Mark J. Kohler, a CPA and attorney for small business owners, is a nationally recognized tax and legal expert, best-selling author, and Senior Partner at KKOS Lawyers, where he has spent over 30 years helping small business owners with tax strategy, asset protection, and estate planning. He also serves as CFO and Board Member of Directed IRA Trust Company, ranked #391 on the Inc. 5000, and recently launched the Main Street Certified Tax Advisor Program to train CPAs and Enrolled Agents in his proven strategies—impacting the lives of entrepreneurs nationwide.
A five-time best-selling author, Mark is best known for The Tax and Legal Playbook and co-hosts two top podcasts, The Main Street Business Podcast and The Directed IRA Podcast, with longtime partner Mat Sorensen. Their engaging, easy-to-follow content helps business owners simplify complex financial and legal topics to reduce taxes and build lasting wealth. Through his Tax & Legal 360 events, YouTube channel, and social platforms, Mark has educated and empowered thousands of Main Street entrepreneurs.
Mark has been featured on Fox News, Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, NBC, and Wharton Business Radio, and has taken the global stage at the World Economic Forum in Davos. Named Tax Advisor of the Year, he’s a passionate advocate for small businesses and remains committed to helping Americans thrive through smarter tax and financial strategies.
During the show we discussed:
- Changes and implications associated with the new administration.
- Major depreciation changes that affect business owners.
- The importance of understanding the 199A deduction
- IRS changes taking place as a result of recent developments.
- Discussions surrounding the potential removal of Federal income taxes.
- Notable tax reductions for businesses that should be acknowledged.
Resources:
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:02):
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Business Credit and Financing Show.
Each week, we talk about the growth strategies
that matter most to entrepreneurs.
Listen in as we discuss the secrets to
getting credit and money to start and grow
your business.
And enjoy as we talk with seasoned business
owners, coaches, and industry leaders on a variety
(00:22):
of topics from advertising and marketing to the
nuts and bolts of running a highly successful
business.
And now, to introduce the host of our
show, financial expert and award-winning author, Ty
Crandall.
Hello, and thanks for joining us today.
I'm super excited you could be here because
today we're talking about, well, all things taxes,
but most importantly, we're talking about a lot
of the changes that are happening right now
(00:44):
with this new administration, things to keep an
eye out for, and things you need to
know in general about tax strategy and how
to basically pay less money legally.
And with us today is like the expert.
I mean, the foremost expert in the field,
Mark Collar.
Now, Mark is actually an attorney and a
CPA for small business owners, nationally recognized tax
expert.
(01:05):
I mean, he's done a lot of cool
things.
I mean, he's a five-time bestseller, best
known for the Tax Illegal Playbook and co
-hosts Top Podcast, the Main Street Business Podcast,
and the Directed IRA podcast as well.
He's been featured on Fox News, been featured
on Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, NBC, Wharton Business
Radio, and has taken the global stage at
(01:25):
the World Economic Forum in Davos as well.
Named Tax Advisor of the Year, he's passionate
advocate for small businesses and remains committed to
helping Americans thrive through smarter tax and financial
strategies.
One of the things I love about Mark,
he's been on the show, I think now
three times in total, and he's just, he
is literally the most knowledgeable, but also entertaining
(01:45):
guy that I know in the field, meaning
that he has a way of getting us
the information that we need in a way
that we can actually digest it, not unlike
what we hear from so many other attorneys
and CPAs.
And he's also really widely known online.
I mean, you can easily find his stuff.
He puts out some of, not some of,
the best content I've ever seen related to
tax strategy in general.
(02:06):
So you gotta look him up, and we'll
talk a little bit more about that during
the interview.
Mark, how are you doing today?
Wow, and thank you, man.
Everybody needs an intro like that every morning,
freaking out.
I'm gonna call you up tomorrow at about
7 a.m. after my workout, and if
you can just repeat all that, I'd love
it, thanks.
I've done like nearly 1,000 episodes, and
that is the first time, legitimately, that I've
ever just not read a bio.
(02:28):
That's awesome, good, good.
I love it when you're from the hip,
man.
I mean, maybe the next 1,000 will
be like, turn it over a whole new
leaf here.
So I don't know.
Oh, well, thanks for having me, Ty.
So it's an important topic.
So many people are starving for good tax
and legal education or content that makes sense,
and they can take action with it.
So I wanna make sure all of you
(02:48):
listeners today know that Ty and I, our
goal before we even started the show was,
let's make sure people have something they can
use to change their life, and that's where
it all comes down to, so.
I should ask, because I should've asked before
we started, I didn't.
How do I properly pronounce your last name?
Kohler.
Okay.
Like the faucets or the engine, or I
wish I was part of the Kohler Plumbing
(03:08):
Company in Wisconsin, I'd have a private jet,
but I don't, so.
That's a very successful company.
So administration changed this year, and I even
mentioned that before the interview started, and you
just looked like not even stressed, like, oh
my gosh, like overwhelmed.
I mean, a lot is happening.
Like, I cannot believe that we are literally
like 90 days into this and so many
things are happening, but a lot of things
(03:29):
are happening very relative to taxes, and a
lot of it's hyperbole.
We don't have things that are actually out
there to go off of, but I'm interested,
what are some of the changes that you're
hearing about, seeing, and some of those implications
on small businesses?
Yeah, it is exciting.
And what's interesting is, even though we don't
have the final tax legislation, we definitely know
(03:51):
where it's headed, and we know what's going
to be in it.
What some of the fine print might look
like is still yet to come, but that's
how, it's interesting how politics work, all of
you out there, that get frustrated maybe with
politics.
It's not gonna be a situation where they
talk about, oh, we're gonna do this, this,
this, and this, and they do something exactly
(04:12):
opposite.
So the nice thing is we can start
to get comfortable with, and that's what the
politicians want.
They wanna lob things out there and see
what the public said.
They do their surveys or they see what
the response is and what resonates with people.
If they throw out an idea and it
doesn't land with the American public, then they're
like, well, I guess they don't care about
that.
So we know that there's gonna be some
(04:32):
good things and we're pretty darn confident what
they're gonna look like.
Sorry, that got kind of a little intro
to that, but I'll just throw out one
to start the conversation, and that is depreciation.
Depreciation is a big deal for a business
owner, because if you're gonna even just go
out and buy a new lawnmower as a
landscaper, you wanna write that freaking thing off.
If I'm gonna buy a new truck or
new manufacturing equipment, or if I'm in real
(04:55):
estate, buying a new rental property.
And so whenever I buy capital assets as
a small business owner, if I can accelerate
the write-off there, I'm making money, because
now I'm getting a better write-off for
that investment into the future of my business.
And I'd always rather pay less tax up
front and get that write-off than write
it off over time.
And so that accelerated depreciation is something that
(05:18):
Trump administration has said we wanna bring back
with a vengeance, get back to that 100
% bonus depreciation when it comes, and what
the percentage is gonna be is that fine
print.
But I think it's exciting for business owners
on that topic alone.
What kind of things are affected by depreciation?
Like, are we talking about vehicles, jets?
Are we talking about like, do we have
any idea of the things that will be
(05:40):
affected by this?
Oh yeah, and I love that you kind
of threw out their jets and stuff.
It's not for the billionaires or the big
business owners.
It will help them as well, but depreciation
for the big companies is usually a different
ballgame.
So this depreciation strategy is really for the
Main Street American small business owner.
All of you are gonna enjoy it a
lot.
Things would be from maybe a new computer,
(06:02):
new office equipment, furniture.
And because when you go to write your
capital investment off, you've gotta choose a depreciation
schedule, five year, seven year, 15 year.
Well, when in the first Trump administration, the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, they were able
to work with Congress and say, all right,
let's do a bonus depreciation for 100%.
(06:22):
And so for about three to four years,
we had 100% bonus.
And then, well, then we'll trail it off
to 80 and then to 60 and 70.
And what that means is, we wanna stimulate
the economy.
And if you go out and buy equipment,
forget that five, seven year, 15 year crap,
you can write it off 100% right
out of the gate.
And whether it's, and that can even be
a truck, could be a vehicle.
And in real estate, it could be the
(06:44):
chattels or the cost segregation that many of
you have heard about where I can segregate
the roof and the building that's gonna depreciate
over a long period of time to the
blinds and the carpet and the lighting and
the landscaping.
So as a real estate investor, in summary,
I can accelerate a lot of those pieces
of a building that aren't gonna last 30
(07:06):
years.
And as a small business owner, I can
go buy a new oven for my restaurant,
or again, a new camera equipment for my
online influencing business, and I can write it
off on day one.
So that's powerful.
And that, so I would tell any business
owner anything, that's why it's, we're already seeing
some energy in the economy is that business
owners this year are like, all right, I'm
(07:27):
ready to scale.
Let's go, game on.
What are some other changes?
And that's, and I love the breakdown.
And I love the breakdown of depreciation also
talking about why they're doing it, like to
stimulate the economy.
So that makes perfect sense.
What are some of the other things that
you're saying that are changes and implications for
the new administration that affects small business?
Well, and you throw that little small business
(07:48):
part on there.
Of course, we've all heard that sexy, every
American might benefit from no tax on social
security, no tax on tips, no tax on
overtime.
Those aren't going to typically directly impact a
small business owner, maybe social security.
And we can talk about some of the,
I think there's gonna be some guardrails on
each one of those.
They can't just, it's gonna cost billions of
(08:10):
dollars to just make that a blatant statement.
But when you add that caveat for small
business owners, what Donald Trump has asked Congress
to do, and he's gone up to the
Hill and met with the GOP leadership on,
is he wants to extend everything that was
in that first tax bill, which we as
Americans, we got to test drive that.
We saw it, we saw it in action,
(08:31):
and it worked out pretty well.
So without boring any of you, there's this
little thing called the 199A deduction or QBI
deduction.
And if you're an S Corp owner, and
if you're a small business owner making more
than 50 grand a year, I would highly
recommend you consider the S as in small
corporation.
And that could be an LLC taxed as
(08:51):
an S Corp, but small business owners don't
need a C Corp.
So if you're stuck in that little gerbil
wheel, please get a second opinion.
But the S Corporation is super powerful for
the small business owner.
It's the most popular form of doing business,
and this QBI deduction allows you to take
a percentage of your profit and write it
(09:12):
off against your net income on your 1040.
And so we want to extend that.
And if that goes away, it's going to
cost business owners a lot.
And so Trump's asked for that, the GOP
says we're going to keep that.
And Ty, let me just say this, historically,
some of you guys are like, probably, what
the hell, what is this?
Why is that such a weird write-off?
(09:33):
When the first legislation went through, they were
trying to reduce corporate taxes for big corporations
and bring all of that money corporations were
hiding offshore, bring it back to the US.
Now Trump's trying to bring manufacturing back to
the US.
So let's not just bring the money back
this time, let's freaking bring the jobs back
to America.
And that's where you see all this tariff
rhetoric can play and tariff frenzy, frankly.
(09:54):
So to make it fair for small business
owners, because they're like, what the hell?
Corporate taxes, that doesn't help me.
I'm not hiding money offshore.
What the hell do I get out of
this?
And so that's where this 199A deduction came
about, is called Qualified Business Income, QBI.
And if you're a small business owner, it
had a huge impact.
You could take 20% of your profit
(10:16):
and write it off against your AGI.
And so that had a real dollar impact.
So Ty, that's going to be a big
one that you're going to love, I'm going
to love, and we should see that as
well.
And when you put depreciation and QBI together,
bam, now we got some secret sauce.
And are we still talking about, because Trump,
the first time around, cut taxes for the
(10:37):
businesses paid pretty significantly.
I mean, I have, in my time of
doing business in decades, I've never seen that
kind of reduction, and it stayed through the
next administration.
So is that going to stay?
And there's talk of even lowering, you know,
the taxes that businesses pay even more than
they were.
Well, what you're, it's interesting you phrase it
that way, Ty.
Why you felt that was the two things
(10:59):
I just talked about.
Like it wasn't that he changed rates for
business owners.
Your tax rate didn't change in business.
There was no business tax rate for small
business owners because we have this flow-through
strategy, right, everybody?
LLCs and S-corps don't pay tax.
So they gave small business owners a break
on the profit they made from their small
business.
And that told business owners, go out and
(11:19):
make more business, go out and hire more
people.
And so it has, everyone should know, every
tax legislation has an incentive behind it.
It's kind of, think of it as passive
-aggressive.
Your mom or your mom or dad has
a reason for why they're making you do
what they do.
There's some sort of subtle motivation behind that.
And so when you say that, Ty, it's
interesting you said it that way, is that,
(11:40):
hey, I felt like I paid less in
tax.
In fact, I did.
Well, how did that happen?
It was this QBI, the ability to write
off depreciation, the auto deduction got phenomenally better,
and we had the dining write-off that
got accelerated after COVID for a couple years,
which was sweet.
But that's how it worked.
And that's what made it strong.
(12:00):
Now, there's gonna be all these cool little
things like the opportunity zone.
We're gonna see that extended.
I think solar, oil, and gas, and some
other little nuances in the tax code.
We're gonna see those little kind of like
dessert items on the table.
Those are gonna be fun.
But I guess it's hard to make sense
of it sometimes.
So I hope that helps.
But that's what happened.
(12:21):
And now we're gonna see tax rates for
everybody stay low.
That's gonna be a big deal.
Child tax credits, itemized deductions.
It's just, that's where it kind of gets
ugly.
Some of you guys are like thinking you
are a nerd, but I don't know.
I kind of geek out on that, some
of that smaller stuff.
So there's also this talk out there about
income taxes potentially going away.
(12:44):
So any insight on that?
Like, is that even something that they're seriously
thinking about?
Because to me, that seems insane.
The fact that we literally go to work
and make it a job and then pay
taxes off the income we make, it seems
like there's a million other things we get
taxed besides the money that we make.
But so I'm interested, and that's a big
conversation starter I see out there, is that
(13:05):
even a real possibility that we could see
an overall reduction in federal income tax or
potentially an elimination?
People, and Ty, I'm glad you brought it
up because it is just a pipe dream.
It is a wish, a dream, and there
is no way the tax code is going
away.
There's no way the IRS is going away.
(13:25):
And let's talk about two points, and this
is really fun.
First, people, when the IRS gives you a
tax break or your state, they gotta make
up for it somewhere.
We have incredible benefits in our country.
We do have Social Security.
It's not going anywhere.
Trump said, I'm not trying to reduce it.
Freaking A, he said, Elon, go make it
better.
Get rid of all the waste and fraud
(13:47):
in Social Security.
I don't wanna cut anybody's Social Security.
I wanna reach checks to go up.
We've got Social Security, national defense.
We've got incredible federal benefits to help us
build our economy and grow, and we have
to pay for that.
So we can't just say there's no more
taxes, people.
I don't know who, someone started that rumor
because it sounds fun and sexy, but that's
like Alice in Wonderland.
(14:08):
It's not gonna happen.
Now, but I know some of you are
like, this is the second point.
Well, Trump said he wants to give a
special tax rate to crypto investors, or he
said, I'm not gonna tax this, or I
wanna get rid of the IRS, people.
This is the master negotiator at work.
What he does is say these kind of
far out things so that he gets somewhere
(14:31):
in between and distracts you.
And so with tariffs, he tells Japan, I'm
gonna go double down on your tariffs.
Everybody freaks out.
We see the market freak out for a
minute, but what happens?
Japan books a flight and gets over here
and says, let's negotiate.
It's what Trump does.
It's masterful.
So when he says, we're not gonna tax
(14:51):
something, you have to go, all right.
He's throwing, he's lobbing a grenade so that
we can get something on the table and
get something more constructive talked about.
I don't know if that makes sense.
Yeah, you know, what's shocking to me is
that other people are so shocked.
Like, if you read the art of the
deal, like he legitimately wrote a book that
spells out exactly how he's operating something.
(15:15):
And yet all these leaders of other countries
and even a lot of people in the
United States like don't understand.
It's like, how can you understand?
Like read the book.
He literally maps out his entire strategy and
tells you what he's gonna do.
But then when he implements a strategy, it's
so shocking and overwhelming for people that they
don't seem to understand what's going on, which
is interesting dynamic to me.
So it's like, this is the only guy
that tells you exactly how he's gonna negotiate.
(15:36):
He wrote a book and gives it to
you.
And yet like you're either not reading it
or not paying attention because this is just
his strategy.
It's just interesting.
No, and let's talk about that for a
minute too.
One thing, everybody, I want you to understand,
this is well thought out and planned.
And now a quick break to hear from
our sponsor.
Hey, it's Ty Crandall with Credit Suite.
(15:56):
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(16:16):
To think that Trump is shooting from the
hip, people, he was strategizing this three years
ago.
When he learned so much from the first
term he was in Washington, he got hometown.
He didn't realize how thick the swamp was.
He didn't realize when he got to Washington
DC, his own vice president Pence was working
to undermine him.
The deep state, he had no idea how
(16:38):
that deep state was.
So he goes home, licks his wounds.
We have to deal with Biden for four
years.
I think it was a blessing.
It was a chance for him to go,
all right, if I go back, I'm gonna
do it different.
And so this go around, think of what's
happening here.
If we can, okay, he's gone to Congress
and said, I wanna cut taxes by 3
.5 trillion.
(16:59):
All right, do you do that, everybody?
If you wanna cut your spending in your
household, what do you do?
You either have to make more money or
you have to get rid of other stuff.
It's the only way that's gonna happen.
So he says, I'm gonna go out and
create, I'm not gonna tax the Americans.
I'm gonna tax other corporations.
He's not taxing countries.
He's taxing corporations in those countries.
That's what tariffs are.
He's taxing other corporations and other countries.
(17:21):
So if you wanna sell your crap here
in the US, I'm gonna tax it.
Especially if you're gonna tax our stuff going
your direction.
So he's gonna increase top line revenue by
increasing taxes, not on Americans, but other corporations
in other countries, okay?
Step two of the master plan.
Let's cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
Holy crap, we got money going out the
door.
We don't, there's one checkbook at the federal
(17:42):
government.
One checkbook, and then you can submit an
invoice and they'll just pay it.
I mean, it's insane.
Elon Musk was like, you've gotta be kidding
me.
So Elon puts together top business leaders who
are donating their time to go cut crap
and waste.
Elon's goal is one trillion.
I wanna get rid of a trillion dollars
of waste.
And Obama said the same thing when he
(18:03):
ran.
And Nancy Pelosi is all, in her prior
statements, has been like, we have gotta get
tariff play fair.
Anyway, it's not the message.
It's just people sometimes don't like the messenger.
The message has to change.
Trump's just got the cojones to go make
it happen.
Okay, so step one, increase taxes on other
companies and other countries.
Number two, cut waste.
(18:23):
And then with that savings and that revenue,
we're gonna go reduce taxes on Americans so
they can reinvest in their business, buy more
product in the U.S., hire more people.
It will reduce inflation, reduce interest rates, and
the whole thing will come together.
This is what we're hoping, right?
This is the plan.
(18:44):
And it's gonna be the golden age of
some wealth building in the U.S. But
it's not gonna happen overnight.
And it's gonna get ugly.
And it's gonna hurt a little at first,
but it could be amazing.
And so when you hear, last point, when
you hear the CBO, Congressional Budget Office say,
Trump's math doesn't work.
It's not gonna pencil out 3.5 trillion.
It's not gonna pencil out.
That's because the CBO has already said, right
(19:06):
at the beginning, we're not gonna count tariffs
and we're not gonna count any savings on
waste and fraud.
Well, where the hell is this coming from
anyway?
So it's just, it's just the politics get
ugly, but we have to have faith, be
patient, and this is gonna frickin' come together.
I promise you.
So it's interesting, because I've always said it
would be nice if the business owner ran
(19:27):
the country, right?
Because you and I, I mean, this is
insane.
Like, there's no way that any business owner
could run their business like the country is
run.
Like, it's absurd, the amount of waste, abuse,
of overspending we have compared to what we
bring in.
What do you think?
Like, what is your take so far?
Because there's been a lot of stuff happening
in the last 90 days.
And I understand what you're saying.
(19:48):
I understand the strategy.
I get it.
I read enough and study enough to understand
where it's going.
But what do you think?
Does this make sense?
Because I've never seen anybody in my lifetime
attack so many things at exactly the same
time.
I mean, like, he's trying to fix every
part, it seems like, of the problem at
exactly the same time.
But I'm just interested, from your perspective, because
you're one of the smartest guys.
(20:08):
You are one of the smartest guys, knowing
that CPA space, and you're an attorney as
well.
So you've got a ton of experience.
So what do you think?
What is your feedback about what is happening
and the strategy in general?
Well, it's so funny.
I was watching an old movie last night
with James Garner in it, and it's called,
some of you might appreciate this if you're
old, it's called Support Your Local Sheriff.
James Garner comes into this town.
(20:29):
I can't believe I'm telling this story.
I just was watching this.
I was writing a blog article last night,
and I did just some dumb movie on
that I've seen a hundred times.
So I put on this movie, Support Your
Local Sheriff, it's James Garner, 1970, 80, whatever.
And he goes into this town to clean
it up.
And Morgan Freeman, the general from MASH, is
the town mayor.
And so James Garner comes in, and he's
(20:50):
gonna clean up the town.
And the first person he arrests is the
worst guy and the baddest criminal outlaw in
town.
And James Garner goes and arrests him on
day one.
And the mayor's like, oh my gosh, whoa,
whoa.
And we're not ready for this.
And James Garner's like, hey, hey, hey.
I can't believe I saw this last night,
(21:10):
and you asked this question.
And he goes, hey, if we're gonna go
tackle a problem, if we're gonna go clean
up a town, you don't start by sweeping
up the sidewalks on the outskirts of town.
You start with the biggest mess first.
Eat the frog.
You gotta go in there and go hard,
and it's gonna feel uncomfortable.
But we gotta, and I'm paraphrasing James Garner,
(21:30):
but he gives this little lecture, and he
goes, now, mayor, if you don't wanna do
that, I'll follow your orders.
And the mayor gets a little excited, and
he goes, but that's no way to run
a town, so I'll have to resign.
And he's like, okay, no, no, no, we'll
support you, sheriff.
You go do it.
So the whole show, support your local sheriff
as he cleans up the town.
And it's a comedy, actually.
And so to bring in this full circle,
(21:52):
whether it's Republicans or Democrats, all the presidents
have campaigned on these same points.
Clean up the waste, the fraud, let's cut
spending where it's a weight, and let's get
smart with other countries that are taking advantage
of us.
But they haven't had the political capital to
go hard, because they want a second term,
they don't have a bank account that they
can rely on.
They're there as career politicians.
(22:14):
And we had the majority of the country,
far majority say, Trump, go for it.
Sometimes we don't like your style.
And it's gonna be scary, but you know
what?
What we've been doing hasn't worked.
So we're just gonna give you enough rope
to hang yourself, or if we can pull
off the most masterful reconstruction of our economy
in over 100 years, and we need it.
(22:34):
It's not good.
So the country said, Congress, we're gonna give
you majority control with the Republicans and Trump.
You got your administration back.
We gave you a dream team, freaking A,
we got the Avengers in the cabinet.
And he's like, all right, let's go.
And so the point being is to answer
my opinion of what I think is, if
he doesn't go in hard and do it
(22:55):
all at once, it's gonna be like the
same damn thing we've seen for 100 years.
Politicians just trying to eat around the corners,
and we'd never get real change.
And we've got another 12 months, Ty, or
it's over, because we got midterms in 18
months.
Already, midterms are coming around the corner.
And if Americans don't feel it in their
pocket, or start seeing inflation come down and
(23:17):
the interest rates come down, we're gonna have
problems.
The House and the Senate are slim majorities.
And if the country doesn't, and Trump knows
this, he can't take four years to do
this.
He's gotta do this in 18 months, because
at midterms, he gets his first report card.
And so that's why his first 100 days
is like a whirlwind, because he's gotta get
crap going, and he's gotta clean up town.
(23:38):
And you may not like the quarterback on
the field, but we're all rooting for the
team.
We're all on the same damn team.
And sometimes we don't like the quarterback, but
we gotta get behind the quarterback on this
one and say, you got it, two years,
18 months, show us what you got.
Get down the field and score a freaking
touchdown, or maybe two or three touchdowns, and
let's see how it's working.
And that's what's going on.
(23:59):
And so we're all holding on for dear
life, right?
You mentioned the IRS earlier, but there's dramatic
cuts in the IRS, like significant cuts.
So if there's not really, it's just rhetoric
about removing the IRS, what's your take on
so many, tens of thousands of reduction of
staff of the IRS?
Like what does that mean for us?
(24:19):
Well, I would say everybody, it's not as
bad as it sounds, because what happened just
two years ago in the Build Back Better
plan, President Biden gave IRS $80 billion to
go hire, what was it, 70,000 agents
to go audit people more.
So we had in two years ago, a
(24:40):
huge ramp up in hiring at IRS, and
they were just hiring people to hire people.
Let's just, let's go.
Biden gave us 80 billion.
If we don't spend it, we're not gonna
get it.
Let's go.
And so the IRS, just like all these
other stupid departments are just spending money like
it's water.
And so when Trump is cutting jobs at
the IRS, and trying to cut the fat,
(25:02):
by not like in half, but like 10
or 15%, just trying, we could all be
10 or 15% more efficient, right?
We all could.
So, but that means that the IRS, maybe
10,000 jobs, you just freaking put them
on payroll two years ago.
It's not like we're gutting institutional labor, that's
been there for 30 years.
We just ramped up a bunch of jobs
(25:22):
we shouldn't have had there in the first
place.
And so, and then if you put on
top of it, the IRS was probably a
little fat two years ago.
Oh my gosh, we just, it was like
we were gonna tip the camel over.
And so, so just chill out, everybody.
And by the way, oh, you want more
IRS agents?
You wanna, you have a better chance of
getting audited?
Who are you?
You're trying to defend.
(25:44):
It's funny, the same people are, we should
get rid of the IRS.
What the hell is Trump doing firing people
at the IRS?
Does that make sense?
You wanna get rid of the IRS, but
then you're upset if he fires people at
the IRS?
What planet are you on?
People just wanna bitch to bitch.
It's like, crying out loud, go make some
money.
Why don't you get a job?
Why don't you go out and start a
dream and start your card table moment and
(26:04):
build a business?
Let's focus on that.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, it's Mark, it's a powerful discussion.
As we get ready to wrap up, anything
else you think that we should know about
what's taking place right now with changes this
year in 2025?
Well, here's what, I'm grateful you asked that.
It's all fun to talk about this.
It's kind of, it's like, it's better than
a movie.
(26:24):
I just watch the news.
I'm like, I don't need to go watch
a movie.
I can freaking watch what's going on in
the country.
This is pretty freaking exciting.
But can I control any of it?
Yeah, I can't.
I'm trying to make a major change in
the country in tax and legal practices for
business owners and professionals.
But when it comes to all this power
play maneuvering and chess moves at the international
(26:45):
level, even just how it all plays out,
I have no control over that.
But what I can control is my own
economy.
I can control my own check.
I can control what I'm going to focus
on and what I'm not going to focus
on.
And so what I would suggest to any
of you that are still here listening, and
thank you so much for this opportunity to
spend this time with you, why don't we
(27:08):
implement some of the same policies in our
own life?
What are we doing to cut waste and
fraud?
I'll tell you me, I've got a DoorDash
problem.
I need to go into recovery.
I think I will use DoorDash.
Everything I buy nowadays.
I am so, it's not good.
It's not good.
I've got a problem.
So anyway, I could cut some spending in
my DoorDash bill.
I could cut some spending on some, no
(27:29):
more first class tickets for you, Mark, just
fly main cabin.
So anyway, we could all do a little
cost cutting.
We could all do a little efficiency analysis
in our lives.
And what do our vendor relationships look like?
Are we getting ripped off in our relationships
with vendors?
Could we be more targeted in the goals
we have to build wealth?
Could we create other revenue sources?
(27:49):
Well, if I can focus on that and
do the same thing the Trump administration is
trying to do, whether you love them or
hate them, it doesn't matter.
The concept is the same.
Let's tighten our belts.
And we already know we've got the House,
we've got the Senate, and we've got the
White House bringing to bear tax legislation that's
gonna help you scale.
Depreciation, the QBI, better write-offs, lower tax
(28:12):
rates.
This is the time in your life, if
you've ever felt it, I want you to
feel it now.
And that is time to grow, time to
build.
And you can't grow and build without tightening
the belt and being smart and being efficient.
This is exciting.
So work on your own country.
It's in your four walls tonight.
And what are you doing to save money,
(28:32):
cut waste, get better deals with the people
you work with, and read the art of
the deal, and get out and grow your
American dream.
You can do it.
This is the time to do it.
And the whole country is behind you.
It's amazing.
Mark, I appreciate you coming on today.
I love to lean on you when things
are changing because you're so knowledgeable and you
(28:53):
explain things in such a familiar way that
we can relate to.
Where can everybody go to learn more?
Because we didn't even get in and we've
done other interviews, but where can we go
to learn more about your tax strategies and
about talking to you and your team more
about saving us money on taxes?
Oh, thank you so much.
My website is a great place to start,
markjkohler.com.
(29:15):
Mark J as in jolly, kohler.com.
I know it's down in the description.
You can just Google it.
I've got several events coming up in the
next two or three months in person and
virtual.
And I've got a newsletter with great tips
and strategies every week, a calendar with tax
tips and tax deadlines, my podcast, we've got
our law firm there taking appointments every day
as a boutique firm that's affordable for small
(29:37):
business owners around the country.
You can self-direct your IRA or 401k,
starting that, but that website will get you
the starting point.
And if you don't have a voice in
your life for tax and legal, give me
a shot.
Help me be that, I mean, let me
be that help to you and we'll get
you with the community and you can find
a professional that works in our community to
help you succeed.
(29:57):
And again, Ty, thanks for having me.
(Transcribed by TurboScribe.ai. Go Unlimited to remove this message.) Welcome to the Business Credit and Financing Show.
Each week, we talk about the growth strategies
that matter most to entrepreneurs.
Listen in as we discuss the secrets to
getting credit and money to start and grow
your business.
And enjoy as we talk with seasoned business
owners, coaches, and industry leaders on a variety
(00:22):
of topics from advertising and marketing to the
nuts and bolts of running a highly successful
business.
And now, to introduce the host of our
show, financial expert and award-winning author, Ty
Crandall.
Hello, and thanks for joining us today.
I'm super excited you could be here because
today we're talking about, well, all things taxes,
but most importantly, we're talking about a lot
of the changes that are happening right now
(00:44):
with this new administration, things to keep an
eye out for, and things you need to
know in general about tax strategy and how
to basically pay less money legally.
And with us today is like the expert.
I mean, the foremost expert in the field,
Mark Collar.
Now, Mark is actually an attorney and a
CPA for small business owners, nationally recognized tax
expert.
(01:05):
I mean, he's done a lot of cool
things.
I mean, he's a five-time bestseller, best
known for the Tax Illegal Playbook and co
-hosts Top Podcast, the Main Street Business Podcast,
and the Directed IRA podcast as well.
He's been featured on Fox News, been featured
on Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, NBC, Wharton Business
Radio, and has taken the global stage at
(01:25):
the World Economic Forum in Davos as well.
Named Tax Advisor of the Year, he's passionate
advocate for small businesses and remains committed to
helping Americans thrive through smarter tax and financial
strategies.
One of the things I love about Mark,
he's been on the show, I think now
three times in total, and he's just, he
is literally the most knowledgeable, but also entertaining
(01:45):
guy that I know in the field, meaning
that he has a way of getting us
the information that we need in a way
that we can actually digest it, not unlike
what we hear from so many other attorneys
and CPAs.
And he's also really widely known online.
I mean, you can easily find his stuff.
He puts out some of, not some of,
the best content I've ever seen related to
tax strategy in general.
(02:06):
So you gotta look him up, and we'll
talk a little bit more about that during
the interview.
Mark, how are you doing today?
Wow, and thank you, man.
Everybody needs an intro like that every morning,
freaking out.
I'm gonna call you up tomorrow at about
7 a.m. after my workout, and if
you can just repeat all that, I'd love
it, thanks.
I've done like nearly 1,000 episodes, and
that is the first time, legitimately, that I've
ever just not read a bio.
(02:28):
That's awesome, good, good.
I love it when you're from the hip,
man.
I mean, maybe the next 1,000 will
be like, turn it over a whole new
leaf here.
So I don't know.
Oh, well, thanks for having me, Ty.
So it's an important topic.
So many people are starving for good tax
and legal education or content that makes sense,
and they can take action with it.
So I wanna make sure all of you
(02:48):
listeners today know that Ty and I, our
goal before we even started the show was,
let's make sure people have something they can
use to change their life, and that's where
it all comes down to, so.
I should ask, because I should've asked before
we started, I didn't.
How do I properly pronounce your last name?
Kohler.
Okay.
Like the faucets or the engine, or I
wish I was part of the Kohler Plumbing
(03:08):
Company in Wisconsin, I'd have a private jet,
but I don't, so.
That's a very successful company.
So administration changed this year, and I even
mentioned that before the interview started, and you
just looked like not even stressed, like, oh
my gosh, like overwhelmed.
I mean, a lot is happening.
Like, I cannot believe that we are literally
like 90 days into this and so many
things are happening, but a lot of things
(03:29):
are happening very relative to taxes, and a
lot of it's hyperbole.
We don't have things that are actually out
there to go off of, but I'm interested,
what are some of the changes that you're
hearing about, seeing, and some of those implications
on small businesses?
Yeah, it is exciting.
And what's interesting is, even though we don't
have the final tax legislation, we definitely know
(03:51):
where it's headed, and we know what's going
to be in it.
What some of the fine print might look
like is still yet to come, but that's
how, it's interesting how politics work, all of
you out there, that get frustrated maybe with
politics.
It's not gonna be a situation where they
talk about, oh, we're gonna do this, this,
this, and this, and they do something exactly
(04:12):
opposite.
So the nice thing is we can start
to get comfortable with, and that's what the
politicians want.
They wanna lob things out there and see
what the public said.
They do their surveys or they see what
the response is and what resonates with people.
If they throw out an idea and it
doesn't land with the American public, then they're
like, well, I guess they don't care about
that.
So we know that there's gonna be some
(04:32):
good things and we're pretty darn confident what
they're gonna look like.
Sorry, that got kind of a little intro
to that, but I'll just throw out one
to start the conversation, and that is depreciation.
Depreciation is a big deal for a business
owner, because if you're gonna even just go
out and buy a new lawnmower as a
landscaper, you wanna write that freaking thing off.
If I'm gonna buy a new truck or
new manufacturing equipment, or if I'm in real
(04:55):
estate, buying a new rental property.
And so whenever I buy capital assets as
a small business owner, if I can accelerate
the write-off there, I'm making money, because
now I'm getting a better write-off for
that investment into the future of my business.
And I'd always rather pay less tax up
front and get that write-off than write
it off over time.
And so that accelerated depreciation is something that
(05:18):
Trump administration has said we wanna bring back
with a vengeance, get back to that 100
% bonus depreciation when it comes, and what
the percentage is gonna be is that fine
print.
But I think it's exciting for business owners
on that topic alone.
What kind of things are affected by depreciation?
Like, are we talking about vehicles, jets?
Are we talking about like, do we have
any idea of the things that will be
(05:40):
affected by this?
Oh yeah, and I love that you kind
of threw out their jets and stuff.
It's not for the billionaires or the big
business owners.
It will help them as well, but depreciation
for the big companies is usually a different
ballgame.
So this depreciation strategy is really for the
Main Street American small business owner.
All of you are gonna enjoy it a
lot.
Things would be from maybe a new computer,
(06:02):
new office equipment, furniture.
And because when you go to write your
capital investment off, you've gotta choose a depreciation
schedule, five year, seven year, 15 year.
Well, when in the first Trump administration, the
Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, they were able
to work with Congress and say, all right,
let's do a bonus depreciation for 100%.
(06:22):
And so for about three to four years,
we had 100% bonus.
And then, well, then we'll trail it off
to 80 and then to 60 and 70.
And what that means is, we wanna stimulate
the economy.
And if you go out and buy equipment,
forget that five, seven year, 15 year crap,
you can write it off 100% right
out of the gate.
And whether it's, and that can even be
a truck, could be a vehicle.
And in real estate, it could be the
(06:44):
chattels or the cost segregation that many of
you have heard about where I can segregate
the roof and the building that's gonna depreciate
over a long period of time to the
blinds and the carpet and the lighting and
the landscaping.
So as a real estate investor, in summary,
I can accelerate a lot of those pieces
of a building that aren't gonna last 30
(07:06):
years.
And as a small business owner, I can
go buy a new oven for my restaurant,
or again, a new camera equipment for my
online influencing business, and I can write it
off on day one.
So that's powerful.
And that, so I would tell any business
owner anything, that's why it's, we're already seeing
some energy in the economy is that business
owners this year are like, all right, I'm
(07:27):
ready to scale.
Let's go, game on.
What are some other changes?
And that's, and I love the breakdown.
And I love the breakdown of depreciation also
talking about why they're doing it, like to
stimulate the economy.
So that makes perfect sense.
What are some of the other things that
you're saying that are changes and implications for
the new administration that affects small business?
Well, and you throw that little small business
(07:48):
part on there.
Of course, we've all heard that sexy, every
American might benefit from no tax on social
security, no tax on tips, no tax on
overtime.
Those aren't going to typically directly impact a
small business owner, maybe social security.
And we can talk about some of the,
I think there's gonna be some guardrails on
each one of those.
They can't just, it's gonna cost billions of
(08:10):
dollars to just make that a blatant statement.
But when you add that caveat for small
business owners, what Donald Trump has asked Congress
to do, and he's gone up to the
Hill and met with the GOP leadership on,
is he wants to extend everything that was
in that first tax bill, which we as
Americans, we got to test drive that.
We saw it, we saw it in action,
(08:31):
and it worked out pretty well.
So without boring any of you, there's this
little thing called the 199A deduction or QBI
deduction.
And if you're an S Corp owner, and
if you're a small business owner making more
than 50 grand a year, I would highly
recommend you consider the S as in small
corporation.
And that could be an LLC taxed as
(08:51):
an S Corp, but small business owners don't
need a C Corp.
So if you're stuck in that little gerbil
wheel, please get a second opinion.
But the S Corporation is super powerful for
the small business owner.
It's the most popular form of doing business,
and this QBI deduction allows you to take
a percentage of your profit and write it
(09:12):
off against your net income on your 1040.
And so we want to extend that.
And if that goes away, it's going to
cost business owners a lot.
And so Trump's asked for that, the GOP
says we're going to keep that.
And Ty, let me just say this, historically,
some of you guys are like, probably, what
the hell, what is this?
Why is that such a weird write-off?
(09:33):
When the first legislation went through, they were
trying to reduce corporate taxes for big corporations
and bring all of that money corporations were
hiding offshore, bring it back to the US.
Now Trump's trying to bring manufacturing back to
the US.
So let's not just bring the money back
this time, let's freaking bring the jobs back
to America.
And that's where you see all this tariff
rhetoric can play and tariff frenzy, frankly.
(09:54):
So to make it fair for small business
owners, because they're like, what the hell?
Corporate taxes, that doesn't help me.
I'm not hiding money offshore.
What the hell do I get out of
this?
And so that's where this 199A deduction came
about, is called Qualified Business Income, QBI.
And if you're a small business owner, it
had a huge impact.
You could take 20% of your profit
(10:16):
and write it off against your AGI.
And so that had a real dollar impact.
So Ty, that's going to be a big
one that you're going to love, I'm going
to love, and we should see that as
well.
And when you put depreciation and QBI together,
bam, now we got some secret sauce.
And are we still talking about, because Trump,
the first time around, cut taxes for the
(10:37):
businesses paid pretty significantly.
I mean, I have, in my time of
doing business in decades, I've never seen that
kind of reduction, and it stayed through the
next administration.
So is that going to stay?
And there's talk of even lowering, you know,
the taxes that businesses pay even more than
they were.
Well, what you're, it's interesting you phrase it
that way, Ty.
Why you felt that was the two things
(10:59):
I just talked about.
Like it wasn't that he changed rates for
business owners.
Your tax rate didn't change in business.
There was no business tax rate for small
business owners because we have this flow-through
strategy, right, everybody?
LLCs and S-corps don't pay tax.
So they gave small business owners a break
on the profit they made from their small
business.
And that told business owners, go out and
(11:19):
make more business, go out and hire more
people.
And so it has, everyone should know, every
tax legislation has an incentive behind it.
It's kind of, think of it as passive
-aggressive.
Your mom or your mom or dad has
a reason for why they're making you do
what they do.
There's some sort of subtle motivation behind that.
And so when you say that, Ty, it's
interesting you said it that way, is that,
(11:40):
hey, I felt like I paid less in
tax.
In fact, I did.
Well, how did that happen?
It was this QBI, the ability to write
off depreciation, the auto deduction got phenomenally better,
and we had the dining write-off that
got accelerated after COVID for a couple years,
which was sweet.
But that's how it worked.
And that's what made it strong.
(12:00):
Now, there's gonna be all these cool little
things like the opportunity zone.
We're gonna see that extended.
I think solar, oil, and gas, and some
other little nuances in the tax code.
We're gonna see those little kind of like
dessert items on the table.
Those are gonna be fun.
But I guess it's hard to make sense
of it sometimes.
So I hope that helps.
But that's what happened.
(12:21):
And now we're gonna see tax rates for
everybody stay low.
That's gonna be a big deal.
Child tax credits, itemized deductions.
It's just, that's where it kind of gets
ugly.
Some of you guys are like thinking you
are a nerd, but I don't know.
I kind of geek out on that, some
of that smaller stuff.
So there's also this talk out there about
income taxes potentially going away.
(12:44):
So any insight on that?
Like, is that even something that they're seriously
thinking about?
Because to me, that seems insane.
The fact that we literally go to work
and make it a job and then pay
taxes off the income we make, it seems
like there's a million other things we get
taxed besides the money that we make.
But so I'm interested, and that's a big
conversation starter I see out there, is that
(13:05):
even a real possibility that we could see
an overall reduction in federal income tax or
potentially an elimination?
People, and Ty, I'm glad you brought it
up because it is just a pipe dream.
It is a wish, a dream, and there
is no way the tax code is going
away.
There's no way the IRS is going away.
(13:25):
And let's talk about two points, and this
is really fun.
First, people, when the IRS gives you a
tax break or your state, they gotta make
up for it somewhere.
We have incredible benefits in our country.
We do have Social Security.
It's not going anywhere.
Trump said, I'm not trying to reduce it.
Freaking A, he said, Elon, go make it
better.
Get rid of all the waste and fraud
(13:47):
in Social Security.
I don't wanna cut anybody's Social Security.
I wanna reach checks to go up.
We've got Social Security, national defense.
We've got incredible federal benefits to help us
build our economy and grow, and we have
to pay for that.
So we can't just say there's no more
taxes, people.
I don't know who, someone started that rumor
because it sounds fun and sexy, but that's
like Alice in Wonderland.
(14:08):
It's not gonna happen.
Now, but I know some of you are
like, this is the second point.
Well, Trump said he wants to give a
special tax rate to crypto investors, or he
said, I'm not gonna tax this, or I
wanna get rid of the IRS, people.
This is the master negotiator at work.
What he does is say these kind of
far out things so that he gets somewhere
(14:31):
in between and distracts you.
And so with tariffs, he tells Japan, I'm
gonna go double down on your tariffs.
Everybody freaks out.
We see the market freak out for a
minute, but what happens?
Japan books a flight and gets over here
and says, let's negotiate.
It's what Trump does.
It's masterful.
So when he says, we're not gonna tax
(14:51):
something, you have to go, all right.
He's throwing, he's lobbing a grenade so that
we can get something on the table and
get something more constructive talked about.
I don't know if that makes sense.
Yeah, you know, what's shocking to me is
that other people are so shocked.
Like, if you read the art of the
deal, like he legitimately wrote a book that
spells out exactly how he's operating something.
(15:15):
And yet all these leaders of other countries
and even a lot of people in the
United States like don't understand.
It's like, how can you understand?
Like read the book.
He literally maps out his entire strategy and
tells you what he's gonna do.
But then when he implements a strategy, it's
so shocking and overwhelming for people that they
don't seem to understand what's going on, which
is interesting dynamic to me.
So it's like, this is the only guy
that tells you exactly how he's gonna negotiate.
(15:36):
He wrote a book and gives it to
you.
And yet like you're either not reading it
or not paying attention because this is just
his strategy.
It's just interesting.
No, and let's talk about that for a
minute too.
One thing, everybody, I want you to understand,
this is well thought out and planned.
And now a quick break to hear from
our sponsor.
Hey, it's Ty Crandall with Credit Suite.
(15:56):
Many of our subscribers wanna get the most
money to grow their business at the best
terms.
Whether you're looking for startup capital, low interest
credit lines and loans, or business credit, we
can definitely help you.
So give us a call at 877-600
-2487, or schedule your free consultation at creditsuite
.com forward slash consult to see how much
money you can get approved for today.
(16:16):
To think that Trump is shooting from the
hip, people, he was strategizing this three years
ago.
When he learned so much from the first
term he was in Washington, he got hometown.
He didn't realize how thick the swamp was.
He didn't realize when he got to Washington
DC, his own vice president Pence was working
to undermine him.
The deep state, he had no idea how
(16:38):
that deep state was.
So he goes home, licks his wounds.
We have to deal with Biden for four
years.
I think it was a blessing.
It was a chance for him to go,
all right, if I go back, I'm gonna
do it different.
And so this go around, think of what's
happening here.
If we can, okay, he's gone to Congress
and said, I wanna cut taxes by 3
.5 trillion.
(16:59):
All right, do you do that, everybody?
If you wanna cut your spending in your
household, what do you do?
You either have to make more money or
you have to get rid of other stuff.
It's the only way that's gonna happen.
So he says, I'm gonna go out and
create, I'm not gonna tax the Americans.
I'm gonna tax other corporations.
He's not taxing countries.
He's taxing corporations in those countries.
That's what tariffs are.
He's taxing other corporations and other countries.
(17:21):
So if you wanna sell your crap here
in the US, I'm gonna tax it.
Especially if you're gonna tax our stuff going
your direction.
So he's gonna increase top line revenue by
increasing taxes, not on Americans, but other corporations
in other countries, okay?
Step two of the master plan.
Let's cut waste, fraud, and abuse.
Holy crap, we got money going out the
door.
We don't, there's one checkbook at the federal
(17:42):
government.
One checkbook, and then you can submit an
invoice and they'll just pay it.
I mean, it's insane.
Elon Musk was like, you've gotta be kidding
me.
So Elon puts together top business leaders who
are donating their time to go cut crap
and waste.
Elon's goal is one trillion.
I wanna get rid of a trillion dollars
of waste.
And Obama said the same thing when he
(18:03):
ran.
And Nancy Pelosi is all, in her prior
statements, has been like, we have gotta get
tariff play fair.
Anyway, it's not the message.
It's just people sometimes don't like the messenger.
The message has to change.
Trump's just got the cojones to go make
it happen.
Okay, so step one, increase taxes on other
companies and other countries.
Number two, cut waste.
(18:23):
And then with that savings and that revenue,
we're gonna go reduce taxes on Americans so
they can reinvest in their business, buy more
product in the U.S., hire more people.
It will reduce inflation, reduce interest rates, and
the whole thing will come together.
This is what we're hoping, right?
This is the plan.
(18:44):
And it's gonna be the golden age of
some wealth building in the U.S. But
it's not gonna happen overnight.
And it's gonna get ugly.
And it's gonna hurt a little at first,
but it could be amazing.
And so when you hear, last point, when
you hear the CBO, Congressional Budget Office say,
Trump's math doesn't work.
It's not gonna pencil out 3.5 trillion.
It's not gonna pencil out.
That's because the CBO has already said, right
(19:06):
at the beginning, we're not gonna count tariffs
and we're not gonna count any savings on
waste and fraud.
Well, where the hell is this coming from
anyway?
So it's just, it's just the politics get
ugly, but we have to have faith, be
patient, and this is gonna frickin' come together.
I promise you.
So it's interesting, because I've always said it
would be nice if the business owner ran
(19:27):
the country, right?
Because you and I, I mean, this is
insane.
Like, there's no way that any business owner
could run their business like the country is
run.
Like, it's absurd, the amount of waste, abuse,
of overspending we have compared to what we
bring in.
What do you think?
Like, what is your take so far?
Because there's been a lot of stuff happening
in the last 90 days.
And I understand what you're saying.
(19:48):
I understand the strategy.
I get it.
I read enough and study enough to understand
where it's going.
But what do you think?
Does this make sense?
Because I've never seen anybody in my lifetime
attack so many things at exactly the same
time.
I mean, like, he's trying to fix every
part, it seems like, of the problem at
exactly the same time.
But I'm just interested, from your perspective, because
you're one of the smartest guys.
(20:08):
You are one of the smartest guys, knowing
that CPA space, and you're an attorney as
well.
So you've got a ton of experience.
So what do you think?
What is your feedback about what is happening
and the strategy in general?
Well, it's so funny.
I was watching an old movie last night
with James Garner in it, and it's called,
some of you might appreciate this if you're
old, it's called Support Your Local Sheriff.
James Garner comes into this town.
(20:29):
I can't believe I'm telling this story.
I just was watching this.
I was writing a blog article last night,
and I did just some dumb movie on
that I've seen a hundred times.
So I put on this movie, Support Your
Local Sheriff, it's James Garner, 1970, 80, whatever.
And he goes into this town to clean
it up.
And Morgan Freeman, the general from MASH, is
the town mayor.
And so James Garner comes in, and he's
(20:50):
gonna clean up the town.
And the first person he arrests is the
worst guy and the baddest criminal outlaw in
town.
And James Garner goes and arrests him on
day one.
And the mayor's like, oh my gosh, whoa,
whoa.
And we're not ready for this.
And James Garner's like, hey, hey, hey.
I can't believe I saw this last night,
(21:10):
and you asked this question.
And he goes, hey, if we're gonna go
tackle a problem, if we're gonna go clean
up a town, you don't start by sweeping
up the sidewalks on the outskirts of town.
You start with the biggest mess first.
Eat the frog.
You gotta go in there and go hard,
and it's gonna feel uncomfortable.
But we gotta, and I'm paraphrasing James Garner,
(21:30):
but he gives this little lecture, and he
goes, now, mayor, if you don't wanna do
that, I'll follow your orders.
And the mayor gets a little excited, and
he goes, but that's no way to run
a town, so I'll have to resign.
And he's like, okay, no, no, no, we'll
support you, sheriff.
You go do it.
So the whole show, support your local sheriff
as he cleans up the town.
And it's a comedy, actually.
And so to bring in this full circle,
(21:52):
whether it's Republicans or Democrats, all the presidents
have campaigned on these same points.
Clean up the waste, the fraud, let's cut
spending where it's a weight, and let's get
smart with other countries that are taking advantage
of us.
But they haven't had the political capital to
go hard, because they want a second term,
they don't have a bank account that they
can rely on.
They're there as career politicians.
(22:14):
And we had the majority of the country,
far majority say, Trump, go for it.
Sometimes we don't like your style.
And it's gonna be scary, but you know
what?
What we've been doing hasn't worked.
So we're just gonna give you enough rope
to hang yourself, or if we can pull
off the most masterful reconstruction of our economy
in over 100 years, and we need it.
(22:34):
It's not good.
So the country said, Congress, we're gonna give
you majority control with the Republicans and Trump.
You got your administration back.
We gave you a dream team, freaking A,
we got the Avengers in the cabinet.
And he's like, all right, let's go.
And so the point being is to answer
my opinion of what I think is, if
he doesn't go in hard and do it
(22:55):
all at once, it's gonna be like the
same damn thing we've seen for 100 years.
Politicians just trying to eat around the corners,
and we'd never get real change.
And we've got another 12 months, Ty, or
it's over, because we got midterms in 18
months.
Already, midterms are coming around the corner.
And if Americans don't feel it in their
pocket, or start seeing inflation come down and
(23:17):
the interest rates come down, we're gonna have
problems.
The House and the Senate are slim majorities.
And if the country doesn't, and Trump knows
this, he can't take four years to do
this.
He's gotta do this in 18 months, because
at midterms, he gets his first report card.
And so that's why his first 100 days
is like a whirlwind, because he's gotta get
crap going, and he's gotta clean up town.
(23:38):
And you may not like the quarterback on
the field, but we're all rooting for the
team.
We're all on the same damn team.
And sometimes we don't like the quarterback, but
we gotta get behind the quarterback on this
one and say, you got it, two years,
18 months, show us what you got.
Get down the field and score a freaking
touchdown, or maybe two or three touchdowns, and
let's see how it's working.
And that's what's going on.
(23:59):
And so we're all holding on for dear
life, right?
You mentioned the IRS earlier, but there's dramatic
cuts in the IRS, like significant cuts.
So if there's not really, it's just rhetoric
about removing the IRS, what's your take on
so many, tens of thousands of reduction of
staff of the IRS?
Like what does that mean for us?
(24:19):
Well, I would say everybody, it's not as
bad as it sounds, because what happened just
two years ago in the Build Back Better
plan, President Biden gave IRS $80 billion to
go hire, what was it, 70,000 agents
to go audit people more.
So we had in two years ago, a
(24:40):
huge ramp up in hiring at IRS, and
they were just hiring people to hire people.
Let's just, let's go.
Biden gave us 80 billion.
If we don't spend it, we're not gonna
get it.
Let's go.
And so the IRS, just like all these
other stupid departments are just spending money like
it's water.
And so when Trump is cutting jobs at
the IRS, and trying to cut the fat,
(25:02):
by not like in half, but like 10
or 15%, just trying, we could all be
10 or 15% more efficient, right?
We all could.
So, but that means that the IRS, maybe
10,000 jobs, you just freaking put them
on payroll two years ago.
It's not like we're gutting institutional labor, that's
been there for 30 years.
We just ramped up a bunch of jobs
(25:22):
we shouldn't have had there in the first
place.
And so, and then if you put on
top of it, the IRS was probably a
little fat two years ago.
Oh my gosh, we just, it was like
we were gonna tip the camel over.
And so, so just chill out, everybody.
And by the way, oh, you want more
IRS agents?
You wanna, you have a better chance of
getting audited?
Who are you?
You're trying to defend.
(25:44):
It's funny, the same people are, we should
get rid of the IRS.
What the hell is Trump doing firing people
at the IRS?
Does that make sense?
You wanna get rid of the IRS, but
then you're upset if he fires people at
the IRS?
What planet are you on?
People just wanna bitch to bitch.
It's like, crying out loud, go make some
money.
Why don't you get a job?
Why don't you go out and start a
dream and start your card table moment and
(26:04):
build a business?
Let's focus on that.
Sorry, go ahead.
No, it's Mark, it's a powerful discussion.
As we get ready to wrap up, anything
else you think that we should know about
what's taking place right now with changes this
year in 2025?
Well, here's what, I'm grateful you asked that.
It's all fun to talk about this.
It's kind of, it's like, it's better than
a movie.
(26:24):
I just watch the news.
I'm like, I don't need to go watch
a movie.
I can freaking watch what's going on in
the country.
This is pretty freaking exciting.
But can I control any of it?
Yeah, I can't.
I'm trying to make a major change in
the country in tax and legal practices for
business owners and professionals.
But when it comes to all this power
play maneuvering and chess moves at the international
(26:45):
level, even just how it all plays out,
I have no control over that.
But what I can control is my own
economy.
I can control my own check.
I can control what I'm going to focus
on and what I'm not going to focus
on.
And so what I would suggest to any
of you that are still here listening, and
thank you so much for this opportunity to
spend this time with you, why don't we
(27:08):
implement some of the same policies in our
own life?
What are we doing to cut waste and
fraud?
I'll tell you me, I've got a DoorDash
problem.
I need to go into recovery.
I think I will use DoorDash.
Everything I buy nowadays.
I am so, it's not good.
It's not good.
I've got a problem.
So anyway, I could cut some spending in
my DoorDash bill.
I could cut some spending on some, no
(27:29):
more first class tickets for you, Mark, just
fly main cabin.
So anyway, we could all do a little
cost cutting.
We could all do a little efficiency analysis
in our lives.
And what do our vendor relationships look like?
Are we getting ripped off in our relationships
with vendors?
Could we be more targeted in the goals
we have to build wealth?
Could we create other revenue sources?
(27:49):
Well, if I can focus on that and
do the same thing the Trump administration is
trying to do, whether you love them or
hate them, it doesn't matter.
The concept is the same.
Let's tighten our belts.
And we already know we've got the House,
we've got the Senate, and we've got the
White House bringing to bear tax legislation that's
gonna help you scale.
Depreciation, the QBI, better write-offs, lower tax
(28:12):
rates.
This is the time in your life, if
you've ever felt it, I want you to
feel it now.
And that is time to grow, time to
build.
And you can't grow and build without tightening
the belt and being smart and being efficient.
This is exciting.
So work on your own country.
It's in your four walls tonight.
And what are you doing to save money,
(28:32):
cut waste, get better deals with the people
you work with, and read the art of
the deal, and get out and grow your
American dream.
You can do it.
This is the time to do it.
And the whole country is behind you.
It's amazing.
Mark, I appreciate you coming on today.
I love to lean on you when things
are changing because you're so knowledgeable and you
(28:53):
explain things in such a familiar way that
we can relate to.
Where can everybody go to learn more?
Because we didn't even get in and we've
done other interviews, but where can we go
to learn more about your tax strategies and
about talking to you and your team more
about saving us money on taxes?
Oh, thank you so much.
My website is a great place to start,
markjkohler.com.
(29:15):
Mark J as in jolly, kohler.com.
I know it's down in the description.
You can just Google it.
I've got several events coming up in the
next two or three months in person and
virtual.
And I've got a newsletter with great tips
and strategies every week, a calendar with tax
tips and tax deadlines, my podcast, we've got
our law firm there taking appointments every day
as a boutique firm that's affordable for small
(29:37):
business owners around the country.
You can self-direct your IRA or 401k,
starting that, but that website will get you
the starting point.
And if you don't have a voice in
your life for tax and legal, give me
a shot.
Help me be that, I mean, let me
be that help to you and we'll get
you with the community and you can find
a professional that works in our community to
help you succeed.
(29:57):
And again, Ty, thanks for having me.
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