June 6, 2023 • 43 mins
Hey there, Solar Sales Uncensored tribe! You're not going to want to miss this episode because we're diving headfirst into the goldmine that is tax strategy with the one and only, Courtney Epps! She's not just a tax strategist, she's a fractional CFO, and the brains behind "More Relaxing, Less Taxing: Why You Would Be Brain Dead Not to Own a Business." Courtney is all about helping you guys squeeze out every cent in tax savings.
Now, Courtney has seen it all. She's run an insurance agency, a network marketing business, and she's helping entrepreneurs rake in the savings. Here's the secret sauce: she teaches how to structure a home-based business just right to save big bucks on taxes. We're talking converting everyday living expenses into business expenses, saving families $4,000-$8,000 a year on average. How cool is that?
We're pulling back the curtain on Courtney's time speaking at a Tony Robbins' event, and the mind-blowing shifts that happen when you're rubbing shoulders with the big earners. And here's something you probably didn't know: there's a huge difference between a CPA and an Enrolled Agent. Courtney breaks it down and explains how the right choice can help you discover hidden deductions and structure your business for max savings.
Ever thought about running a home-based business to pay for your kid's college? We're covering that, and more! And here's the best part: Courtney has an exclusive membership program, and she's offering a discounted Tax Strategy Session just for you, our awesome listeners.
So, are you ready to supercharge your tax strategy and totally transform your financial future? I thought so! Don't wait—book your Tax Strategy Session with Courtney now at https://lstaxstrategy.youcanbook.me/. Let's do this!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Hello, hello, welcome to another episode of Solar
Sales Uncensored.
I am your host, aaron Browning,and I am really really excited
for today's conversation withthe one and only Miss Courtney
Epps.
For those of you that don'tknow her, she is a fractional
CFO, she is a tax strategist.
Excuse me, we're really goingto touch on the difference here.
(00:23):
She is a multiple bestsellingauthor.
Two of her books more relaxing,less taxing.
And then what's your plan B,which we're going to take a deep
dive on today?
Miss Courtney Epps, how theheck are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing amazing.
Hope you're doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I am.
I'm getting over a cold, sohopefully my voice is okay, I
feel fine, which is all thatmatters, but the lingering
effects.
It is what it is, but I didn'twant to delay this conversation.
In fact, Courtney, before wejump in, you don't even know
this story.
I'm going to embarrass myself,but I have to share it with the
audience.
I first got linked up with youIt's probably been almost three
years now through Eric Warrie.
(00:58):
It was an online event.
I think it was right.
When COVID just hit, You wereone of the keynote speakers.
Truth be told, when people talkabout taxes, it is not my love
language.
I do not get excited.
I'm just being honest with you.
I'm sure you've probably heardit before.
Eric did a lousy job promotingyour session on that event.
I started multitasking.
I'll be honest with you.
I come back.
The chat was.
(01:19):
I've never seen a chat blow uplike this Courtney, this
Courtney, that, Ms Epps.
I mean it was going crazy And Isaid, oh my gosh, what did I
miss?
I start messaging all mybusiness partner friends who
were on the call.
They could not stop singingyour praises, And so I will own
it.
It was by far the best segmentand they had some amazing,
amazing speakers.
(01:39):
So I wanted to first embarrassmyself and to let you know that
you stood out in one of thebiggest network marketing events
that I've ever run a part of.
You were just, you were just anabsolute rock star.
Well, if you don't mind, canyou give the audience a little
bit about your background andwhat you do, what your claim to
fame is?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, Yeah, so I've been an accountant for 22 years
but I did not take it seriously.
For 16 of those I actuallytried to do everything, but
which is what actually makes mea good tax strategist and a
fractional CFO and a lot of thefractional CFO stuff.
I had to give that all upbecause our accounting practice
(02:14):
is growing so quickly And forthose of you that have never run
ran a business I probablywouldn't hire a CFO that has
never ran a business, either inthe in the dirt or grown a
business.
So it was hard for me to trainpeople in order to do fractional
CFO work.
So we just started reallyhitting hard on the tax and the
(02:35):
tax strategy because I can helpmore people that way.
But I've owned insuranceagencies, accounting firms I had
.
I had a really large agencywhen I was 29 years old, had
about 2,900 clients.
I sold that.
The guy sold it to stop payingme, lost everything, tried not
to be an accountant for at leastsix years.
(02:56):
I did not want to be aprofessional because I was so
scared of screwing up, you know,and so I started working from
home.
I started a vinyl signingbanner company after that And I
realized the massive benefits ofhaving a home-based business,
and then someone led me, led medown the road of going into
network marketing, and I didnetwork marketing for about six
(03:17):
years full time, and then Iwould do accounting part time,
and then I finally decided inJune of 2017 that I had to focus
on doing accounting full timebecause there was no one else
that can actually teach what Iknew, and so that's what I did.
So we've built from a $24,000 ayear company that we were doing
(03:41):
in 2016,.
We're at 3.7 million today Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Ladies and gentlemen listening, i hope you heard that
You probably have the samereaction.
When I first met her on a oneon one with my wife, within 20
seconds I elbowed my wife andsaid hire her on the spot.
Like I just knew it's theconfidence, it's the fact that
she's been in the trenches withus, like I absolutely love that.
So what was that like turningpoint for you to where you you
mentioned?
you didn't like doing what youwere doing and all of a sudden
(04:08):
you fell in love with it.
I guess, like what, whatchanged?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So June of 2017, I spent 50 bucks to go to a Tony
Robbins event.
I had not worked for two months, Like so.
I hadn't worked in my networkmarketing business, I was doing
a nutrition business and I hadnot worked in my accounting
business.
I just had some personal stuffthat was going on and I couldn't
get out of this funk.
And I went to that event and Irealized I was undervaluing
(04:32):
myself, So I was getting thewrong type of clients and that
was causing me not to be able topay my bills.
I kind of needed to.
I was self sabotaging myselfbecause I'd lost that business.
I made one wrong decision andsold it and I screwed myself
over.
I realized I had massivelimiting beliefs that I could
not.
I didn't know how to get to$100,000 a year.
I didn't know how to get to amillion dollars and nor did I
(04:54):
believe I could do it.
But one of the things that Tonysaid, he's like you are.
You are a failure.
If you continue to allowyourself to be a failure, you'll
always be a failure.
And I'm like man, that's like.
That's some stuff.
So because I mean, I thought bynot trying again, you know,
like I wasn't going to fail.
And I'm looking at my kids.
(05:16):
I have six children.
They're now 21 to 10.
So 21, 20, 19, 18, 16 and 10.
And I'm looking at my kids,like going to McDonald's, buying
, you know, and my daughter justsaid this this morning I have
three of my kids that work fulltime for me now.
And my 21 year old said, youknow, mom, like we had to go to
(05:37):
McDonald's and we had to eat andwe got eight cheeseburgers
because there's eight of us andwe would get a large fry and we
would get three large $1 drinks.
And I looked at that.
I just told my staff that thismorning and I'm like I realized
what failure really looks like.
It was not attempting, And sothe other thing that I realized
(05:59):
is because I was in a deep,steep data state of depression
And I realized that you get tochoose, Like you get to choose
whether you're happy or sad, ormiserable.
I mean, it's all about you know,your how, you, the emotion that
you put into whatever ishappening to you in your life.
And if you could choose to behappy over being sad, why in the
(06:23):
hell would you ever be sad?
And so you know, I came out ofthat event and I actually grew.
I doubled our practice.
We were doing about 7,500 bucksa month, which was not enough
to make it And I didn't reallyhave a plan at all.
From July, which was the nextday, from July to December And
(06:43):
the year before that, we'd onlymade like $17,000 in that six
month period of time And I'mlike I don't know what in the
world we're going to do.
But I came out of that eventand I'd had a couple of
appointments of people thatasked me, you know, if I would
meet with them and talk to themabout fractional CFO work, and I
ended up getting all of thoseclients.
It was 6,500 a month.
So I shifted my mindset at thatpoint and went there And then.
(07:06):
So I did that for about a yearand I was a fractional CFO for
about 12 companies.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What does that mean for someone brand new to this?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So a fractional CFO is just somebody that helps you,
stand alongside you and helpsyou run your company.
You know the benefit of being ahome-based business owner
network marketer.
You don't have to.
You don't need a CFO Like youjust need to go sale Like.
You don't have to do all thethings that most businesses do.
But I had 12 of these companiesthat needed me to stand
(07:34):
alongside them, make sure theirbooks were up to date, look at
their budgets.
You know, help them run theircompany and tell them, give them
ideas on what they should do orshouldn't do, and I was
generally good with that And Ireally, i really loved it.
But fast forward that a year Iwent to I was listening to a
webinar by Grant Cardone andthis is kind of 360.
I just got back from an eventfor Grant Cardone this past
(07:58):
weekend and I was able to tellhim you know, have a
conversation with him and saylook, man, i listened to your
$49.95 webinar and I was on myway to Tampa, florida.
This is kind of crazy because Ihad a whole bunch of clients
that needed legal services Andso I got.
I was upset about a companythat I was going to sign up for
(08:21):
and I couldn't get the licensingand all this stuff and it was
just too much work.
And so I found another companythat was doing kind of the same
thing And I had a meeting withowners of the company and so I
was gonna sign up for thisnetwork marketing company.
I was driving to Tampa signingup, meeting with owners this
company I was gonna do you know,i never marketing part time and
(08:42):
I was gonna do my accountingpractice full-time, because that
was That was the idea, like Iwas always gonna do.
That that was always the goal.
Me and my husband had thatdecision made.
Soon, as you get to a pointwhere you're making at least 10
grand a month from theaccounting practice, you can go
do what you really love to do,which is network marketing.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So I'm on my way to Tampa, i'm listening to this
little webinar by Grant Cardoneand he says you know, the
average household income inAmerica makes $60,000 a year and
they'll pay 14,000 this year intaxes and their take home is
$46,000 and what's left over isthey've got to pay for the cost
of living and 50 $53,000 a yearis the cost of living and that
means that the average householdincome America is gonna go and
(09:20):
at $7,000 a year.
to Work 40 hours a week, 50weeks a year, take two weeks,
pay vacation say it again louderfor the people in the back.
So the average household inAmerica is gonna going to go and
debt 7, that is actually$12,000.
This year statistics haveactually gone up.
So that is $7,000 a year.
To work 40 hours a week, 50weeks a year, take two weeks pay
(09:42):
vacation and I just happen tobe in a spot where I'm an
accountant right, not even a taxtry just at this point.
I'm not.
I'm telling people what to do,but I'm not charging people on
what I was teaching them how todo, right other than CFO.
I didn't even know to book taxstrategy sessions or anything
like that, because that wasn'tthat was unheard of in the
(10:04):
accounting industry.
People don't teach you how tofree up money and taxes because
we don't learn how to free upmoney and taxes.
We don't even have a class onhow to free up money and taxes.
Hey, we only have one class onhow to prepare tax return by
hand, like nobody does that ever.
So so I heard those statisticsand I just happened to be in a
place where the year before IHad done or my years of being
(10:29):
involved in home-based businessand now we're marketing I would.
I did over 900 tax returns ofpeople who were WTO employees
before and then they startedtheir home-based business And I
knew that I could save onaverage, a $48,000 a year in
taxes for a person, for a family, for a household, and I'm like
man.
So if the average house wasgoing into at $7,000 a year And
(10:52):
I can save them $48,000 a yearby having some sort of
home-based business and takingwhat they're currently spending
money on today Not extra money,just what they're currently
spending money on and I can helpconvert that into business
expenses as opposed to livingexpenses.
We're just redirecting themoney now I'm saving them
$48,000 a year.
So I literally turned the cararound because at that point it
(11:14):
was an ethical thing that thereis nobody else like Courtney If
you sign up for this one company, no other company in that in
the network marketing world isgoing to have an account at
telling them Look, this isyou're actually need to find a
home-based business, you need tostay in it long enough to win
for the tax benefits alone.
And then, if you just do acouple of things that I tell you
(11:37):
to do to get money and taxsavings, save money in taxes Now
you'll start being, you'llstart making money and then from
there, once you start makingmoney, i can teach you how to
keep more of that money.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
And so that was kind of my aha moment that I had to,
i couldn't do network marketinganymore, that I had to go
alongside network marketers andactually start sharing that
story.
And I picked up the phone and Icalled seven network marketers
that I knew that had 10 plus10,000 plus people on their team
.
Like I reached out to them onFacebook Hey, can I call you?
(12:10):
I got an idea.
Can I, can, please, can I, canI just get some feedback from
you?
and Six of them told me, yes,you can put this content in
front of my team.
And the seventh one is not evenin there.
We're marketing anymore.
All the rest of them are doingamazing.
But the six told me, yes, andthen that led me to actually my
first speaking engagement wasfor less brown.
(12:32):
Wow, one of my all-timefavorites, by the way Yeah that
was a first first speakingengagement I ever had was for
less brown by the way, audienceShe's name dropping.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
This is facts like those are the people she hangs
out with just got done.
Hanging out with Grant Spokenlesses event Eric Warry.
I'm just blown away.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
For those Tony's.
So I'm on Tony Robbins.
If you look up Tony Robbins andCourtney Epps, you'll find me
on his website.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, you are.
You are a badass like youabsolutely are.
You said a bunch there and oneof the things that that I've
known you now long enough thatI've heard you say that a whole
bunch of times.
So the average person who whoopens, starts a home-based
business, you're going to besaving them on average between
four and eight thousand.
I want to make sure I heardthat correctly.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yep, and the reason why it's four to eight is it
depends on your tax bracket.
Okay, so many.
Obviously, the higher the taxbracket, the more money you're
going to save in taxes.
And it's not on things thatyou're spending extra money on,
because all you have to do isget involved in the company.
And I would suggest, go to acontinuing education event like
be like me.
I mean, we went from makingseventy five hundred dollars a
(13:37):
month and Not knowing what wewere going to do the last six
months of the year to makingFour hundred thousand dollars a
month, i mean.
And that was an event, right,that was.
I mean.
Obviously there was otherevents leading up to it, but
when you go to events and youget the knowledge and you I mean
I think a lot of it's like onstage.
(13:57):
You look at people and you'relike Man, if they can do that,
like I'm so much better thanthey are, like I should be
making that kind of money.
Or you look at it and you say,if they can do it, i can do it
too.
And you get around, just likebeing in a room with people who
are making more money than you.
It does something to youmentally And I did that this
(14:18):
past weekend and I'm like shoot,like I'm thinking small.
Like you know, i committed to a$50 million company.
There's nothing like, there'snothing new about a $3 million
company.
We already did that.
Right Now, we need to be a $50million company.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
So it's funny.
Yeah, your circle matters, itreally does And obviously the
people your bumping shoulderswhere I can see that.
So back to that $48,000,because I'm sure there's people
in our audience who are thinkingabout do I get started in solar
For one?
make sure you're joining asolar company.
That's $1099.
So you could actually utilize alot of the stuff she's going to
talk about today.
(14:53):
But I want to make sure peoplewho are sitting there on the
fence kind of weighing theoption Do they have to be like a
rock star in the company to getthat $48,000?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
No, you just have to attempt during an income And so
the IRS.
Actually the attempt per theIRS is three to five days a week
for 45 minutes a day.
So and here's what I tellpeople, like, find something
that you can open your mouth andtalk about.
Like I don't really care whatthat is, if you can open your
mouth and speak or you know.
(15:23):
I mean, if you're a millennialnow and you can use your thumbs,
then you can message people.
But you know, for me it's ifI'm going to sit down and have a
conversation with someone, if Ijust tell them what I do and in
a matter of three to fiveminutes and I'm done with that
conversation and we go back onto our meal or whatever else,
then I'm now being able to writethat off as a tax deduction
(15:46):
because I attempted during anincome And my intention is
always to make money.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Love it, love it.
I want to be clear on thatbecause I obviously I know that
I think many people are like oh,i got to be Courtney, i got to
be Aaron, i got to be so-and-sofor this tour.
No, it's an attempt, likeasterisk, that word highlight it
And I absolutely love that.
Something else you said in thebeginning I want to make sure
we're clear with everybody.
What Talk about tax strategist,like, what is that and how does
(16:12):
that differ to everyone else inthis space?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So you know, most people are dealing with tax
preparers, right.
You have a CPA or you think CPAsare like the most amazing
things on earth.
They are not.
I would just tell you, like letme just break down first what a
CPA is and what a CPA is not.
A CPA is not someone that'stypically going to save you
money, and the reason why isbecause they abide by something
called a circular 230 rule, anda circular 230 rule means that
(16:36):
you cannot be overly aggressivewith the tax return and if you
or you can lose your rights toever file a tax return, and it's
a state board, so you can onlytypically operate in the state
that you work in or you live in.
And so I'm an enrolled agent,and a enrolled agent is the only
credential you can get with theIRS, and I actually have the
ability to, you know, go to taxcourt with my clients, so that's
(16:59):
not something a CPA can do.
So they it's almost accountableas a tax lawyer.
Obviously, i don't go to taxcourt very often, don't plan on
going to tax court.
I want to go to tax court, butwe have the ability to be able
to do that.
So, and the only difference isI have same hours, right, i had
the same education, i had the,but I didn't want to work for a
(17:23):
CPA for a year.
You have to work for a CPA fora year in order to, even even if
you pass all four parts of theexam, you have to work for
someone for a year.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Well, Courtney.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Epps is not working for anyone.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Period.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I love it, i work for my clients, but I'm not working
for you know.
I'm not having somebody tell mewhat to do, and so I'm in an
enrolled agent And so what Iwhat I do as far as the tax
strategy goes is my job is tofigure out how can I take what
you are giving me and how can Itell you OK, we need these, this
(17:59):
more in deductions, right?
I'm not just taking yourinformation and saying, ok,
let's hope for the best, thatthis works out.
We're trying to find deductionsthat you missed.
We're trying, like by doingbookkeeping.
We are then in turn,structuring you properly so that
you can keep more of your money.
You know, if someone isstructured as an S corporation
and you're paying yourself morethan 20 percent of your net
(18:21):
income, you're paying yourselftoo much, and so that now you're
overpaying and self-employmenttaxes, you're paying in
overpaying and the past are intodeduction.
So we're just looking at yoursituation and trying to figure
out how can we allow you to keepmore money back in your pocket.
And a lot of times, if anyperson who gets on the phone
(18:41):
with me that happens to book atax strategy session, they're
like I want to save money andtaxes And I'm like well, are you
a business owner?
Well, no, i'm not a businessowner, but that's that's first.
Like you've got to findsomething to attempt to earn an
income so that you can free upmoney and taxes.
And then from there, we can doother things.
We can, as you, make more money.
We can do conservationeasements, we can do natural gas
(19:02):
, we can invest in things thatgive you tax deductions.
Don't invest in 401ks, four orthree bs, seps and symbols.
I'm just telling you that rightnow And you can book a tax
strategy session and ask me why.
But that's not where you'regoing to provide, get massive
wealth from, and that's not agood way to.
You don't want to defer taxes,we want to eliminate taxes.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Love it, love it, love it.
Ladies and gentlemen, i hopeyou're taking notes.
I hope you're picking it up.
I'm falling in love all overagain.
By the way, this is uncensored.
I'm going to be honest and if Iever talk too much personally
about stuff you've done, tell meto be quiet.
I don't want to get in troublewith anybody.
My wife and I were overpayingourselves, so when I hired her,
that was one of the first thingswe had to go back.
I think it was three yearsretroactive.
(19:45):
The other thing, too, with taxstrategy.
That comes to mind when I thinkof you And, honestly, this is
how I introduce you to anyonethat I care about That's a
business owner.
It's proactive versus reactive.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Like, like that, is it Like?
honestly, if you ask me that ishow I sum you up Her and I,
with my wife, we're meeting Ithink it's quarterly.
Now We're planning ahead forthe next quarter, versus at the
end of the year.
Did I do everything right?
Like that's the way I've run mybusiness for the last 20 years?
Never again, like, never again.
So that alone, i think, is justhaving you in my corner, having
(20:19):
you as part of my inner circle.
I just I love it.
It's freeing, so literally.
Thank you for that.
Like you just do an amazing job.
Let's talk about some commonwrite-offs, deductions that
home-based business owners getthat they might not be aware of,
and you know your top three, ifyou don't mind.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So one I mean hiring your kids is the biggest one for
me because I have so many kidsI got six And this year you can
actually pay your children towork for you, for do anything
that you would get someone elseto do.
So if you're not good atmarketing online, then get your
kids to help you market online.
Get them to help you clean upthe house, get them to clean up
(20:56):
your swimming pool, get them,you know, get them to events,
one of the things you know Ithink that I'm most proud of,
and, for those of you that knowEric Wory, maybe your team a lot
of people who know.
Oh, they do, for sure, you knowI got invited.
I was the only person that hadever got invited to speak at
Beyond Leadership, alongsideEric Wory.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
And he'd had this event for like 10 years, and so
I always take one of my childrenwith me to events And so I took
my son Wells with me to thisevent.
He was 16 years old just turned16 at the time, and you know
he's sitting beside me.
For the two days I did my pieceand we get to the last day, the
hotshot day, or the hot seatday, and Wells is one of the
(21:41):
first three people that walks upand he sits down right in front
of Eric Wory, in front of aroom of six and seven figuring
commanders There's about 200 ofus in the room And he says I
want to be like my mama, i wantto be a speaker And I want to
know what it's going to take.
I know I'm only 16 years old.
I want to know what it's goingto take in order for me to be
like her.
And you know the things alongthe way, like my kids have seen
(22:08):
us, you know, really, reallysuffer and try to make, make
business and make wrongdecisions and things like that,
and but he had the confidence togo in front of a room full of
people to think, you know, theseare my peers, like they're no
different than me And then justgo sit down and say this is what
I want to do.
So Eric spent about 20 minuteswith him, talking to him and
(22:31):
telling him how to get there andwhat he needed to do, and he
didn't need to worry about thefact that he was 16.
You know he was.
He was going to make it workAnd so Now have a seat.
You know that, being able totake my children with me to
events, you know I will takethem as personal assistants, and
so they'll go, and not only arethey working for me, but
they're learning right.
(22:52):
They're sitting right beside me, they're getting the same
information that I'm getting,and then they walk away.
So all of my kids have been toTony Robbins events every single
one of Tony's events, i mean.
So they have been engulfed inthat.
But I've also paid them to workfor me, so you can pay them
13,850 a year.
You don't have to pay any taxeson it.
(23:13):
Now you probably want tocontact us to help you set it up
properly.
You can't just transfer moneyinto their bank account.
There's some steps that youhave to take, but you have to
process payroll tax returns.
But it's, you know, 500 bucks ayear for us to do all the work,
and then it's gonna save youabout 5,000 bucks per child per
year.
So that's a huge tax deduction.
(23:34):
No taxes if they're under theage of 18, there's no
unemployment taxes, no FICAtaxes.
No, no State or federal taxesthat they have to pay.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
What's the?
legal precedent for the age youcan start.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Correct.
So the president is it's heldup in court as seven.
But obviously you can pay yourkids to be models.
You know I tell people ifyou're gonna pay them under age
seven, probably pay them half.
You know, like 7,000 bucks ayear.
But if you're, you can pay yourchildren to model and take
pictures and post those onsocial media.
So you're growing yourorganization.
(24:10):
You know you can pay them the13,850.
You can pay them more than that.
The only reason why I say the13,850 is Because that's the
standard deduction this year andthey don't have to pay taxes on
any of that money.
They don't have to file a taxreturn and then you get to claim
it all as a hundred percent taxdeduction.
So that's one.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
By the way, that was one of the first things, outside
of amending our previous threeyears because we overpaid, that
was one of the first things weutilized.
Now, both of my boys throughCourtney, that they're paying
for their sporting events,they're paying for field trips.
I mean, it's freaking amazing.
Love it, yes.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And one of the things that we are starting to add, we
actually are starting in aninsurance division Here in in
the office, because of courseyou are really.
Yes, yeah, my son is actually.
He's going to be taken overthat division.
I'm super excited about it.
We probably send 50 milliondollars a year in insurance and
(25:05):
Financial stuff that peopleshould be doing, so we're gonna
start doing that here.
But anyway, the I Got blown awayyesterday.
I was gonna set up a lifeinsurance policy for my kids,
all of my kids.
I want them to have a lifeinsurance policy, not a Roth.
I, you know, a Roth is fine,but to me, a life insurance
policy is more beneficialbecause they can carry it with
(25:27):
them.
And It was like we're puttingin five thousand bucks a year
for the kids and they're gonnaget a $300,000 life insurance
policy and then after ten years,we stop, we don't even have to
fund it anymore.
It'll fund itself, and thenthey're gonna have several
hundred thousand dollars as theycan, because it's gonna
continue to build and tax-freetax-free, no, you know, no, no,
(25:51):
going through probate, none ofthat stuff.
And so I'm like man, we reallyhave got to start synchronizing
To get doing like paying thekids.
Then we can take what we'repaying the kids and put that
into a Roth IRA, we can put itinto a, you know, an insurance
plan.
So you know, whatever you wantto do with it, or you don't have
(26:12):
to.
You know, do those two things.
You can actually use that moneyfor vacations, you can use it
for Sporting events, you can useit for school, you can use it
for college whatever you want Inaddition to paying your kids.
If you have children that areover the age of 18, you can
actually pay them for college.
So you can give them 52 50 ayear that they don't have to pay
(26:34):
taxes on and you don't have topay taxes on.
You do have to withholdSelf-employment taxes or FICA
taxes their portion and thenyours but you still have the
ability you can keep paying themto work for you.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Freakin love it.
What about grandkids anyway,when older, that's grandkids,
same thing.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So I'm saying, kids work as well, and here's the
thing.
So if you have an S corporationAnd some of you may have that
on here You don't want to paythem through the S corporation.
You want to pay them through aseparate kids payroll.
And the reason why is becauseanybody you pay through an S
corp, you have to withhold FICAtaxes because this is on
separate entity.
(27:11):
So if you you want to pay themas a schedule seat and so we
help you do all that.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, you know I can't sing her praises enough.
That's the thing I love abouther.
It's not just giving us advice.
She takes care of it, takescare of it.
So any of you listening to this, don't go try to do this
yourself.
Don't go shop it, don't gooutsource it.
She does it all like she's ableto set it up.
She knows what she's doingbetter than anyone else, so just
use her for all of it.
So that was a big one.
Obviously, that's only forhome-based businesses.
What's another one?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yes, and then that also leads to other employee
benefits.
So like riding off yourswimming pole.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Say it again, say it again.
I knew you're gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yeah, so you get the ability and this this is tax
code.
This is straight-up tax code,like it literally says that if
you have employees and you allowthem to use your facilities,
which is a golf course, a tenniscourt and a exercise facility
or you can, you can use it as aPool, a swimming pool.
(28:05):
If you allow them to use yourproperty, you can't discriminate
between your employees, but ifyou allow them to utilize those
facilities, then it's a hundredpercent tax deduction.
So huge, huge deal, like wehave, you know, probably a
250,000 dollar swimming pool.
We bought a house last year.
The pool came with it.
It was expensive, but I can nowbonus depreciate that swimming
(28:28):
pool as a quarter of a milliondollars and ride that all off.
Then we took a building.
We were gonna actually relocateour, our office To our home
because I was trying to get backto a home-based business as
hard and fast as I could.
I bet I bet the staff didn'tlike it.
So we're still in our 6,000square feet, but I took the
(28:48):
building that we were gonnaRelocate everyone to and we
turned that into an exercisefacility in a game room and so
all of our employees have accessto it and, you know, none of
them use it right, other thanour children, for the most part,
because it's, you know, faraway and We have it on our
property.
So that's super importantbecause we have a home-based
(29:09):
business.
We we call our home-basedbusiness home-based business
gurus and we utilize that fromthe house.
The kids I have kids that workat my house, i have kids that
work here and we allow them toutilize those facilities and
because of that is a hundredpercent tax deductible.
Now Here's a kicker if you don'thave kids and you allow your
team or Or you have reps thatcome, people that are, you know,
(29:33):
attempting to get in in yourbusiness, or potential customers
, if you allow them to utilizeyour facility, then you can
write off a portion of your gameroom, your You know amusement,
or the gym, the tennis court,the golf course, though those
can be written off based onbusiness use percentage.
(29:53):
So if you were to use it, youknow 50% for business use.
You'd be able to run 50% ofthat, so that's a huge deduction
in itself to be able to takeadvantage of Either on the
employees level or being able touse it for business use of home
.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
So big so big, by the way you because of this up
years ago.
That's the reason we're we'renow getting a pool is because of
this, and it made it moreobtainable, more affordable.
I just love it.
What about solar?
so, if a if a sale, we call hima seller on our team, with our
company.
If, if, if, they actually gosolar themselves, is there
anything we can do in terms ofmarketing?
(30:31):
because now it's a sign oftheir house, they're having
people over, they're showingpeople any, any added benefits.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I Well, you're already getting the deduction
for solar, which is what 26%this year 30, 30.
30,.
okay, i thought it went down to26.
It did, they bumped it up tothis year to 30.
Okay, so you're getting 30%.
You could, because that's acredit you are.
That's bigger than an actualtax deduction, so you wouldn't
(30:56):
necessarily be able to write offthat.
Now, if you were to spend moneybecause that's already, you
would be double dipping.
So you're already getting thecredit on your personal tax
return.
So you wouldn't get a taxdeduction because you're already
getting that credit, which ishigher.
For the most part, most peopleare not in a 30% tax bracket.
(31:17):
On federal and then on state.
They're getting the samebenefit I think almost every
state.
But if you were to spend anymoney on any sort of solar
websites, if you spend money ona monthly payment, then all of
that would be a tax deductionfor you.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, so business expenses, like for our company
right now it's 85 a month tokeep the websites, all that sort
of stuff.
all of that you can do.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Correct, and any money you spend in advertising
or marketing, obviously you knowthat's going to grow your
business.
I mean, if you're advertisingand marketing and then from
there that would all be 100% taxdeductible as well.
I mean obviously not necessary.
when you're doing a home-basedbusiness, you know a lot of
people get started and theydon't spend any money on
advertising or marketing.
(32:03):
But I mean, let's face it, ifyou want to really, you know,
pound it and go out and startbuilding a business, you're
going to put in the effort andthe energy in order to do that.
If you treat it like a business, it'll pay you like a business.
If you treat it like a hobby,it's going to cost you money.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Love it, love it.
One other thing too, and Iskipped on this, but I want to
come back to it.
And, by the way, please, please, i don't want to get in trouble
.
Our first strategy call thatCourtney.
My wife and myself did.
She speaks the same language.
It was very short, very direct.
I asked her a couple ofquestions, instantly knew that
she was the boss and I said dude, go do your thing.
I didn't call her dude, but Idid now.
And she said give me your lastthree returns, let me see what I
(32:42):
can do and we'll circle back.
And so I looked at my wife andsaid cool, send it.
Send it Whenever we paid for it.
Go, ever do it.
Thinking it was almost aposturing about being honest,
like what's she going to find?
Our last accountant CPA wasamazing.
Can I say how much you saved us?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Okay, I should make sure I don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
It was over $150,000 that our last person missed,
like hopefully you see why I hadher here today.
That is huge.
I used to dread at tax time.
I look forward to our quarterlyreview calls now because it's
creative.
We're strategizing, there's areason behind the madness.
So for all of you and I thinkwe have a special deal right now
(33:18):
for anybody that wants to getin contact they can schedule a
strategy call, just like my wifeand I did with you.
Correct, is that right?
And how does that work?
They would use the link thatwe're going to give them.
They hop on that call.
Do they need to prepare oranything else they need?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yep, So they'll upload.
You can upload the three yearsworth of your last year of your
tax returns And what I do inthat call is just go back and
try to find everything wepossibly could.
Are there missing deductions?
Were you structured improperly?
And, guys, if you've overpaid alot in self-employment taxes
and you had an LLC in thoseyears, then we can go back and
(33:54):
amend up to three years and getthat money back that you ever
paid.
It may take some time And forDoran and Erin, I'm sure for a
while they're like there's noway in the world the IRS is
going to ever send me this money.
And they were shut down.
Like I think we did all of thisstuff during COVID and nobody
worked.
None of these people worked atthe IRS.
So it took quite some time, butwe got all that money back And
(34:18):
so now the IRS has taken aboutfour to six months to amend tax
returns.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Yeah, by the way, during that time period I think
there's still one we're waitingfor Has nothing to do with
Courtney and her team.
They've been great, it's just.
It's the climate we live in.
I now look forward to twoletters I call them letters
checks from the IRS.
That's right, like we getnotified.
We're running to the mailbox.
Three years ago, beforeCourtney, that was not the case.
I was hiding from it.
I wanted no part of it.
(34:43):
That's the power of it.
I'll make sure we throw thelink on there And anything else
you want to add that perhaps Ididn't cover.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I think I think about two tax deductions.
I think the third one And to meI think is one of the most
important is continuingeducation.
It's going to advance andspending money.
Now you can write off yourmeals, you can write off your
cell phone, you can write offyour internet, you can write off
your travel right, You can takeyour family with you.
(35:11):
And I kind of maybe give it anexample.
I think it works really well.
If I pick up the phone and Icall Erin and I'm like Erin,
look, I'd love to see you, loveto share something with you.
Let's go to lunch Now.
Could I share that informationwith Erin on the phone?
Sure, But if Erin's visual,it's going to be really hard for
me to do that.
So you know, I like to meetpeople in person.
(35:32):
I still like to haveconversations and sit down.
But even more than that, I liketax deductions.
So I'm like man, it's taxdeductible for me, Like let's go
have lunch, I'm paying.
And so I pick up the, I go andI get in my car and I drive to
Erin wherever he's at, where Ifly to Erin.
Both of those are taxdeductible And this year it's
(35:54):
like 63 and a half cents permile that you can ride off for
having a business, or you can doactual expenses, So actual gas,
actual oil, changes ininsurance, all the good stuff.
So I get in my car and I driveto Erin, I sit down and have a
conversation with Erin.
I tell Erin what I'm doing.
I tell him look, man, I meanbecause this is what I believe
(36:14):
the network marketing industrydoes.
So when someone asked you whatyou do, let me just tell you
what you really do in thenetwork marketing space.
You are providing a service atwholesale versus retail, So it's
direct to consumer, And thenfrom there you are providing
people with a way that they canmake an extra stream of income
(36:37):
while you're making an extrastream of income, And you can do
that together.
And the third part about thatis providing a way for people to
free up $4,000 a year in taxeswhile you're doing the exact
same thing.
So it would be selfish for menot to think that you, Erin,
(36:57):
want to save money in taxes,because I think everybody hates
paying taxes.
Right, I had to pay $7,000 lastyear on my $3.5 million $3.7
million and I was very upset.
I was extremely upset.
It was the first time I everhad to pay taxes.
I mean, I was like I'm like,seriously, and I had to give
$6,000 to state And I'm like, ohmy God, like that was $13,000.
(37:21):
I was, I was pissed off, Like Iwas really pissed off, And so I
didn't plan enough.
Right, I should have done somemore.
I don't know, maybe that wasn'ttoo bad, but I was very upset
about it.
Let me just put it that way.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Well, that's what I love about you, though.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Yes.
And so I'm having thisconversation and Aaron looks at
me and he's like Courtney, i'mpretty sure you're going to hell
or jail.
And I'm like Aaron.
What part man did you notcomprehend about the fact that
I'm providing a service atwholesale versus retail,
providing a way that you and Iboth could make some extra money
(37:58):
, cause we're friends anyway, welike hanging out with each
other, we get to go on vacationstogether, do all these things
together, we can both make moneyand then we can both save money
in taxes.
What part of that did you notcomprehend?
And you're going to look at meand you're like what do you mean
?
Well, i mean, because I hadthis conversation with you I
(38:19):
don't care if you joined me ornot, like that's irrelevant man,
i wasn't.
I didn't even think you weregoing to join me, cause I didn't
think you had the money.
But you know what?
I told you what I was doing.
And because I told you what Iwas doing, i get to now write
off this meal that I'm payingfor I can actually afford to pay
for it, cause I'm not paying somuch in taxes.
And then, from there, are yougetting to write off your meal,
(38:42):
erin?
No, okay, great.
So, and then from there, i'mgoing to get back in my car and
I'm going to get back in myRange Rover And I'm going to
write off everything to do withmy Range Rover, because I use my
Range Rover in order to talk toyou about this business, and
then from there, i will call youon my cell phone.
So now I get to write off mycell phone.
(39:02):
I need my internet in order torun the business, so I'm going
to use my internet and I'm goingto write that off.
Then I'm going to write offpart of my house.
Erin, do you get to write offyour house?
No, you don't.
Okay, so then, erin, here's thenext step.
I'm going to hire my kids towork for me.
I was paying them money anywayto do nothing.
(39:23):
I'm going to hire them to workfor me.
I'm going to give them money,and then I don't have to pay
taxes on that money, and neitherdo they, to the tune of they're
saving me $28,000 a year, erin,and taxes by hiring my kids.
And then, from there, now I getto write off my swimming pool
because I hired my kids, andthen I get to take my children
(39:43):
with me to continuing educationevents to meet people like Les
Brown.
My son has met Les Brown, ericWarrie, tony Robbins.
He's not met Grant Cardone yet.
That will happen.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
It's coming.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
All of my kids, and so now they're learning from the
greatest of the great, who havemore than I do, who I want to
strive to be like, and they seethat situation And 100% of it,
the continuing education, thetravel.
I typically will spend two orthree days on the front end with
(40:17):
my kids in an event, or two orthree days on the back end doing
whatever it is that they wantto do.
We get to write off all of thatAnd then, from there, erin,
guess what else?
Because I have a home-basedbusiness, 100% of my medical
bills and 100% of my medicalinsurance is tax deductible as a
(40:39):
business expense, because I'veset up a system in place, an HRA
in place, in order to write offall of those.
So, at the end of the day,you're making money as an
employee, you're paying taxes.
You have no options on how tolower those taxes.
(41:01):
But and then you buy some ofyour needs and your wants.
But for me, as a business owner,because I made a decision,
because I made a commitment todo something, to attempt earning
income to tell you what I'mdoing I now get to make my money
.
I get to buy the things that Iwant and I need right A lot more
than you do because you'repaying more in taxes, even if
(41:22):
I'm making the same amount ofmoney.
And then, from there, what'sleft over?
that left over I'm now payingtaxes on.
So which one would you ratherbe?
Which system you wanna be in?
It's a mic drop, drop the mic100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I love it.
You're passionate about it.
You're treating this thing likea business.
You're educating people.
You are the real deal.
I'm gonna make sure I throw thelink up there And I think we
even have a special rate, is it?
I don't wanna say the number.
How much is it for someone tobook that strategy called with
you?
Speaker 2 (41:50):
It's $99.
$99.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Guys, gals, $99.
$99 to have someone go take apeek at this.
She's gonna.
She's gonna.
The other thing I saidhopefully you don't this doesn't
offend you She has to earn yourbusiness from that call.
Like that's the goal, likeshe's not, $99 is nothing to her
.
She's gonna go through yourlast three returns, whatever you
upload, and find the holes.
And I promise you I don't carehow good you think your person
(42:15):
is or people, she will find them.
This is her specialty.
This is what she does.
She won't even help someoneunless they own a home-based
business.
Like that's it.
Courtney, i can't say thank youenough.
You are the real deal.
I am grateful to have you in mycorner.
I appreciate you taking timefrom your really busy day job to
come spend time with ouraudience.
(42:36):
I can't thank you enough.
How do people find your books?
How do they get in contact withyou outside of the strategy?
call.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
So my website is otbtaxcom.
Obviously, you can buy my bookson Amazon, But you can go to
OTB Tax.
You'll find our books.
We have a membership.
you know you can book a taxstrategy session, but use that
link that Aaron has sent.
so we know where you came from.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Love it, love it.
And once again, i'll throw thatin the podcast description,
also on the YouTube channel forthose of you that prefer to
watch it.
But, courtney, once again,thank you from all of us.
If you guys got value and Iknow you did I have a feeling
I'm gonna go ahead and say itand offend a lot of people
already.
This will be the number oneepisode we have done so far.
I guarantee it.
Please like share review.
We do this from contribution.
That's the only reason.
(43:18):
Once again, courtney, thank youso much.
I'll talk to everybody soon.
Hello, hello, welcome to another episode of Solar
Sales Uncensored.
I am your host, aaron Browning,and I am really really excited
for today's conversation withthe one and only Miss Courtney
Epps.
For those of you that don'tknow her, she is a fractional
CFO, she is a tax strategist.
Excuse me, we're really goingto touch on the difference here.
(00:23):
She is a multiple bestsellingauthor.
Two of her books more relaxing,less taxing.
And then what's your plan B,which we're going to take a deep
dive on today?
Miss Courtney Epps, how theheck are you, my friend?
Speaker 2 (00:35):
I'm doing amazing.
Hope you're doing well.
Speaker 1 (00:38):
I am.
I'm getting over a cold, sohopefully my voice is okay, I
feel fine, which is all thatmatters, but the lingering
effects.
It is what it is, but I didn'twant to delay this conversation.
In fact, Courtney, before wejump in, you don't even know
this story.
I'm going to embarrass myself,but I have to share it with the
audience.
I first got linked up with youIt's probably been almost three
years now through Eric Warrie.
(00:58):
It was an online event.
I think it was right.
When COVID just hit, You wereone of the keynote speakers.
Truth be told, when people talkabout taxes, it is not my love
language.
I do not get excited.
I'm just being honest with you.
I'm sure you've probably heardit before.
Eric did a lousy job promotingyour session on that event.
I started multitasking.
I'll be honest with you.
I come back.
The chat was.
(01:19):
I've never seen a chat blow uplike this Courtney, this
Courtney, that, Ms Epps.
I mean it was going crazy And Isaid, oh my gosh, what did I
miss?
I start messaging all mybusiness partner friends who
were on the call.
They could not stop singingyour praises, And so I will own
it.
It was by far the best segmentand they had some amazing,
amazing speakers.
(01:39):
So I wanted to first embarrassmyself and to let you know that
you stood out in one of thebiggest network marketing events
that I've ever run a part of.
You were just, you were just anabsolute rock star.
Well, if you don't mind, canyou give the audience a little
bit about your background andwhat you do, what your claim to
fame is?
Speaker 2 (01:53):
Yeah, Yeah, so I've been an accountant for 22 years
but I did not take it seriously.
For 16 of those I actuallytried to do everything, but
which is what actually makes mea good tax strategist and a
fractional CFO and a lot of thefractional CFO stuff.
I had to give that all upbecause our accounting practice
(02:14):
is growing so quickly And forthose of you that have never run
ran a business I probablywouldn't hire a CFO that has
never ran a business, either inthe in the dirt or grown a
business.
So it was hard for me to trainpeople in order to do fractional
CFO work.
So we just started reallyhitting hard on the tax and the
(02:35):
tax strategy because I can helpmore people that way.
But I've owned insuranceagencies, accounting firms I had
.
I had a really large agencywhen I was 29 years old, had
about 2,900 clients.
I sold that.
The guy sold it to stop payingme, lost everything, tried not
to be an accountant for at leastsix years.
(02:56):
I did not want to be aprofessional because I was so
scared of screwing up, you know,and so I started working from
home.
I started a vinyl signingbanner company after that And I
realized the massive benefits ofhaving a home-based business,
and then someone led me, led medown the road of going into
network marketing, and I didnetwork marketing for about six
(03:17):
years full time, and then Iwould do accounting part time,
and then I finally decided inJune of 2017 that I had to focus
on doing accounting full timebecause there was no one else
that can actually teach what Iknew, and so that's what I did.
So we've built from a $24,000 ayear company that we were doing
(03:41):
in 2016,.
We're at 3.7 million today Wow.
Speaker 1 (03:46):
Ladies and gentlemen listening, i hope you heard that
You probably have the samereaction.
When I first met her on a oneon one with my wife, within 20
seconds I elbowed my wife andsaid hire her on the spot.
Like I just knew it's theconfidence, it's the fact that
she's been in the trenches withus, like I absolutely love that.
So what was that like turningpoint for you to where you you
mentioned?
you didn't like doing what youwere doing and all of a sudden
(04:08):
you fell in love with it.
I guess, like what, whatchanged?
Speaker 2 (04:10):
So June of 2017, I spent 50 bucks to go to a Tony
Robbins event.
I had not worked for two months, Like so.
I hadn't worked in my networkmarketing business, I was doing
a nutrition business and I hadnot worked in my accounting
business.
I just had some personal stuffthat was going on and I couldn't
get out of this funk.
And I went to that event and Irealized I was undervaluing
(04:32):
myself, So I was getting thewrong type of clients and that
was causing me not to be able topay my bills.
I kind of needed to.
I was self sabotaging myselfbecause I'd lost that business.
I made one wrong decision andsold it and I screwed myself
over.
I realized I had massivelimiting beliefs that I could
not.
I didn't know how to get to$100,000 a year.
I didn't know how to get to amillion dollars and nor did I
(04:54):
believe I could do it.
But one of the things that Tonysaid, he's like you are.
You are a failure.
If you continue to allowyourself to be a failure, you'll
always be a failure.
And I'm like man, that's like.
That's some stuff.
So because I mean, I thought bynot trying again, you know,
like I wasn't going to fail.
And I'm looking at my kids.
(05:16):
I have six children.
They're now 21 to 10.
So 21, 20, 19, 18, 16 and 10.
And I'm looking at my kids,like going to McDonald's, buying
, you know, and my daughter justsaid this this morning I have
three of my kids that work fulltime for me now.
And my 21 year old said, youknow, mom, like we had to go to
(05:37):
McDonald's and we had to eat andwe got eight cheeseburgers
because there's eight of us andwe would get a large fry and we
would get three large $1 drinks.
And I looked at that.
I just told my staff that thismorning and I'm like I realized
what failure really looks like.
It was not attempting, And sothe other thing that I realized
(05:59):
is because I was in a deep,steep data state of depression
And I realized that you get tochoose, Like you get to choose
whether you're happy or sad, ormiserable.
I mean, it's all about you know,your how, you, the emotion that
you put into whatever ishappening to you in your life.
And if you could choose to behappy over being sad, why in the
(06:23):
hell would you ever be sad?
And so you know, I came out ofthat event and I actually grew.
I doubled our practice.
We were doing about 7,500 bucksa month, which was not enough
to make it And I didn't reallyhave a plan at all.
From July, which was the nextday, from July to December And
(06:43):
the year before that, we'd onlymade like $17,000 in that six
month period of time And I'mlike I don't know what in the
world we're going to do.
But I came out of that eventand I'd had a couple of
appointments of people thatasked me, you know, if I would
meet with them and talk to themabout fractional CFO work, and I
ended up getting all of thoseclients.
It was 6,500 a month.
So I shifted my mindset at thatpoint and went there And then.
(07:06):
So I did that for about a yearand I was a fractional CFO for
about 12 companies.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
What does that mean for someone brand new to this?
Speaker 2 (07:14):
So a fractional CFO is just somebody that helps you,
stand alongside you and helpsyou run your company.
You know the benefit of being ahome-based business owner
network marketer.
You don't have to.
You don't need a CFO Like youjust need to go sale Like.
You don't have to do all thethings that most businesses do.
But I had 12 of these companiesthat needed me to stand
(07:34):
alongside them, make sure theirbooks were up to date, look at
their budgets.
You know, help them run theircompany and tell them, give them
ideas on what they should do orshouldn't do, and I was
generally good with that And Ireally, i really loved it.
But fast forward that a year Iwent to I was listening to a
webinar by Grant Cardone andthis is kind of 360.
I just got back from an eventfor Grant Cardone this past
(07:58):
weekend and I was able to tellhim you know, have a
conversation with him and saylook, man, i listened to your
$49.95 webinar and I was on myway to Tampa, florida.
This is kind of crazy because Ihad a whole bunch of clients
that needed legal services Andso I got.
I was upset about a companythat I was going to sign up for
(08:21):
and I couldn't get the licensingand all this stuff and it was
just too much work.
And so I found another companythat was doing kind of the same
thing And I had a meeting withowners of the company and so I
was gonna sign up for thisnetwork marketing company.
I was driving to Tampa signingup, meeting with owners this
company I was gonna do you know,i never marketing part time and
(08:42):
I was gonna do my accountingpractice full-time, because that
was That was the idea, like Iwas always gonna do.
That that was always the goal.
Me and my husband had thatdecision made.
Soon, as you get to a pointwhere you're making at least 10
grand a month from theaccounting practice, you can go
do what you really love to do,which is network marketing.
Speaker 1 (08:57):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (08:58):
So I'm on my way to Tampa, i'm listening to this
little webinar by Grant Cardoneand he says you know, the
average household income inAmerica makes $60,000 a year and
they'll pay 14,000 this year intaxes and their take home is
$46,000 and what's left over isthey've got to pay for the cost
of living and 50 $53,000 a yearis the cost of living and that
means that the average householdincome America is gonna go and
(09:20):
at $7,000 a year.
to Work 40 hours a week, 50weeks a year, take two weeks,
pay vacation say it again louderfor the people in the back.
So the average household inAmerica is gonna going to go and
debt 7, that is actually$12,000.
This year statistics haveactually gone up.
So that is $7,000 a year.
To work 40 hours a week, 50weeks a year, take two weeks pay
(09:42):
vacation and I just happen tobe in a spot where I'm an
accountant right, not even a taxtry just at this point.
I'm not.
I'm telling people what to do,but I'm not charging people on
what I was teaching them how todo, right other than CFO.
I didn't even know to book taxstrategy sessions or anything
like that, because that wasn'tthat was unheard of in the
(10:04):
accounting industry.
People don't teach you how tofree up money and taxes because
we don't learn how to free upmoney and taxes.
We don't even have a class onhow to free up money and taxes.
Hey, we only have one class onhow to prepare tax return by
hand, like nobody does that ever.
So so I heard those statisticsand I just happened to be in a
place where the year before IHad done or my years of being
(10:29):
involved in home-based businessand now we're marketing I would.
I did over 900 tax returns ofpeople who were WTO employees
before and then they startedtheir home-based business And I
knew that I could save onaverage, a $48,000 a year in
taxes for a person, for a family, for a household, and I'm like
man.
So if the average house wasgoing into at $7,000 a year And
(10:52):
I can save them $48,000 a yearby having some sort of
home-based business and takingwhat they're currently spending
money on today Not extra money,just what they're currently
spending money on and I can helpconvert that into business
expenses as opposed to livingexpenses.
We're just redirecting themoney now I'm saving them
$48,000 a year.
So I literally turned the cararound because at that point it
(11:14):
was an ethical thing that thereis nobody else like Courtney If
you sign up for this one company, no other company in that in
the network marketing world isgoing to have an account at
telling them Look, this isyou're actually need to find a
home-based business, you need tostay in it long enough to win
for the tax benefits alone.
And then, if you just do acouple of things that I tell you
(11:37):
to do to get money and taxsavings, save money in taxes Now
you'll start being, you'llstart making money and then from
there, once you start makingmoney, i can teach you how to
keep more of that money.
Speaker 1 (11:48):
Love it.
Speaker 2 (11:48):
And so that was kind of my aha moment that I had to,
i couldn't do network marketinganymore, that I had to go
alongside network marketers andactually start sharing that
story.
And I picked up the phone and Icalled seven network marketers
that I knew that had 10 plus10,000 plus people on their team
.
Like I reached out to them onFacebook Hey, can I call you?
(12:10):
I got an idea.
Can I, can, please, can I, canI just get some feedback from
you?
and Six of them told me, yes,you can put this content in
front of my team.
And the seventh one is not evenin there.
We're marketing anymore.
All the rest of them are doingamazing.
But the six told me, yes, andthen that led me to actually my
first speaking engagement wasfor less brown.
(12:32):
Wow, one of my all-timefavorites, by the way Yeah that
was a first first speakingengagement I ever had was for
less brown by the way, audienceShe's name dropping.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
This is facts like those are the people she hangs
out with just got done.
Hanging out with Grant Spokenlesses event Eric Warry.
I'm just blown away.
Speaker 2 (12:49):
For those Tony's.
So I'm on Tony Robbins.
If you look up Tony Robbins andCourtney Epps, you'll find me
on his website.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah, you are.
You are a badass like youabsolutely are.
You said a bunch there and oneof the things that that I've
known you now long enough thatI've heard you say that a whole
bunch of times.
So the average person who whoopens, starts a home-based
business, you're going to besaving them on average between
four and eight thousand.
I want to make sure I heardthat correctly.
Speaker 2 (13:14):
Yep, and the reason why it's four to eight is it
depends on your tax bracket.
Okay, so many.
Obviously, the higher the taxbracket, the more money you're
going to save in taxes.
And it's not on things thatyou're spending extra money on,
because all you have to do isget involved in the company.
And I would suggest, go to acontinuing education event like
be like me.
I mean, we went from makingseventy five hundred dollars a
(13:37):
month and Not knowing what wewere going to do the last six
months of the year to makingFour hundred thousand dollars a
month, i mean.
And that was an event, right,that was.
I mean.
Obviously there was otherevents leading up to it, but
when you go to events and youget the knowledge and you I mean
I think a lot of it's like onstage.
(13:57):
You look at people and you'relike Man, if they can do that,
like I'm so much better thanthey are, like I should be
making that kind of money.
Or you look at it and you say,if they can do it, i can do it
too.
And you get around, just likebeing in a room with people who
are making more money than you.
It does something to youmentally And I did that this
(14:18):
past weekend and I'm like shoot,like I'm thinking small.
Like you know, i committed to a$50 million company.
There's nothing like, there'snothing new about a $3 million
company.
We already did that.
Right Now, we need to be a $50million company.
Speaker 1 (14:33):
So it's funny.
Yeah, your circle matters, itreally does And obviously the
people your bumping shoulderswhere I can see that.
So back to that $48,000,because I'm sure there's people
in our audience who are thinkingabout do I get started in solar
For one?
make sure you're joining asolar company.
That's $1099.
So you could actually utilize alot of the stuff she's going to
talk about today.
(14:53):
But I want to make sure peoplewho are sitting there on the
fence kind of weighing theoption Do they have to be like a
rock star in the company to getthat $48,000?
Speaker 2 (15:02):
No, you just have to attempt during an income And so
the IRS.
Actually the attempt per theIRS is three to five days a week
for 45 minutes a day.
So and here's what I tellpeople, like, find something
that you can open your mouth andtalk about.
Like I don't really care whatthat is, if you can open your
mouth and speak or you know.
(15:23):
I mean, if you're a millennialnow and you can use your thumbs,
then you can message people.
But you know, for me it's ifI'm going to sit down and have a
conversation with someone, if Ijust tell them what I do and in
a matter of three to fiveminutes and I'm done with that
conversation and we go back onto our meal or whatever else,
then I'm now being able to writethat off as a tax deduction
(15:46):
because I attempted during anincome And my intention is
always to make money.
Speaker 1 (15:51):
Love it, love it.
I want to be clear on thatbecause I obviously I know that
I think many people are like oh,i got to be Courtney, i got to
be Aaron, i got to be so-and-sofor this tour.
No, it's an attempt, likeasterisk, that word highlight it
And I absolutely love that.
Something else you said in thebeginning I want to make sure
we're clear with everybody.
What Talk about tax strategist,like, what is that and how does
(16:12):
that differ to everyone else inthis space?
Speaker 2 (16:14):
So you know, most people are dealing with tax
preparers, right.
You have a CPA or you think CPAsare like the most amazing
things on earth.
They are not.
I would just tell you, like letme just break down first what a
CPA is and what a CPA is not.
A CPA is not someone that'stypically going to save you
money, and the reason why isbecause they abide by something
called a circular 230 rule, anda circular 230 rule means that
(16:36):
you cannot be overly aggressivewith the tax return and if you
or you can lose your rights toever file a tax return, and it's
a state board, so you can onlytypically operate in the state
that you work in or you live in.
And so I'm an enrolled agent,and a enrolled agent is the only
credential you can get with theIRS, and I actually have the
ability to, you know, go to taxcourt with my clients, so that's
(16:59):
not something a CPA can do.
So they it's almost accountableas a tax lawyer.
Obviously, i don't go to taxcourt very often, don't plan on
going to tax court.
I want to go to tax court, butwe have the ability to be able
to do that.
So, and the only difference isI have same hours, right, i had
the same education, i had the,but I didn't want to work for a
(17:23):
CPA for a year.
You have to work for a CPA fora year in order to, even even if
you pass all four parts of theexam, you have to work for
someone for a year.
Speaker 1 (17:33):
Well, Courtney.
Speaker 2 (17:34):
Epps is not working for anyone.
Speaker 1 (17:37):
Period.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
I love it, i work for my clients, but I'm not working
for you know.
I'm not having somebody tell mewhat to do, and so I'm in an
enrolled agent And so what Iwhat I do as far as the tax
strategy goes is my job is tofigure out how can I take what
you are giving me and how can Itell you OK, we need these, this
(17:59):
more in deductions, right?
I'm not just taking yourinformation and saying, ok,
let's hope for the best, thatthis works out.
We're trying to find deductionsthat you missed.
We're trying, like by doingbookkeeping.
We are then in turn,structuring you properly so that
you can keep more of your money.
You know, if someone isstructured as an S corporation
and you're paying yourself morethan 20 percent of your net
(18:21):
income, you're paying yourselftoo much, and so that now you're
overpaying and self-employmenttaxes, you're paying in
overpaying and the past are intodeduction.
So we're just looking at yoursituation and trying to figure
out how can we allow you to keepmore money back in your pocket.
And a lot of times, if anyperson who gets on the phone
(18:41):
with me that happens to book atax strategy session, they're
like I want to save money andtaxes And I'm like well, are you
a business owner?
Well, no, i'm not a businessowner, but that's that's first.
Like you've got to findsomething to attempt to earn an
income so that you can free upmoney and taxes.
And then from there, we can doother things.
We can, as you, make more money.
We can do conservationeasements, we can do natural gas
(19:02):
, we can invest in things thatgive you tax deductions.
Don't invest in 401ks, four orthree bs, seps and symbols.
I'm just telling you that rightnow And you can book a tax
strategy session and ask me why.
But that's not where you'regoing to provide, get massive
wealth from, and that's not agood way to.
You don't want to defer taxes,we want to eliminate taxes.
Speaker 1 (19:25):
Love it, love it, love it.
Ladies and gentlemen, i hopeyou're taking notes.
I hope you're picking it up.
I'm falling in love all overagain.
By the way, this is uncensored.
I'm going to be honest and if Iever talk too much personally
about stuff you've done, tell meto be quiet.
I don't want to get in troublewith anybody.
My wife and I were overpayingourselves, so when I hired her,
that was one of the first thingswe had to go back.
I think it was three yearsretroactive.
(19:45):
The other thing, too, with taxstrategy.
That comes to mind when I thinkof you And, honestly, this is
how I introduce you to anyonethat I care about That's a
business owner.
It's proactive versus reactive.
Speaker 2 (19:58):
Yep.
Speaker 1 (19:59):
Like, like that, is it Like?
honestly, if you ask me that ishow I sum you up Her and I,
with my wife, we're meeting Ithink it's quarterly.
Now We're planning ahead forthe next quarter, versus at the
end of the year.
Did I do everything right?
Like that's the way I've run mybusiness for the last 20 years?
Never again, like, never again.
So that alone, i think, is justhaving you in my corner, having
(20:19):
you as part of my inner circle.
I just I love it.
It's freeing, so literally.
Thank you for that.
Like you just do an amazing job.
Let's talk about some commonwrite-offs, deductions that
home-based business owners getthat they might not be aware of,
and you know your top three, ifyou don't mind.
Speaker 2 (20:35):
So one I mean hiring your kids is the biggest one for
me because I have so many kidsI got six And this year you can
actually pay your children towork for you, for do anything
that you would get someone elseto do.
So if you're not good atmarketing online, then get your
kids to help you market online.
Get them to help you clean upthe house, get them to clean up
(20:56):
your swimming pool, get them,you know, get them to events,
one of the things you know Ithink that I'm most proud of,
and, for those of you that knowEric Wory, maybe your team a lot
of people who know.
Oh, they do, for sure, you knowI got invited.
I was the only person that hadever got invited to speak at
Beyond Leadership, alongsideEric Wory.
Speaker 1 (21:16):
Wow.
Speaker 2 (21:17):
And he'd had this event for like 10 years, and so
I always take one of my childrenwith me to events And so I took
my son Wells with me to thisevent.
He was 16 years old just turned16 at the time, and you know
he's sitting beside me.
For the two days I did my pieceand we get to the last day, the
hotshot day, or the hot seatday, and Wells is one of the
(21:41):
first three people that walks upand he sits down right in front
of Eric Wory, in front of aroom of six and seven figuring
commanders There's about 200 ofus in the room And he says I
want to be like my mama, i wantto be a speaker And I want to
know what it's going to take.
I know I'm only 16 years old.
I want to know what it's goingto take in order for me to be
like her.
And you know the things alongthe way, like my kids have seen
(22:08):
us, you know, really, reallysuffer and try to make, make
business and make wrongdecisions and things like that,
and but he had the confidence togo in front of a room full of
people to think, you know, theseare my peers, like they're no
different than me And then justgo sit down and say this is what
I want to do.
So Eric spent about 20 minuteswith him, talking to him and
(22:31):
telling him how to get there andwhat he needed to do, and he
didn't need to worry about thefact that he was 16.
You know he was.
He was going to make it workAnd so Now have a seat.
You know that, being able totake my children with me to
events, you know I will takethem as personal assistants, and
so they'll go, and not only arethey working for me, but
they're learning right.
(22:52):
They're sitting right beside me, they're getting the same
information that I'm getting,and then they walk away.
So all of my kids have been toTony Robbins events every single
one of Tony's events, i mean.
So they have been engulfed inthat.
But I've also paid them to workfor me, so you can pay them
13,850 a year.
You don't have to pay any taxeson it.
(23:13):
Now you probably want tocontact us to help you set it up
properly.
You can't just transfer moneyinto their bank account.
There's some steps that youhave to take, but you have to
process payroll tax returns.
But it's, you know, 500 bucks ayear for us to do all the work,
and then it's gonna save youabout 5,000 bucks per child per
year.
So that's a huge tax deduction.
(23:34):
No taxes if they're under theage of 18, there's no
unemployment taxes, no FICAtaxes.
No, no State or federal taxesthat they have to pay.
Speaker 1 (23:45):
What's the?
legal precedent for the age youcan start.
Speaker 2 (23:48):
Correct.
So the president is it's heldup in court as seven.
But obviously you can pay yourkids to be models.
You know I tell people ifyou're gonna pay them under age
seven, probably pay them half.
You know, like 7,000 bucks ayear.
But if you're, you can pay yourchildren to model and take
pictures and post those onsocial media.
So you're growing yourorganization.
(24:10):
You know you can pay them the13,850.
You can pay them more than that.
The only reason why I say the13,850 is Because that's the
standard deduction this year andthey don't have to pay taxes on
any of that money.
They don't have to file a taxreturn and then you get to claim
it all as a hundred percent taxdeduction.
So that's one.
Speaker 1 (24:31):
By the way, that was one of the first things, outside
of amending our previous threeyears because we overpaid, that
was one of the first things weutilized.
Now, both of my boys throughCourtney, that they're paying
for their sporting events,they're paying for field trips.
I mean, it's freaking amazing.
Love it, yes.
Speaker 2 (24:45):
And one of the things that we are starting to add, we
actually are starting in aninsurance division Here in in
the office, because of courseyou are really.
Yes, yeah, my son is actually.
He's going to be taken overthat division.
I'm super excited about it.
We probably send 50 milliondollars a year in insurance and
(25:05):
Financial stuff that peopleshould be doing, so we're gonna
start doing that here.
But anyway, the I Got blown awayyesterday.
I was gonna set up a lifeinsurance policy for my kids,
all of my kids.
I want them to have a lifeinsurance policy, not a Roth.
I, you know, a Roth is fine,but to me, a life insurance
policy is more beneficialbecause they can carry it with
(25:27):
them.
And It was like we're puttingin five thousand bucks a year
for the kids and they're gonnaget a $300,000 life insurance
policy and then after ten years,we stop, we don't even have to
fund it anymore.
It'll fund itself, and thenthey're gonna have several
hundred thousand dollars as theycan, because it's gonna
continue to build and tax-freetax-free, no, you know, no, no,
(25:51):
going through probate, none ofthat stuff.
And so I'm like man, we reallyhave got to start synchronizing
To get doing like paying thekids.
Then we can take what we'repaying the kids and put that
into a Roth IRA, we can put itinto a, you know, an insurance
plan.
So you know, whatever you wantto do with it, or you don't have
(26:12):
to.
You know, do those two things.
You can actually use that moneyfor vacations, you can use it
for Sporting events, you can useit for school, you can use it
for college whatever you want Inaddition to paying your kids.
If you have children that areover the age of 18, you can
actually pay them for college.
So you can give them 52 50 ayear that they don't have to pay
(26:34):
taxes on and you don't have topay taxes on.
You do have to withholdSelf-employment taxes or FICA
taxes their portion and thenyours but you still have the
ability you can keep paying themto work for you.
Speaker 1 (26:47):
Freakin love it.
What about grandkids anyway,when older, that's grandkids,
same thing.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
So I'm saying, kids work as well, and here's the
thing.
So if you have an S corporationAnd some of you may have that
on here You don't want to paythem through the S corporation.
You want to pay them through aseparate kids payroll.
And the reason why is becauseanybody you pay through an S
corp, you have to withhold FICAtaxes because this is on
separate entity.
(27:11):
So if you you want to pay themas a schedule seat and so we
help you do all that.
Speaker 1 (27:16):
Yeah, you know I can't sing her praises enough.
That's the thing I love abouther.
It's not just giving us advice.
She takes care of it, takescare of it.
So any of you listening to this, don't go try to do this
yourself.
Don't go shop it, don't gooutsource it.
She does it all like she's ableto set it up.
She knows what she's doingbetter than anyone else, so just
use her for all of it.
So that was a big one.
Obviously, that's only forhome-based businesses.
What's another one?
Speaker 2 (27:36):
Yes, and then that also leads to other employee
benefits.
So like riding off yourswimming pole.
Speaker 1 (27:42):
Say it again, say it again.
I knew you're gonna say it.
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Yeah, so you get the ability and this this is tax
code.
This is straight-up tax code,like it literally says that if
you have employees and you allowthem to use your facilities,
which is a golf course, a tenniscourt and a exercise facility
or you can, you can use it as aPool, a swimming pool.
(28:05):
If you allow them to use yourproperty, you can't discriminate
between your employees, but ifyou allow them to utilize those
facilities, then it's a hundredpercent tax deduction.
So huge, huge deal, like wehave, you know, probably a
250,000 dollar swimming pool.
We bought a house last year.
The pool came with it.
It was expensive, but I can nowbonus depreciate that swimming
(28:28):
pool as a quarter of a milliondollars and ride that all off.
Then we took a building.
We were gonna actually relocateour, our office To our home
because I was trying to get backto a home-based business as
hard and fast as I could.
I bet I bet the staff didn'tlike it.
So we're still in our 6,000square feet, but I took the
(28:48):
building that we were gonnaRelocate everyone to and we
turned that into an exercisefacility in a game room and so
all of our employees have accessto it and, you know, none of
them use it right, other thanour children, for the most part,
because it's, you know, faraway and We have it on our
property.
So that's super importantbecause we have a home-based
(29:09):
business.
We we call our home-basedbusiness home-based business
gurus and we utilize that fromthe house.
The kids I have kids that workat my house, i have kids that
work here and we allow them toutilize those facilities and
because of that is a hundredpercent tax deductible.
Now Here's a kicker if you don'thave kids and you allow your
team or Or you have reps thatcome, people that are, you know,
(29:33):
attempting to get in in yourbusiness, or potential customers
, if you allow them to utilizeyour facility, then you can
write off a portion of your gameroom, your You know amusement,
or the gym, the tennis court,the golf course, though those
can be written off based onbusiness use percentage.
(29:53):
So if you were to use it, youknow 50% for business use.
You'd be able to run 50% ofthat, so that's a huge deduction
in itself to be able to takeadvantage of Either on the
employees level or being able touse it for business use of home
.
Speaker 1 (30:10):
So big so big, by the way you because of this up
years ago.
That's the reason we're we'renow getting a pool is because of
this, and it made it moreobtainable, more affordable.
I just love it.
What about solar?
so, if a if a sale, we call hima seller on our team, with our
company.
If, if, if, they actually gosolar themselves, is there
anything we can do in terms ofmarketing?
(30:31):
because now it's a sign oftheir house, they're having
people over, they're showingpeople any, any added benefits.
Speaker 2 (30:36):
I Well, you're already getting the deduction
for solar, which is what 26%this year 30, 30.
30,.
okay, i thought it went down to26.
It did, they bumped it up tothis year to 30.
Okay, so you're getting 30%.
You could, because that's acredit you are.
That's bigger than an actualtax deduction, so you wouldn't
(30:56):
necessarily be able to write offthat.
Now, if you were to spend moneybecause that's already, you
would be double dipping.
So you're already getting thecredit on your personal tax
return.
So you wouldn't get a taxdeduction because you're already
getting that credit, which ishigher.
For the most part, most peopleare not in a 30% tax bracket.
(31:17):
On federal and then on state.
They're getting the samebenefit I think almost every
state.
But if you were to spend anymoney on any sort of solar
websites, if you spend money ona monthly payment, then all of
that would be a tax deductionfor you.
Speaker 1 (31:35):
Okay, so business expenses, like for our company
right now it's 85 a month tokeep the websites, all that sort
of stuff.
all of that you can do.
Speaker 2 (31:42):
Correct, and any money you spend in advertising
or marketing, obviously you knowthat's going to grow your
business.
I mean, if you're advertisingand marketing and then from
there that would all be 100% taxdeductible as well.
I mean obviously not necessary.
when you're doing a home-basedbusiness, you know a lot of
people get started and theydon't spend any money on
advertising or marketing.
(32:03):
But I mean, let's face it, ifyou want to really, you know,
pound it and go out and startbuilding a business, you're
going to put in the effort andthe energy in order to do that.
If you treat it like a business, it'll pay you like a business.
If you treat it like a hobby,it's going to cost you money.
Speaker 1 (32:20):
Love it, love it.
One other thing too, and Iskipped on this, but I want to
come back to it.
And, by the way, please, please, i don't want to get in trouble
.
Our first strategy call thatCourtney.
My wife and myself did.
She speaks the same language.
It was very short, very direct.
I asked her a couple ofquestions, instantly knew that
she was the boss and I said dude, go do your thing.
I didn't call her dude, but Idid now.
And she said give me your lastthree returns, let me see what I
(32:42):
can do and we'll circle back.
And so I looked at my wife andsaid cool, send it.
Send it Whenever we paid for it.
Go, ever do it.
Thinking it was almost aposturing about being honest,
like what's she going to find?
Our last accountant CPA wasamazing.
Can I say how much you saved us?
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:56):
Okay, I should make sure I don't get in trouble.
Speaker 1 (32:58):
It was over $150,000 that our last person missed,
like hopefully you see why I hadher here today.
That is huge.
I used to dread at tax time.
I look forward to our quarterlyreview calls now because it's
creative.
We're strategizing, there's areason behind the madness.
So for all of you and I thinkwe have a special deal right now
(33:18):
for anybody that wants to getin contact they can schedule a
strategy call, just like my wifeand I did with you.
Correct, is that right?
And how does that work?
They would use the link thatwe're going to give them.
They hop on that call.
Do they need to prepare oranything else they need?
Speaker 2 (33:31):
Yep, So they'll upload.
You can upload the three yearsworth of your last year of your
tax returns And what I do inthat call is just go back and
try to find everything wepossibly could.
Are there missing deductions?
Were you structured improperly?
And, guys, if you've overpaid alot in self-employment taxes
and you had an LLC in thoseyears, then we can go back and
(33:54):
amend up to three years and getthat money back that you ever
paid.
It may take some time And forDoran and Erin, I'm sure for a
while they're like there's noway in the world the IRS is
going to ever send me this money.
And they were shut down.
Like I think we did all of thisstuff during COVID and nobody
worked.
None of these people worked atthe IRS.
So it took quite some time, butwe got all that money back And
(34:18):
so now the IRS has taken aboutfour to six months to amend tax
returns.
Speaker 1 (34:22):
Yeah, by the way, during that time period I think
there's still one we're waitingfor Has nothing to do with
Courtney and her team.
They've been great, it's just.
It's the climate we live in.
I now look forward to twoletters I call them letters
checks from the IRS.
That's right, like we getnotified.
We're running to the mailbox.
Three years ago, beforeCourtney, that was not the case.
I was hiding from it.
I wanted no part of it.
(34:43):
That's the power of it.
I'll make sure we throw thelink on there And anything else
you want to add that perhaps Ididn't cover.
Speaker 2 (34:49):
I think I think about two tax deductions.
I think the third one And to meI think is one of the most
important is continuingeducation.
It's going to advance andspending money.
Now you can write off yourmeals, you can write off your
cell phone, you can write offyour internet, you can write off
your travel right, You can takeyour family with you.
(35:11):
And I kind of maybe give it anexample.
I think it works really well.
If I pick up the phone and Icall Erin and I'm like Erin,
look, I'd love to see you, loveto share something with you.
Let's go to lunch Now.
Could I share that informationwith Erin on the phone?
Sure, But if Erin's visual,it's going to be really hard for
me to do that.
So you know, I like to meetpeople in person.
(35:32):
I still like to haveconversations and sit down.
But even more than that, I liketax deductions.
So I'm like man, it's taxdeductible for me, Like let's go
have lunch, I'm paying.
And so I pick up the, I go andI get in my car and I drive to
Erin wherever he's at, where Ifly to Erin.
Both of those are taxdeductible And this year it's
(35:54):
like 63 and a half cents permile that you can ride off for
having a business, or you can doactual expenses, So actual gas,
actual oil, changes ininsurance, all the good stuff.
So I get in my car and I driveto Erin, I sit down and have a
conversation with Erin.
I tell Erin what I'm doing.
I tell him look, man, I meanbecause this is what I believe
(36:14):
the network marketing industrydoes.
So when someone asked you whatyou do, let me just tell you
what you really do in thenetwork marketing space.
You are providing a service atwholesale versus retail, So it's
direct to consumer, And thenfrom there you are providing
people with a way that they canmake an extra stream of income
(36:37):
while you're making an extrastream of income, And you can do
that together.
And the third part about thatis providing a way for people to
free up $4,000 a year in taxeswhile you're doing the exact
same thing.
So it would be selfish for menot to think that you, Erin,
(36:57):
want to save money in taxes,because I think everybody hates
paying taxes.
Right, I had to pay $7,000 lastyear on my $3.5 million $3.7
million and I was very upset.
I was extremely upset.
It was the first time I everhad to pay taxes.
I mean, I was like I'm like,seriously, and I had to give
$6,000 to state And I'm like, ohmy God, like that was $13,000.
(37:21):
I was, I was pissed off, Like Iwas really pissed off, And so I
didn't plan enough.
Right, I should have done somemore.
I don't know, maybe that wasn'ttoo bad, but I was very upset
about it.
Let me just put it that way.
Speaker 1 (37:33):
Well, that's what I love about you, though.
Speaker 2 (37:35):
Yes.
And so I'm having thisconversation and Aaron looks at
me and he's like Courtney, i'mpretty sure you're going to hell
or jail.
And I'm like Aaron.
What part man did you notcomprehend about the fact that
I'm providing a service atwholesale versus retail,
providing a way that you and Iboth could make some extra money
(37:58):
, cause we're friends anyway, welike hanging out with each
other, we get to go on vacationstogether, do all these things
together, we can both make moneyand then we can both save money
in taxes.
What part of that did you notcomprehend?
And you're going to look at meand you're like what do you mean
?
Well, i mean, because I hadthis conversation with you I
(38:19):
don't care if you joined me ornot, like that's irrelevant man,
i wasn't.
I didn't even think you weregoing to join me, cause I didn't
think you had the money.
But you know what?
I told you what I was doing.
And because I told you what Iwas doing, i get to now write
off this meal that I'm payingfor I can actually afford to pay
for it, cause I'm not paying somuch in taxes.
And then, from there, are yougetting to write off your meal,
(38:42):
erin?
No, okay, great.
So, and then from there, i'mgoing to get back in my car and
I'm going to get back in myRange Rover And I'm going to
write off everything to do withmy Range Rover, because I use my
Range Rover in order to talk toyou about this business, and
then from there, i will call youon my cell phone.
So now I get to write off mycell phone.
(39:02):
I need my internet in order torun the business, so I'm going
to use my internet and I'm goingto write that off.
Then I'm going to write offpart of my house.
Erin, do you get to write offyour house?
No, you don't.
Okay, so then, erin, here's thenext step.
I'm going to hire my kids towork for me.
I was paying them money anywayto do nothing.
(39:23):
I'm going to hire them to workfor me.
I'm going to give them money,and then I don't have to pay
taxes on that money, and neitherdo they, to the tune of they're
saving me $28,000 a year, erin,and taxes by hiring my kids.
And then, from there, now I getto write off my swimming pool
because I hired my kids, andthen I get to take my children
(39:43):
with me to continuing educationevents to meet people like Les
Brown.
My son has met Les Brown, ericWarrie, tony Robbins.
He's not met Grant Cardone yet.
That will happen.
Speaker 1 (39:56):
It's coming.
Speaker 2 (39:57):
All of my kids, and so now they're learning from the
greatest of the great, who havemore than I do, who I want to
strive to be like, and they seethat situation And 100% of it,
the continuing education, thetravel.
I typically will spend two orthree days on the front end with
(40:17):
my kids in an event, or two orthree days on the back end doing
whatever it is that they wantto do.
We get to write off all of thatAnd then, from there, erin,
guess what else?
Because I have a home-basedbusiness, 100% of my medical
bills and 100% of my medicalinsurance is tax deductible as a
(40:39):
business expense, because I'veset up a system in place, an HRA
in place, in order to write offall of those.
So, at the end of the day,you're making money as an
employee, you're paying taxes.
You have no options on how tolower those taxes.
(41:01):
But and then you buy some ofyour needs and your wants.
But for me, as a business owner,because I made a decision,
because I made a commitment todo something, to attempt earning
income to tell you what I'mdoing I now get to make my money
.
I get to buy the things that Iwant and I need right A lot more
than you do because you'repaying more in taxes, even if
(41:22):
I'm making the same amount ofmoney.
And then, from there, what'sleft over?
that left over I'm now payingtaxes on.
So which one would you ratherbe?
Which system you wanna be in?
It's a mic drop, drop the mic100%, 100%.
Speaker 1 (41:38):
I love it.
You're passionate about it.
You're treating this thing likea business.
You're educating people.
You are the real deal.
I'm gonna make sure I throw thelink up there And I think we
even have a special rate, is it?
I don't wanna say the number.
How much is it for someone tobook that strategy called with
you?
Speaker 2 (41:50):
It's $99.
$99.
Speaker 1 (41:53):
Guys, gals, $99.
$99 to have someone go take apeek at this.
She's gonna.
She's gonna.
The other thing I saidhopefully you don't this doesn't
offend you She has to earn yourbusiness from that call.
Like that's the goal, likeshe's not, $99 is nothing to her
.
She's gonna go through yourlast three returns, whatever you
upload, and find the holes.
And I promise you I don't carehow good you think your person
(42:15):
is or people, she will find them.
This is her specialty.
This is what she does.
She won't even help someoneunless they own a home-based
business.
Like that's it.
Courtney, i can't say thank youenough.
You are the real deal.
I am grateful to have you in mycorner.
I appreciate you taking timefrom your really busy day job to
come spend time with ouraudience.
(42:36):
I can't thank you enough.
How do people find your books?
How do they get in contact withyou outside of the strategy?
call.
Speaker 2 (42:41):
So my website is otbtaxcom.
Obviously, you can buy my bookson Amazon, But you can go to
OTB Tax.
You'll find our books.
We have a membership.
you know you can book a taxstrategy session, but use that
link that Aaron has sent.
so we know where you came from.
Speaker 1 (42:58):
Love it, love it.
And once again, i'll throw thatin the podcast description,
also on the YouTube channel forthose of you that prefer to
watch it.
But, courtney, once again,thank you from all of us.
If you guys got value and Iknow you did I have a feeling
I'm gonna go ahead and say itand offend a lot of people
already.
This will be the number oneepisode we have done so far.
I guarantee it.
Please like share review.
We do this from contribution.
That's the only reason.
(43:18):
Once again, courtney, thank youso much.
I'll talk to everybody soon.
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