can get relatively lengthy, especially when you're buying
maybe computers or other items out there that are smaller
but yet to need to be capitalized, and you dispose
(18:49):
of them, abandon them, trash them, they become worthless, you
don't sell them or anything else, and you want to
get them off there. Or maybe you've vehicles or other
equipment that you sell, but you're a tax prepaired to
never ask the question, you know, do you still have
all these assets? And then when we do bookkeeping, it's
(19:10):
a lot easier to be able to track because we
can see when somebody sold it, but we don't know
necessarily that you abandoned that computer. Maybe we see you
buy a new one and then we asked what you
do with the old one as well, especially if you
don't have a lot of employees. Now, if you're like
here us at truck of Taxtules, it has numerous employees.
(19:31):
When we buy pieces of equipment, we try to make
sure that the piece of equipment that it's replaced you
come off our fixed asset listing.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Once we're adding a.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
New employee and we buught new equipment for them, then
we know that that doesn't need to come off. It's
just a new piece of equipment, you know. So you
know you want to make sure that you're looking at
that fixed asset listing as well. Now people ask all
the all the time, well, burden im proof? So if
(20:03):
I filed my tax return, shouldn't the burden approof be
on the irs to prove that I was wrong? This
is not a court of law. They don't have to
prove you guilty of lie, cheat, steel, leaving something off,
not reporting income beyond a reasonable doubt. Actually, what they
require of you is to prove that you recorded all
(20:23):
your income and the expenses were true. IRS when they
go through this audit. IRS is very detailed in their
audit making sure that when they go through and look
at your bank statements and add up all the money
that was deposited, they match it to the tax return
and it doesn't match. You now have to prove why.
So the burden approof lies on you. You must be
(20:46):
able to prove certain elements of expenses or income on
your tax return when you're reporting it. It falls on you. Hey, Carol,
thanks for another question. How long should I keep employment
tax records? If you have employees, you need to keep
these records of employment taxes for at least four years now, Hey,
(21:07):
I suggest you keep it back further than that, especially
records that may fall back, you know, six seven years,
and especially if you have a disgruntled employee, you want
to make sure you keep those records a little bit
longer so you have the information to support hours and
(21:28):
pay for those employees as well.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
So keep those time sheets or.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Time blogs of time that people are worth. Hey, when
we come back after this break, we're going to talk
about hiring the right tax professional business.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
We're going to do that right after this.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
We have only scratched the surface of place show. Please
stand by as Barry G. Fauer will be right back
with tax talk for you. As an owner operator, you
all spend too much time away from your family. Trucker
Tax Tools handles all your bookkeeping and taxes.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
No matter what level trucker you are.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Life on the road can be taxing, but that doesn't
mean that your.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Wallet or time with your family should suffer.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Trucker Tax Tools makes your life run smoothly.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Go to Trucker tax Tools.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Dot com for a free guide that will give you
the tools to never worry about your taxes again. Call
Trucker Tax Tools eight seven seven nine sixty six two
four seven seven or go to Trucker tax Tools dot
com now and let.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
The experts keep you trucking. Let's get back to tax
stock for.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
You with war tax Stock once again, here's your host,
Barry G.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Feller.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
You know, if you got a tax from call Taxation
Solutions Tax Relief or go to tech Sation Solutions dot net.
Let us jump in front of the I R S
to deal with the tax problem. It's a simple phone call.
It's free. Uh, it's a free consultation, no judgment. Just
(23:14):
call it aight eight a ninth three zero one zero
one six again eight eight eight ninth three zero one
zero one six or go to Taxation Solutions dot net
or tax relieve. Hey, what are you going to be
looking for when you hire a tax professional? You know
we get this question, Uh, you know why should we
hire you? What makes you different? And you know versus
(23:41):
you know, somebody my neighbor may be recommended that. Uh,
you know they always get a refund and stuff. But
you know what I tell people is, you know, any
tax professional with a p t I N number prepare
a tax identification numbers authorized the file and prepare tax returns.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
But it doesn't make everybody the same.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Tax professionals can have different levels of skills, education, expertise,
and experience. You know what you should be looking for
is one, make sure they do have a PTI in number,
make sure they can electronically file. But more than that,
I would tell you to find somebody that is an
(24:24):
enrolled agent. Now you know there are three different groups
of people that have unlimited representation rights to represent you
to the irs have enrolled agents. You have certified public accountants,
and you have attorneys, and we all have rights to
practice before the IRS. You know, anybody that has those
(24:45):
credentials can represent their clients on any matter including audits, payments, collections,
issue collection issues, or even appeals. Only people that are
attorneys go into you tax court or have obtained the
right via testing to get into US tax court out there.
(25:10):
But that is not somebody you need for preparing your
tax return or doing your bookkeeping. That is somebody you
need is if you actually have a real reason to
be going to tax court. If you're just going to
tax court to prove a point, don't waste your money
or your time. But if you're going to tax court
(25:31):
and you have something that is truly supportive, then I
suggest you can go to tax court. At that point,
enrolled agents like myself and you'll see EA after my
name out there, licensed by the IRS, actually licensed by
the US Department of Treasury, and we are subject to
suitability check. We go through FBI background check. We had
(25:56):
to pass a three part special enrollment examination, which was
a comprehensive exam that requires us to demonstrate proficiency in
federal tax, federal tax planning, individual business tax representation ethics,
and then we've got to maintain at least seventy two
(26:19):
hours of continue education every three years. So we are
all about tax is what enrolled agents are representation, planning, preparation.
You know, we need to know and do know the
tax code inside and out. CPAs, on the other hand,
are licensed by the state Boards of Accountancy. They passed
(26:43):
a CPA exam, They've completed a study in accounting at
a college or university, may have a master's degree, hadn't
met experience and good character requirements. These are established by
the Boards of Accountants in each state, and they have
to comply with ethical requirements as well and complete continuing
(27:08):
education to maintain their CPA license. Now, CPAs do offer
range of services. Some will specialize in tax and preparation planning.
Others are accountants and do other things besides tax. See
not every CPA is going to be created equal in
(27:31):
preparing tax returns. Attorneys, you're licensed by the state courts
in the District of Columbia or such as the state
bars generally had to earn a law degree and pass
the bar exam. They have continue education as well and
professional character standards as well. But Again, attorneys specialize in
(27:56):
different fields. Some specialize in tax or tax preparation planning,
and we've had tax attorneys that do work at taxation solutions.
So there are people that are out there in this industry.
But when you're looking at those people, you know you've
got to make sure they are specialized in the tax area. Now,
(28:21):
there are also some preparers that have limited rights, no
representation rights. They have no credentials like we do. They
are part of the annual filing season program or participantants
out there. They don't have to actually prove their knowledge
(28:41):
of taxes or tax planning or representation. So you see
a lot of these people getting out there and just
preparing returns. They can hold a PTI N number, but
no professional credentials. So I always tell you, you know, make
sure that people that you're working for have the credentials,
(29:02):
have the knowledge to help you better. Make sure that
you're getting every tax deduction allowed.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
By the law, so that you know that you are getting.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
The best tax preparation that there is out there. So
you know, keep those things in mind as you're going
through this. You definitely don't want to just use.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
Anybody that's there.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
We represent a lot of people for tax relief and
tax problems that was created by somebody that did not know.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
The taxes that's out there.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
So you're in business, you know, as you're going down
your business sometimes got to be aware of scamps. I
mean you see it in your email, you see it
in the phone calls. You have people soliciting, You have
people out there trying to scam you out of your money.
(30:06):
As a business owner, you know you get targeted as well,
and you need to protect yourself against that.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Last year our tax community also launched the Coalition against
Scams and Schemes and Threats because of the real big
surge in social media scams that are out there. Uh,
the IRS even has a list of their Dirty dozen
(30:34):
of tax scams that can effect or do effect you
as a business owner. I mean, they have email phishing
scams out there that you see tons of email and
tech scams that are going to be targeting you both
personally and as a business owner. You know, phishing is
(30:57):
an email sent by somebody that's trying to commit fraud,
claim mean to come from let's say the IRS. It
lures you in with a variety of information trying to
get information from you or themishing how I always love
that term here on the IRS website is a text
or smartphone messaging SMS messaging where they're often coming with
(31:20):
alarming language. Hey, you know, the one we see here
is the toll road scam. And our totald authority doesn't
even send out text to collect bills. They've had to
go out there and tell people this because people have
been going in and paying. I mean, even my daughter
at least once a week, goes Dad. I keep getting this,
ignore it, block it. It's bogus. So don't fall for
(31:45):
those things. The IRS isn't going to text you if
you owe money, and they're not going to try to
collect from you over an SMS if you owe money,
or an email or even a phone call unless you've
already been on that as well.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
And we're gonna take a short break.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
When we come back, we're going to continue talking about
tax scams, and then we're going to talk a little
bit about solving IRIS problems as a business owner.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
And we're right back after this.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
We have only scratched the surface of today's show.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Please stand by as Barrygfowler will be right back with
tax talk for you as an owner operator. You already
spend too much time away from your family. Stop spending
time doing paperwork. Go to Trucker tax tools dot com
a solution filled specifically for truckers. Trucker tax Tools dot
(32:38):
Com makes your life run smoothly. Let's get back to
tax stock for you with war tax Tock once again.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Here's your host, BARRYG. Foller.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Hey, before we get too far, go to tax Talk
for You dot com. Hit subscribe a free subscription. Stay
up to date. You can see all of our past
podcasts and information that will help you, whether you're in business,
whether you're in trouble personally, or need help you know
personal taxes. All the podcasts out there are there to
(33:16):
help you if you decide you're going to do it yourself,
or maybe you decide, hey, you need need help. Taxation solutions,
tax relief is there for you to help you. But
go to tax Talk for You, subscribe, like, follow us,
join us on social media. We'll answer your questions there,
(33:39):
and we'll also answer your questions here during the program,
and we'll bring a lot of questions with us that
people are asking us over on social media as well.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Speaking of social media.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
You can get bad advice on social Media's growing concern
in the tax industry because you get bad tax information
and people run with it. You know, you as a
honest tax payer and get very easily misled with bad advice,
potentially leading to identity theft and tax problems. You know,
(34:15):
you got to kind of watch out. We talk about
bad advice, not just on social media, but we talk
of bad advice, you know, whether it's at the bar
talking to somebody they're going to give you advice on
your taxes, or fuel pump advice, you know, or fuel
pump bookkeeping as we would call it.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
Sometimes is only worth what you paid for. It just nothing.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
You know, you and your business needs somebody that's going
to cater and plan for you in your business so
that you know you've got things right. You got to
watch out for fake charities becomes a consistent problem, especially
when you see crisis or natural disaster that is stripped stricken.
(34:59):
These scammers will are going to set up fake organizations
to take advantage of your generosity. In the trucking industry,
we see a lot of people going after false fuel
tax credit claims. It's become prevalent in the last year
where you know, taxpayers have been getting misled into believing
(35:19):
they're eligible for certain fuel tax credits which they may or.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
May not be. It's kind of like the employee Retention credit.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
We saw a lot of people being misled into filing
for this employee retention credit where we told them that
they definitely didn't qualify, but yet the company that they
were working with, they were getting text messages and they
fell for the scam. They paid twenty percent up front
of the savings. Now that the IRS has come back
(35:48):
and audited them or said that they didn't qualify, they're
not getting their twenty percent back from the company they
prepared any of this stuff.
Speaker 5 (35:56):
Matter of fact, a lot of.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Those companies just faded away into never ever land and
you know, there was nothing other that they were responsible
for nothing.
Speaker 5 (36:05):
They didn't even sign you know, the.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Tax reterms as the preparer, so it was a bogus credit.
There's other social media advice out there that you know,
they were talking about some non existent self employment tax
credits that are out there, and so you've kind of
got to watch, you know, out what they're doing. Some
(36:28):
of the other things we've seen as companies misleading about
offers and compromise. So let's go into solving a tax problem.
When you go to solve a tax problem, you have
multiple options. You can do an installment agreement, which is
going to be full pay over the statute of limitations.
(36:49):
You can do a partial pay installment agreement, which means
you're only paying part of the debt over the remaining
statue of limitations. You could possibly go into non collectible
status if you are insolvent, don't have bunch assets or
much income, you might be able to get into currently
non collectible status that ma get reviewed after a couple
(37:09):
of years.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Or what you hear promoted.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
On TV, radio and everything else is this wonderful offer
and compromise they offer and compromise where you're getting all
this tax debt for far less than what you owe. Well,
you know, that's an important program that helps people settle
your federal tax debts when you're unable to pay in full.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
But there's a lot of.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Large companies out there that are promoting and aggressively promoting
offers and compromises, and they try to get you to
sign up for it when you clearly are not going
to need the qualifications of an offer and compromise, and
then it costs you thousands of dollars. You need to
stey up and think. Sometimes these companies are going to
(38:03):
sell you the ultimate pipe drain dream of settling this
thing for one hundred dollars one thousand dollars, you know,
and you o ten twenty fifty, one hundred thousand, a
million dollars whatever it is the UO, and then they say, hey,
we can settle this thing for far less. We can
get you an offering compromise. But yet you make plenty
of money to pay the debt back. Or you have
(38:23):
a lot of assets including your house and equity in
your house, or four oh one k's or iras or
other assets that you may own or possess. Maybe you
have multiple vehicles. You know, all this stuff comes in
and plays into what the offering compromises. But yet they
sold you on it. And then they come back and say, oh,
well the irs do that, but they knew it all along,
(38:46):
So why are you paying for something that they knew
all along? About settling your tax debt? Now, as a
business owner, you know tax debts very I mean, if
you're running a C corp. And your final eleven twenty,
and you may owe taxes. Hey, there may be a
way to settle your tax debt or get into a
partial pay installment agreement, or maybe you're just going out
(39:10):
of business and the debt's going to fade away. Those
are items that are possibility you're eleven twenty Escort. Escort
does not pay income tax, pays employment taxes. But if
you owe employment taxes, whether you're an Escort Partnership, Inc.
DBA sole proprietorship, those payroll taxes are going to have
(39:33):
to be paid. I RS are very rarely, rarely settles
on those payroll taxes because part of that was trust
fund money you withheld from your employees check and part
of that is the matching portion that the company pays.
And when you owe both halves, the IRS can come
(39:55):
back and hit you with penalties, and it's the trust
penalty against you personally as an owner of the business
or signer on the account. And when that happens, they're
trying to collect from both you and the business same time.
So you really need somebody to run interference for you
(40:17):
to try to avoid having the trust fund penalties or
to make sure that Hey, when you're establishing a payment
plan that they take into account that both the business
and personal are paying on these taxes. But once that
trust fund penalties and the trust fund taxes are paid off,
you need to get that trust fund penalty removed and
(40:37):
taken off the personal side so that you're only paying
the remaining taxes on the business, or better yet, do
everything you can to pay off the trust fund portion
of those taxes so that you're not hit with the
trust fund penalties personally. You also got to watch out
for any of your employees who may be signers on
(40:59):
the ac out and they could be held liable for
that as well. We had a client that came to
us and all he was was a signee on the
bank business a count. He didn't make a decision on
who got paid or who didn't get paid. That was
still done by the owners of the business. But he
got held liable for almost a million dollars in payroll
(41:24):
taxes for trust fund penalties. Crazy, but that's what the
IRS was looking at, that's what they were holding him
responsible for. Got him off the hook because we could
show that he truly wasn't responsible for the trust fund
or making the decisions or writing the checks. He only
(41:45):
had access enough to the petty cash account to pay
for the little office supplies and the little things that
were coming into the business to save him money.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Mad another client, they were operating.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
A bar and they again had a huge trust fund
penalties and then got assessed against his manager as well.
We got to be able to prove that the only
checks that this person could write were authorized by the
owners of the business to pay for the expenses of
the bar tab when they were buying the outcool and
we were able to get it up him. So you've
(42:21):
kind of got to watch what you're doing. Settlement is possible,
removing penalties, removing the trust fund penalty against somebody and
you're a business owner or a business manager as.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
Possible as well.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
If you will give us a call at truck at
Taxation Solutions eight eight eight nine three zero one zero
one six. If you owe money to the I R. S.
He needs somebody to step in for you between you
and the irs. Hey, I always say, you know, thank
you for joining us here on TAK talk for you,
you know, make sure you get over like share share
(42:55):
it with your friends. We want the information out and
any questions you have, please send them over to us
at tax Talk for You and then we will get
these questions answered on We're here every Monday, ten am
Eastern time right here in W four c Y Radio
Talk Talk for You TV. You can also catch all
(43:18):
our podcasts again at tax Talk for You dot com.
You can catch them over on YouTube as well, and
then we try to post it up on all the
social media out there. And again, if you've got questions,
head over to social media, post the questions over there.
We'll answer them. Other people have the questions as well,
so we want to get the information out. We want
(43:39):
to help you. If you need help solving a tax
problem that you want to do it yourself, send us
the questions. We'll answer them right here on the show
for you again. It's Tax Talk for You dot Com
W four c Y Radio every Monday nine ten am
Eastern time. Again ten am Eastern time. But go to
(43:59):
tax Talk for You dot com like subscribe, never visit episode.
We'll see you next week. Have a god bless glorious
week this week.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Are you an individual or business that wants to understand
taxes and how they affect you. Are you looking for
specific tax advice for self employed, business owners and truckers.
Are you behind on taxes and your bookkeeping? Are you
dealing with dirs and ready to have some relief, Then
(44:31):
you need Tax Talk for You, hosted by tax and
trucker expert Barry g.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Fouer Ea Kenyan ten am.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
The Eastern Time, every Monday right here on w FOURCY
Radio and Talk for TV. Don't forget to check this
and past episodes at tax talkforu dot com. See you
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(00:20):
W FOURCY Radio.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Farry gen Fowler EA brings you tax Talk for you
right here on W four CY Radio and Talk for TV.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
As an enrolled agent and a national leader.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
In tax resolution as well as Trucker bookkeeping and tax planning.
With over thirty years of experience, Barry will break down taxes, bookkeeping,
tax planning, and tax relief.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
For individuals and businesses just like you. So let's have
some tax talk for you with your host, Barry gen Fowler.
Speaker 4 (01:02):
Hey, welcome in, good morning. It's a great Monday morning again.
Always glad to be here in tax Talk for you.
Make sure you get over to tax TALKFORU dot com.
Click subscribe you can go to our Facebook page, click
like and follow. We really appreciate you joining us here today.
(01:23):
We're talking small businesses. So maybe you're just looking to
get into business. Maybe you're an owner operator trucker and
you're looking to move away from being a a W
two driver and you're just getting.
Speaker 5 (01:39):
Started, and maybe you've been in business for a while,
and you.
Speaker 4 (01:41):
Know all these things that information we're going to be
providing to you, uh here in this program is going
to help you in your business, run your business, maybe
stay in compliance in your business so that you don't.
Speaker 5 (01:56):
Have, you know, future problems.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
And so we're talking small business today, and you know,
if you've got questions, feel free to send us the questions.
We're going to answer those questions as we go through this.
But if you're getting out starting a new business, need
to do a couple of things. First is decide on
the appropriate business entity, whether it's a sole proprietorship, partnership
(02:23):
corporation es CORP, or LLC single member multi member. You've
got to establish those structures, and those structures are stablished
within your state. So if you're going to do a
corporation or an LLC, you're going to go to the
Secretary of State's office in your state and file the
(02:46):
paperwork to establish that company. Including limited liability companies or
limited liability partnerships, those are all going to be with
your Secretary of States. Sole proprietorship. If you're going to
do a D be A Usually it's done you know locally. Uh.
Speaker 5 (03:03):
So you would go down to your local tax office usually.
Speaker 4 (03:07):
And get that assumed name. Now you got your name
of your company. Now what Well, the next step is
get that employer identification number. You know, it's kind of
like your Solid security number. So it's an EI N
employer identification number. It is a federal tax identification number
that's going to be used to identify your business.
Speaker 5 (03:29):
Generally, most businesses.
Speaker 4 (03:30):
Are going to need an EI and you can apply
for that, you know, through the i r S site,
or you can file SS four.
Speaker 5 (03:40):
Uh, you can file online. You can do that. Now,
when you're doing.
Speaker 4 (03:46):
That, make sure you're following through with the information that
you're getting from the I r S. So, you know,
let's say you've established an LLLC and you put it
in as A one and you're checking the box that
you wanted to be an escort. There's more paperwork to
file to become an escort. Just because you check the
(04:08):
box doesn't mean the IRS is designating you as an escort.
Matter of fact, a letter that they give you will
tell you exactly what they're expecting from you and what
to file. Read it, Read it, read it, and if
you don't understand it, talk to your tax preparer, give
them a call, have them interpret and make sure that
(04:29):
you're going to be in client compliance because there's certain
boxes when you file that SS four that's going to
make you file payroll forms or file your tax return
in a certain way. So if you're an LLC and
check multi member, then it's going to tell you you're going
to have to file a ten sixty five and it'll
tell you when your first one is due. If you
say you're going to have employees during this first year,
(04:52):
they are going to automatically or require you to file
payroll tax forms. So you know, making sure that you've
done things right is extremely important.
Speaker 5 (05:06):
Now you see, here's the problem.
Speaker 4 (05:09):
You checked off you're going to have employees, you don't
have employees, you don't hire a payroll service, you don't
even get into business for six months, or you're just
getting started. So you needed to establish the company. You
needed to get your website going, you needed to get
everything else moving before you start really operating this business.
(05:29):
So you die in your eyes and crossing your t's.
But you didn't have payroll. The IRS expected payroll forms. Well,
now you're late in filing even if it's a zero return,
and the IRS starts charging penalties. Matter of fact, they
even assume what your payroll was, and they start charging
your interest in penalties on what taxes is they're assuming
(05:51):
was due. And so now you've got to recover from
that and get them to You got to get in
and then file those zero returns, which waives the taxes
but doesn't waive the penalties. So you've created a problem,
and the problem continues to get worse because hey, you
didn't read the letter. B. You didn't really know what
they were asking or see. You're like a lot of
(06:13):
our clients that we bail out of these problems. You
had no knowledge that if you didn't have payroll, that
you were still required to file the forms. You also
didn't know that you had to file additional forms to
become an escort because you didn't understand what you were reading.
If you read the letter, so you know, get some help.
(06:36):
That's what we always advise you. You know, whether it's
here us AT truck or tax Tools, or you know
us AT Taxation Solutions, a tax Relief or somebody else
that's knowledgeable in your business. You need a good tax
advisor to give you good help to save you from
(06:57):
what you didn't know about the tax SCOE.
Speaker 5 (07:00):
You know that also goes with you know, filing eleven
twenties or eleven twenty ses. So you have an entity
that you are a corporation, so you have.
Speaker 4 (07:12):
John Doe's Baking ink, and you filed for your EI
in number. The letter came back and said you have
to file eleven twenty or if you wanted to be
an escort, you needed to file an AA twenty three
and the twenty five fifty three to request escort status,
which you didn't do. And the I r S says
(07:32):
your first return was due March fifteenth, twenty twenty four
or twenty twenty five, and you didn't file it because
you didn't have any revenue. You didn't really start operating
the business. The IRS still requires that return and you
still got to file that return, and now the IRS
is assessing penalties. So you know, knowledge goes a long way.
(07:57):
Somebody to help you and guy you to have the
right knowledge and the right information is golden, especially when
you're running a business. To get the help that you
need and let the professional people that have the knowledge
in the tax industry guide you every step of the way.
(08:21):
You know, don't get stuck in the mud and the
minutia of hey this is the paperwork or having to
study up to understand the tax code. You know, go
to Trucker tax tools dot com. Especially if you are
a trucker, we can help you. We have the knowledge
to be able to help keep your life running smooth,
(08:43):
keep you working. I mean you as an owner operator.
If you're on the road and you're an over road trucker,
the last thing you really want to do is to
come home and deal with paperwork, or deal with paper
work before you go on the road, or deal with
paperwork when you have.
Speaker 5 (09:00):
To stop the rest.
Speaker 4 (09:02):
You know, you want to be able to spend time
talking to your family, being with your family, and that
is what you need to do as opposed to sitting
down and doing all the paperwork that may be required.
It's bad enough that you know, you've got to keep
track of everything else that you have going on to
venture into dealing with taxes or bookkeeping, and you want
(09:27):
to make your life a little bit easier, and that's
what we do at.
Speaker 5 (09:31):
Truck or Tax Tools.
Speaker 4 (09:33):
Now, if you're a W two driver over the road
and you're looking to actually get out and become an
owner operator, have your own truck, your own business. And
one of the things that I suggest is oh IDA
Foundation has a great program that they run. It's about
(09:53):
three days long and it's in October and it's in
Blue Springs, Missouri, just down the road from o Ida
Owner Operators Independent Drivers Association, and it's called Truck to Success.
The go online look up Truck to Success o IDA
Foundation and register to come to that event.
Speaker 5 (10:14):
I'll be there.
Speaker 4 (10:14):
I talk about bookkeeping, taxes, lease, purchase entities, the whole
works at this seminar, So you know, make sure you
come and join us there.
Speaker 5 (10:26):
Hey, we're going to take a quick break and then.
Speaker 4 (10:28):
We're going to continue talking about small businesses and what
you need to run your small business to make sure
as you get started on the right foot.
Speaker 5 (10:37):
We'll be right back after this.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
We have only scratched the surface of today's show. Please
stand by as Barry G. Fowler will be right back
with tax talk for you. If you owe the I
R S or are going through an IRS audit, don't
go at it alone. Called Taxation Solutions tax Relief that
(11:00):
eight eight eight nine three zero one zero one six.
We are your solution for IRS, TETs, audits, back taxes, garnishments.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Leans and levees.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
Whether you're an individual or business, you need a solution
and a strong aggressive tax resolution. Don't let the IRS
walk go over you. Stop the IRS.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
Now call eight eight eight nine.
Speaker 2 (11:26):
Three zero one zero one six or go to Taxationsolutions
dot net now for a free no obligation consultation. Let's
get back to tax stock for you with more tax
stock once again.
Speaker 3 (11:44):
Here's your host, Barry G. Fowler.
Speaker 5 (11:49):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (11:50):
You know we're talking small businesses today, but this really applies.
Speaker 5 (11:53):
To all businesses.
Speaker 4 (11:54):
So as you go through and you're starting your business,
you want to make sure if you're doing business, you
know the right way, you're keeping track of the right information.
Record keeping, bookkeeper all becomes very important. Good records, good
bookkeeping is going to help you monitor the progress of
(12:16):
your business. So when you have financial statements, you know,
and you're preparing them, You're going to identify the sources
of income. You're going to keep track of your deductible expenses,
keep track of your basis in your property, be able
to use those to be able to prepare your tax returns,
and then it would be supporting the items that you're
(12:39):
having on your tax return. You know, both income and
the deductible expenses. So you know, record keeping is important,
So develop a system. And whether you're using you know,
Trugger tax tools as an owner operator or you're a
small business and you're using this to do your record
(13:02):
keeping out there, having a system in place makes life easier.
Speaker 5 (13:08):
So we have a system that we use for every one.
Speaker 4 (13:11):
Of our clients, and our system is really communicated to
our clients. You know, we're getting the records that we
need from you as our client, each and every single
month to be able to provide financial statements that are usable.
Speaker 5 (13:32):
In your business.
Speaker 4 (13:33):
So we're gathering such things as your bank statements, your
credit card statements, your cash receipts, even recepdes for larger
items that you're purchasing, so that we can just determine
whether these you know, let's say repairs should be capitalized
for like an engine replacement or transmission, or if they
(13:57):
should be expensed if you're by other equipment, making sure
that it's capitalized and depreciated the correct way. Tracking your
loans even because you're paying principle and interest is a
tax deduction, principle is not. It's just a reduction of liability.
Making sure that you're finding all the expenses in your business. So,
(14:22):
you know, having somebody that can help you or do
book keeping for you takes the burden off the minutia
of day to day little things that you get bogged
down in and you can spend the time running your
business identifying the good, the bad, the ugly of your
business and how to make improvements in your business to
(14:44):
be successful. So you know, those those kind of things
become highly important to you as a business owner. Now,
what kind of records should you be keeping as the
business owner? So depending on your record keeping system.
Speaker 5 (15:02):
You know, we.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
Always tell our truckers and over the road guys that
a year on the road best thing in news have
a folder sitting there or even a box you know
with folders in it that you know you can have
a separate folder for fuel, separate folder for maintenance, separate
folder for supplies, and you can separate everything there so
(15:29):
that you put in the receipts in there.
Speaker 5 (15:32):
You know, a good way.
Speaker 4 (15:34):
Of keeping track of them too is even on your
phone and take a picture of the receipt, put it
in a file folder by year, by a month, and
be able to keep track of that as well. You know,
you want to make sure that you do have those receipts.
But you know, if you're using least on and you're
getting settlement statements, what you're charging on your maybe your
(15:57):
common Data card or your fuel card or their card
is going to come right off your settlement statement, so
we'll be able to deduct that from the settlement statement.
Speaker 5 (16:06):
But if it's.
Speaker 4 (16:07):
Going through your bank account, then you know, yes, you
want to make sure that you've got the receipts and
the support and the information that you need in case
you would go through an audit. But also you know,
if you're looking at your financials and something seems really
out of place or odd, you might be able to
go back to those receipts and understand that, hey, there
(16:29):
was something different that happened this month that is out
of the ordinary, and you know, part of establishing a business,
it's talking about budgeting. If you go back to one
of our podcasts, Budgeting one oh one, where we talk
about budgeting for both business and personal. You know, if
you've come up with a budget for the business, you'll
be able to look and to help identify trends and
(16:51):
what's the difference between what actual expenses you had versus
what you were.
Speaker 5 (16:58):
Planning, you know, for the future.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
Now people always ask me how long should I keep
proceeds for? And it's really funny. We just got a
text message from Carol asking, oh, you're right here outside
of Houston here. Well, Carol, you asked how long we
should keep receipts. Well, that's exactly what we're about to
(17:23):
talk about. The length of time you should keep a
document depends on the action, expense or the event that
is for that receipt. So you're gonna need to keep
your records as long as it's needed to prove the
income or the deductions on a tax return. So, you know,
(17:44):
what we always look at is this is you know,
if it's a general expense, you know, you keep those
receipts roughly you know, five to seven years. Now, HIGHRS
doesn't usually go back and audit back more than two
or three years, but keeping those receipts out there for
a little bit longer is a good idea. Now, if
(18:06):
it's like a truck or a tractor, a fixed asset,
you're going to want to keep that receipt from the
day you bought it till roughly three five years after
you've sold it or abandoned it or got rid of it.
And what I tell you is is on your tax return,
(18:27):
make sure whoever's preparing your return gives you the fixed
asset depreciation listing review that every year with your tax return,
because those can get relatively lengthy, especially when you're buying
maybe computers or other items out there that are smaller
but yet to need to be capitalized, and you dispose
(18:49):
of them, abandon them, trash them, they become worthless, you
don't sell them or anything else, and you want to
get them off there. Or maybe you've vehicles or other
equipment that you sell, but you're a tax prepaired to
never ask the question, you know, do you still have
all these assets? And then when we do bookkeeping, it's
(19:10):
a lot easier to be able to track because we
can see when somebody sold it, but we don't know
necessarily that you abandoned that computer. Maybe we see you
buy a new one and then we asked what you
do with the old one as well, especially if you
don't have a lot of employees. Now, if you're like
here us at truck of Taxtules, it has numerous employees.
(19:31):
When we buy pieces of equipment, we try to make
sure that the piece of equipment that it's replaced you
come off our fixed asset listing.
Speaker 5 (19:38):
Once we're adding a.
Speaker 4 (19:39):
New employee and we buught new equipment for them, then
we know that that doesn't need to come off. It's
just a new piece of equipment, you know. So you
know you want to make sure that you're looking at
that fixed asset listing as well. Now people ask all
the all the time, well, burden im proof? So if
(20:03):
I filed my tax return, shouldn't the burden approof be
on the irs to prove that I was wrong? This
is not a court of law. They don't have to
prove you guilty of lie, cheat, steel, leaving something off,
not reporting income beyond a reasonable doubt. Actually, what they
require of you is to prove that you recorded all
(20:23):
your income and the expenses were true. IRS when they
go through this audit. IRS is very detailed in their
audit making sure that when they go through and look
at your bank statements and add up all the money
that was deposited, they match it to the tax return
and it doesn't match. You now have to prove why.
So the burden approof lies on you. You must be
(20:46):
able to prove certain elements of expenses or income on
your tax return when you're reporting it. It falls on you. Hey, Carol,
thanks for another question. How long should I keep employment
tax records? If you have employees, you need to keep
these records of employment taxes for at least four years now, Hey,
(21:07):
I suggest you keep it back further than that, especially
records that may fall back, you know, six seven years,
and especially if you have a disgruntled employee, you want
to make sure you keep those records a little bit
longer so you have the information to support hours and
(21:28):
pay for those employees as well.
Speaker 5 (21:30):
So keep those time sheets or.
Speaker 4 (21:32):
Time blogs of time that people are worth. Hey, when
we come back after this break, we're going to talk
about hiring the right tax professional business.
Speaker 5 (21:42):
We're going to do that right after this.
Speaker 2 (21:46):
We have only scratched the surface of place show. Please
stand by as Barry G. Fauer will be right back
with tax talk for you. As an owner operator, you
all spend too much time away from your family. Trucker
Tax Tools handles all your bookkeeping and taxes.
Speaker 3 (22:06):
No matter what level trucker you are.
Speaker 2 (22:08):
Life on the road can be taxing, but that doesn't
mean that your.
Speaker 3 (22:12):
Wallet or time with your family should suffer.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
Trucker Tax Tools makes your life run smoothly.
Speaker 3 (22:19):
Go to Trucker tax Tools.
Speaker 2 (22:20):
Dot com for a free guide that will give you
the tools to never worry about your taxes again. Call
Trucker Tax Tools eight seven seven nine sixty six two
four seven seven or go to Trucker tax Tools dot
com now and let.
Speaker 3 (22:37):
The experts keep you trucking. Let's get back to tax
stock for.
Speaker 2 (22:44):
You with war tax Stock once again, here's your host,
Barry G.
Speaker 1 (22:49):
Feller.
Speaker 5 (22:52):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (22:54):
You know, if you got a tax from call Taxation
Solutions Tax Relief or go to tech Sation Solutions dot net.
Let us jump in front of the I R S
to deal with the tax problem. It's a simple phone call.
It's free. Uh, it's a free consultation, no judgment. Just
(23:14):
call it aight eight a ninth three zero one zero
one six again eight eight eight ninth three zero one
zero one six or go to Taxation Solutions dot net
or tax relieve. Hey, what are you going to be
looking for when you hire a tax professional? You know
we get this question, Uh, you know why should we
hire you? What makes you different? And you know versus
(23:41):
you know, somebody my neighbor may be recommended that. Uh,
you know they always get a refund and stuff. But
you know what I tell people is, you know, any
tax professional with a p t I N number prepare
a tax identification numbers authorized the file and prepare tax returns.
Speaker 5 (24:01):
But it doesn't make everybody the same.
Speaker 4 (24:04):
Tax professionals can have different levels of skills, education, expertise,
and experience. You know what you should be looking for
is one, make sure they do have a PTI in number,
make sure they can electronically file. But more than that,
I would tell you to find somebody that is an
(24:24):
enrolled agent. Now you know there are three different groups
of people that have unlimited representation rights to represent you
to the irs have enrolled agents. You have certified public accountants,
and you have attorneys, and we all have rights to
practice before the IRS. You know, anybody that has those
(24:45):
credentials can represent their clients on any matter including audits, payments, collections,
issue collection issues, or even appeals. Only people that are
attorneys go into you tax court or have obtained the
right via testing to get into US tax court out there.
(25:10):
But that is not somebody you need for preparing your
tax return or doing your bookkeeping. That is somebody you
need is if you actually have a real reason to
be going to tax court. If you're just going to
tax court to prove a point, don't waste your money
or your time. But if you're going to tax court
(25:31):
and you have something that is truly supportive, then I
suggest you can go to tax court. At that point,
enrolled agents like myself and you'll see EA after my
name out there, licensed by the IRS, actually licensed by
the US Department of Treasury, and we are subject to
suitability check. We go through FBI background check. We had
(25:56):
to pass a three part special enrollment examination, which was
a comprehensive exam that requires us to demonstrate proficiency in
federal tax, federal tax planning, individual business tax representation ethics,
and then we've got to maintain at least seventy two
(26:19):
hours of continue education every three years. So we are
all about tax is what enrolled agents are representation, planning, preparation.
You know, we need to know and do know the
tax code inside and out. CPAs, on the other hand,
are licensed by the state Boards of Accountancy. They passed
(26:43):
a CPA exam, They've completed a study in accounting at
a college or university, may have a master's degree, hadn't
met experience and good character requirements. These are established by
the Boards of Accountants in each state, and they have
to comply with ethical requirements as well and complete continuing
(27:08):
education to maintain their CPA license. Now, CPAs do offer
range of services. Some will specialize in tax and preparation planning.
Others are accountants and do other things besides tax. See
not every CPA is going to be created equal in
(27:31):
preparing tax returns. Attorneys, you're licensed by the state courts
in the District of Columbia or such as the state
bars generally had to earn a law degree and pass
the bar exam. They have continue education as well and
professional character standards as well. But Again, attorneys specialize in
(27:56):
different fields. Some specialize in tax or tax preparation planning,
and we've had tax attorneys that do work at taxation solutions.
So there are people that are out there in this industry.
But when you're looking at those people, you know you've
got to make sure they are specialized in the tax area. Now,
(28:21):
there are also some preparers that have limited rights, no
representation rights. They have no credentials like we do. They
are part of the annual filing season program or participantants
out there. They don't have to actually prove their knowledge
(28:41):
of taxes or tax planning or representation. So you see
a lot of these people getting out there and just
preparing returns. They can hold a PTI N number, but
no professional credentials. So I always tell you, you know, make
sure that people that you're working for have the credentials,
(29:02):
have the knowledge to help you better. Make sure that
you're getting every tax deduction allowed.
Speaker 5 (29:12):
By the law, so that you know that you are getting.
Speaker 4 (29:17):
The best tax preparation that there is out there. So
you know, keep those things in mind as you're going
through this. You definitely don't want to just use.
Speaker 5 (29:33):
Anybody that's there.
Speaker 4 (29:34):
We represent a lot of people for tax relief and
tax problems that was created by somebody that did not know.
Speaker 5 (29:41):
The taxes that's out there.
Speaker 4 (29:44):
So you're in business, you know, as you're going down
your business sometimes got to be aware of scamps. I
mean you see it in your email, you see it
in the phone calls. You have people soliciting, You have
people out there trying to scam you out of your money.
(30:06):
As a business owner, you know you get targeted as well,
and you need to protect yourself against that.
Speaker 5 (30:13):
You know.
Speaker 4 (30:13):
Last year our tax community also launched the Coalition against
Scams and Schemes and Threats because of the real big
surge in social media scams that are out there. Uh,
the IRS even has a list of their Dirty dozen
(30:34):
of tax scams that can effect or do effect you
as a business owner. I mean, they have email phishing
scams out there that you see tons of email and
tech scams that are going to be targeting you both
personally and as a business owner. You know, phishing is
(30:57):
an email sent by somebody that's trying to commit fraud,
claim mean to come from let's say the IRS. It
lures you in with a variety of information trying to
get information from you or themishing how I always love
that term here on the IRS website is a text
or smartphone messaging SMS messaging where they're often coming with
(31:20):
alarming language. Hey, you know, the one we see here
is the toll road scam. And our totald authority doesn't
even send out text to collect bills. They've had to
go out there and tell people this because people have
been going in and paying. I mean, even my daughter
at least once a week, goes Dad. I keep getting this,
ignore it, block it. It's bogus. So don't fall for
(31:45):
those things. The IRS isn't going to text you if
you owe money, and they're not going to try to
collect from you over an SMS if you owe money,
or an email or even a phone call unless you've
already been on that as well.
Speaker 5 (32:00):
And we're gonna take a short break.
Speaker 4 (32:01):
When we come back, we're going to continue talking about
tax scams, and then we're going to talk a little
bit about solving IRIS problems as a business owner.
Speaker 5 (32:09):
And we're right back after this.
Speaker 3 (32:12):
We have only scratched the surface of today's show.
Speaker 2 (32:15):
Please stand by as Barrygfowler will be right back with
tax talk for you as an owner operator. You already
spend too much time away from your family. Stop spending
time doing paperwork. Go to Trucker tax tools dot com
a solution filled specifically for truckers. Trucker tax Tools dot
(32:38):
Com makes your life run smoothly. Let's get back to
tax stock for you with war tax Tock once again.
Speaker 3 (32:48):
Here's your host, BARRYG. Foller.
Speaker 5 (32:53):
Hey, welcome back.
Speaker 4 (32:54):
Hey, before we get too far, go to tax Talk
for You dot com. Hit subscribe a free subscription. Stay
up to date. You can see all of our past
podcasts and information that will help you, whether you're in business,
whether you're in trouble personally, or need help you know
personal taxes. All the podcasts out there are there to
(33:16):
help you if you decide you're going to do it yourself,
or maybe you decide, hey, you need need help. Taxation solutions,
tax relief is there for you to help you. But
go to tax Talk for You, subscribe, like, follow us,
join us on social media. We'll answer your questions there,
(33:39):
and we'll also answer your questions here during the program,
and we'll bring a lot of questions with us that
people are asking us over on social media as well.
Speaker 5 (33:49):
Speaking of social media.
Speaker 4 (33:51):
You can get bad advice on social Media's growing concern
in the tax industry because you get bad tax information
and people run with it. You know, you as a
honest tax payer and get very easily misled with bad advice,
potentially leading to identity theft and tax problems. You know,
(34:15):
you got to kind of watch out. We talk about
bad advice, not just on social media, but we talk
of bad advice, you know, whether it's at the bar
talking to somebody they're going to give you advice on
your taxes, or fuel pump advice, you know, or fuel
pump bookkeeping as we would call it.
Speaker 5 (34:34):
Sometimes is only worth what you paid for. It just nothing.
Speaker 4 (34:38):
You know, you and your business needs somebody that's going
to cater and plan for you in your business so
that you know you've got things right. You got to
watch out for fake charities becomes a consistent problem, especially
when you see crisis or natural disaster that is stripped stricken.
(34:59):
These scammers will are going to set up fake organizations
to take advantage of your generosity. In the trucking industry,
we see a lot of people going after false fuel
tax credit claims. It's become prevalent in the last year
where you know, taxpayers have been getting misled into believing
(35:19):
they're eligible for certain fuel tax credits which they may or.
Speaker 5 (35:23):
May not be. It's kind of like the employee Retention credit.
Speaker 4 (35:27):
We saw a lot of people being misled into filing
for this employee retention credit where we told them that
they definitely didn't qualify, but yet the company that they
were working with, they were getting text messages and they
fell for the scam. They paid twenty percent up front
of the savings. Now that the IRS has come back
(35:48):
and audited them or said that they didn't qualify, they're
not getting their twenty percent back from the company they
prepared any of this stuff.
Speaker 5 (35:56):
Matter of fact, a lot of.
Speaker 4 (35:56):
Those companies just faded away into never ever land and
you know, there was nothing other that they were responsible
for nothing.
Speaker 5 (36:05):
They didn't even sign you know, the.
Speaker 4 (36:06):
Tax reterms as the preparer, so it was a bogus credit.
There's other social media advice out there that you know,
they were talking about some non existent self employment tax
credits that are out there, and so you've kind of
got to watch, you know, out what they're doing. Some
(36:28):
of the other things we've seen as companies misleading about
offers and compromise. So let's go into solving a tax problem.
When you go to solve a tax problem, you have
multiple options. You can do an installment agreement, which is
going to be full pay over the statute of limitations.
(36:49):
You can do a partial pay installment agreement, which means
you're only paying part of the debt over the remaining
statue of limitations. You could possibly go into non collectible
status if you are insolvent, don't have bunch assets or
much income, you might be able to get into currently
non collectible status that ma get reviewed after a couple
(37:09):
of years.
Speaker 5 (37:10):
Or what you hear promoted.
Speaker 4 (37:12):
On TV, radio and everything else is this wonderful offer
and compromise they offer and compromise where you're getting all
this tax debt for far less than what you owe. Well,
you know, that's an important program that helps people settle
your federal tax debts when you're unable to pay in full.
Speaker 5 (37:38):
But there's a lot of.
Speaker 4 (37:39):
Large companies out there that are promoting and aggressively promoting
offers and compromises, and they try to get you to
sign up for it when you clearly are not going
to need the qualifications of an offer and compromise, and
then it costs you thousands of dollars. You need to
stey up and think. Sometimes these companies are going to
(38:03):
sell you the ultimate pipe drain dream of settling this
thing for one hundred dollars one thousand dollars, you know,
and you o ten twenty fifty, one hundred thousand, a
million dollars whatever it is the UO, and then they say, hey,
we can settle this thing for far less. We can
get you an offering compromise. But yet you make plenty
of money to pay the debt back. Or you have
(38:23):
a lot of assets including your house and equity in
your house, or four oh one k's or iras or
other assets that you may own or possess. Maybe you
have multiple vehicles. You know, all this stuff comes in
and plays into what the offering compromises. But yet they
sold you on it. And then they come back and say, oh,
well the irs do that, but they knew it all along,
(38:46):
So why are you paying for something that they knew
all along? About settling your tax debt? Now, as a
business owner, you know tax debts very I mean, if
you're running a C corp. And your final eleven twenty,
and you may owe taxes. Hey, there may be a
way to settle your tax debt or get into a
partial pay installment agreement, or maybe you're just going out
(39:10):
of business and the debt's going to fade away. Those
are items that are possibility you're eleven twenty Escort. Escort
does not pay income tax, pays employment taxes. But if
you owe employment taxes, whether you're an Escort Partnership, Inc.
DBA sole proprietorship, those payroll taxes are going to have
(39:33):
to be paid. I RS are very rarely, rarely settles
on those payroll taxes because part of that was trust
fund money you withheld from your employees check and part
of that is the matching portion that the company pays.
And when you owe both halves, the IRS can come
(39:55):
back and hit you with penalties, and it's the trust
penalty against you personally as an owner of the business
or signer on the account. And when that happens, they're
trying to collect from both you and the business same time.
So you really need somebody to run interference for you
(40:17):
to try to avoid having the trust fund penalties or
to make sure that Hey, when you're establishing a payment
plan that they take into account that both the business
and personal are paying on these taxes. But once that
trust fund penalties and the trust fund taxes are paid off,
you need to get that trust fund penalty removed and
(40:37):
taken off the personal side so that you're only paying
the remaining taxes on the business, or better yet, do
everything you can to pay off the trust fund portion
of those taxes so that you're not hit with the
trust fund penalties personally. You also got to watch out
for any of your employees who may be signers on
(40:59):
the ac out and they could be held liable for
that as well. We had a client that came to
us and all he was was a signee on the
bank business a count. He didn't make a decision on
who got paid or who didn't get paid. That was
still done by the owners of the business. But he
got held liable for almost a million dollars in payroll
(41:24):
taxes for trust fund penalties. Crazy, but that's what the
IRS was looking at, that's what they were holding him
responsible for. Got him off the hook because we could
show that he truly wasn't responsible for the trust fund
or making the decisions or writing the checks. He only
(41:45):
had access enough to the petty cash account to pay
for the little office supplies and the little things that
were coming into the business to save him money.
Speaker 5 (41:58):
Mad another client, they were operating.
Speaker 4 (42:00):
A bar and they again had a huge trust fund
penalties and then got assessed against his manager as well.
We got to be able to prove that the only
checks that this person could write were authorized by the
owners of the business to pay for the expenses of
the bar tab when they were buying the outcool and
we were able to get it up him. So you've
(42:21):
kind of got to watch what you're doing. Settlement is possible,
removing penalties, removing the trust fund penalty against somebody and
you're a business owner or a business manager as.
Speaker 5 (42:32):
Possible as well.
Speaker 4 (42:33):
If you will give us a call at truck at
Taxation Solutions eight eight eight nine three zero one zero
one six. If you owe money to the I R. S.
He needs somebody to step in for you between you
and the irs. Hey, I always say, you know, thank
you for joining us here on TAK talk for you,
you know, make sure you get over like share share
(42:55):
it with your friends. We want the information out and
any questions you have, please send them over to us
at tax Talk for You and then we will get
these questions answered on We're here every Monday, ten am
Eastern time right here in W four c Y Radio
Talk Talk for You TV. You can also catch all
(43:18):
our podcasts again at tax Talk for You dot com.
You can catch them over on YouTube as well, and
then we try to post it up on all the
social media out there. And again, if you've got questions,
head over to social media, post the questions over there.
We'll answer them. Other people have the questions as well,
so we want to get the information out. We want
(43:39):
to help you. If you need help solving a tax
problem that you want to do it yourself, send us
the questions. We'll answer them right here on the show
for you again. It's Tax Talk for You dot Com
W four c Y Radio every Monday nine ten am
Eastern time. Again ten am Eastern time. But go to
(43:59):
tax Talk for You dot com like subscribe, never visit episode.
We'll see you next week. Have a god bless glorious
week this week.
Speaker 2 (44:10):
Are you an individual or business that wants to understand
taxes and how they affect you. Are you looking for
specific tax advice for self employed, business owners and truckers.
Are you behind on taxes and your bookkeeping? Are you
dealing with dirs and ready to have some relief, Then
(44:31):
you need Tax Talk for You, hosted by tax and
trucker expert Barry g.
Speaker 3 (44:37):
Fouer Ea Kenyan ten am.
Speaker 2 (44:39):
The Eastern Time, every Monday right here on w FOURCY
Radio and Talk for TV. Don't forget to check this
and past episodes at tax talkforu dot com. See you
next week at worcy dot com
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