March 13, 2025 • 24 mins
In this episode of the Veronica Edwards show, host Veronica Edwards welcomes CPA Alanna Anthony to discuss essential tax strategies for small businesses during tax season. They celebrate reaching 5,000 downloads and introduce a new segment called CPA Tax Chat. The conversation covers tax deadlines, common deductions that are often overlooked, and practical tips to reduce stress during tax season. Alanna emphasizes the importance of organization, separating personal and business finances, and proactive tax planning to maximize savings and minimize liabilities.
02-04-2025
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:05):
Welcome to the Veronica Edwards show, where we
have fun financial conversationsthat everyone listening can
apply to their personal andprofessional life.
Welcome back, guys, to seasonfive.
I am your host again, veronicaEdwards, cpa.
So excited to be back seasonfive, completely independent.
(00:27):
I definitely want to shout outthe V team because we were out
for four months due to HurricaneHelene.
So if you guys didn't hear myopening monologue, we talked
about that and before we stoppedrecording, the end of September
, we had about four or 500downloads to go to hit 5,000.
And, guys, we hit 5,000downloads.
(00:49):
So thank you everyone for thesupport and I know that you guys
are going to continue tosupport and we have an amazing
show for you guys today.
So again, it's season five.
So we're going to be introducinga new segment called CPA Tax
Chat and before I bring on myamazing CPA co-host for the
(01:09):
segment, I wanted to formallyintroduce her.
This beautiful CPA is thepowerhouse behind Amplify
Accounting and Consulting.
As a seasoned CPA tax advisorand financial educator, she
brings over 20 years ofexperience to the table.
Her journey into the world oftaxes began with her first
(01:30):
paycheck as a teenager, sparkinga lifelong passion of numbers
and financial strategy.
I know that's right.
I would love to welcome goodfamily friend, ms Elena Anthony.
Welcome, elena.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, oh,and congratulations on those 5K
downloads.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
That's a big deal.
I'm excited for you.
It's a big deal.
I know it's not like a Cardi Bviral moment of 5 million.
However, I take every downloadvery seriously and and I so
appreciate basically trying tojust get a thousand downloads a
season and we've been doing thatand I'm hoping, now that we're
100% independent, sponsored byBalance Virtually LLC, that we
(02:15):
will continue to get even moredownloads.
So, before we get into the CPAtext chat edition, elena, tell
us a little bit more about you.
You know I met you.
We were trying to figure out ifI've been married to Carlos
almost 16 years.
I feel like I've known you all16 of those years.
(02:36):
So tell the listeners how youknow the Edwards clan.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Okay, so I know the Edwards because I'm a military
kid, I'm an Army brat and whenwe were stationed at Fort Bragg,
north Carolina, I met theEdwards cousin, jessica.
And so when they would come andvisit or either, you know, with
church stuff, we have all ourdifferent events.
(03:03):
I met the Edwards.
So when my parents decided toretire and they said, oh,
Charlotte is a location, I waslike I asked them what school
they went to.
I was trying to be whereverthey were, to actually be with
someone who you know, youactually know actually be with
(03:28):
someone who you actually know.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yes, well, I've always loved Elena and when we
first met, you weren't a CPA asof yet, and I wasn't a CPA as of
yet either.
So I love our journey where youwent more of a tax route.
I'm more managerial, fractionalCFO.
So when I was seeing you postthings earlier in 2025, I was
like, oh my God, elena, we gotto talk.
I would love to have you on theshow.
I don't know why I didn't eventhink about having you on the
(03:51):
show before, so I'm so excitedto have you on.
And again, shout out to mycousin, jessica, jessica's, one
of my favorite cousins.
Love Jessica's.
Philadelphia, always fun.
And, side note, you know thatthey changed the name to Fort
Bragg, to Fort Liberty, and nowthey changed it back to Fort
Bragg, girl.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, did they change it back?
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
I was not going to accept Fort Liberty.
I get it.
I understand why they wanted tochange it.
Right but it had been FortBragg for so long and it's such
a pivotal part of my childhood.
I refused to call it PortLiberty.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I agree they found like a loophole I think it was
like yesterday where they'relike well, we found another
general named Bragg.
That was honorable and we'regoing to rename it.
I'm not mad at that, I'm withyou too.
Me too, as African-Americanwomen, there's certain things
where I'm just like it ain'tthat deep, but I appreciate what
everyone was trying to do.
(04:46):
But just letting you knowthat's my Black history fact.
We're recording this inFebruary.
Fort Bragg is back to FortBragg.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yay, I can't wait to tell my friends.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So let's jump in Alayda with our first CPA text
chat.
So, just for those listening,this is going to be a
reoccurring segment and we'regoing to be diving into
different tax topics thatespecially small business owners
are interested in, and we'rerecording this now in February,
but this is going to air aroundmiddle of March.
(05:20):
So we know right now everyone'sknee deep in tax season.
So, whether you're asolopreneur, a startup or an
established business, preparingfor tax season can be
overwhelming.
So we definitely today want totalk about tax season survival
guide small business edition.
So we're going to break it intothree segments.
(05:42):
We're going to talk about thedifferent tax deadlines and
requirements, common smallbusiness tax deductions people
typically overlook and how toavoid last minute tax stress.
So, elena, I'm going to hand itover to you.
Friend, I told Elena like thisis your show today you are the
tax expert.
Today you are the tax expert.
(06:07):
I am going to let you lead usin with some of these tax
deadlines and things and justkey dates that those are
listening to keep in mind, evenif you're not a business owner
but just those dates that arequickly approaching us this tax
season.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Okay, well, let's just start with.
I know you referenced HurricaneHelene in the very beginning.
Let's just start with.
I know you referenced HurricaneHelene in the very beginning,
and so let's start there.
So if you are located in Alabama, georgia, north Carolina and
South Carolina, or either partsof Florida, tennessee or
(06:40):
Virginia, then the IRS did issuesome disaster tax relief.
Issue some disaster tax relief.
So everyone in those locationsthey have until May 1st 2025 to
file their 2023 individual andbusiness taxes, if they had
filed an extension previously.
And then you also have thatsame timeframe to file for 2024.
(07:05):
So that includes anyone who isa partnership or S-Corp and your
taxes are due March 15th of2025, you have until May 1st.
And then also, if you are anindividual or a corporation,
where your due date is April 15,2025.
(07:25):
So that's just something toreally keep in mind, and that
also includes the last quarterlytax payments.
So if you pay quarterly taxes,those are also extended.
So you definitely would want totake advantage of that, because
we know that a lot has happened.
We want to make sure that youwell, we, but also the IRS wants
(07:49):
to make sure that you are ableto get everything in on time,
because I know it has beendifficult to keep up with
everything, especially in yourtime of need.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So, yeah, no, I agree .
Yeah, I was kind of like, comeon, give us more than two weeks.
You know, I know it's May 1st,I don't take it.
And it does help for folks likemyself where I am an S-Corp.
So it would have been due Marchthe 15th.
So that did give me, you know,an extra six weeks.
You know.
But from my understanding Elena, correct me if I'm wrong for us
(08:27):
for profits where we receivedany type of grant money related
to Hurricane Helene, I haven'tseen them come out and say any
of that is not taxable, similarto like what they did during
COVID where it affectedeverybody.
So let me know if you've heardanything on your end about the
IRS making it.
I guess exempt is the properword for any donations that came
(08:51):
in for a business, but from myunderstanding the IRS reads any
benefit to your business istaxable.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I haven't heard anything either.
I was checking that out becauseI actually do have a client in
North Carolina who was affectedand I did not see a thing, which
is a little disheartening.
And I also agree with the wholeMay 1st.
I really thought that theywould push it back even further,
(09:18):
especially because there are alot of people who are still, you
know, not getting any aid.
Yeah, so I am hoping now I'm notsure current administration,
but I am hoping that they willpush it back a little bit more,
because to think that in I wouldsay what it's been almost six
(09:40):
months that people will haveeverything together and you're
like in order to file your taxes, is crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, I totally agree .
I think with the wildfires inLA I'm sure that got pushed back
all the way to October.
So I was told by other tax CPAsthey can wait all the way to
May the 1st to say, oh, we'regoing to change some of the tax
law or we're going to make thisexempt.
So I definitely will say to thelisteners stay tuned because
there can be changes.
(10:08):
So next that we wanted to talkabout, elena, is common small
business tax deductions thatpeople overlook.
I get this all the time wherepeople are paying for things
personally and have no idea thatit really can be a business
deduction.
So I know right now you're inyour busy season.
What are some things, elena,that you see that people
(10:29):
commonly overlook?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
A lot of, especially my, product-based businesses.
They tend to forget that theycould deduct mileage what?
And yeah, it's very interestingbecause they are the ones who
typically they don't have, likeyou know, the UPS store or USPS
coming to their house to pick uppackages.
(10:54):
They are literally going to mailthese packages off.
So a lot of them do not realizethat they can deduct mileage
also for service-basedbusinesses.
Especially if you're aservice-based business who does
like deliveries a lot of themthey don't.
And when I say deliveries likeI would say, the first thing
(11:16):
that comes to mind to me is likea baker, like if you bake any
type of cakes, or even if you'rea caterer and you are dropping
those items off at the locationwhere they need to be.
That is a deduction and you canuse like a mile tracking app.
Actually, please use the miletracking app to track your
(11:41):
mileage.
My favorite one is Mile IQ.
I love it for that.
It's just really good becauseit actually I've tested it for
clients and literally you couldset that app that as soon as you
get in the car, realize you aremoving and it's going to ask
you is this a personal trip or abusiness trip?
And I think that's what I loveabout it most, because a lot of
(12:02):
times we're just in our routineand going and so to have the app
remind you of that is a prettyamazing thing.
So definitely tracking yourmileage is one of them.
I think like things like yourcell phone usage is another
thing.
Even though you may use yourcell phone for personal, yep you
(12:25):
a percentage of it is forbusiness, especially if you're
running a business that's onlineor you're answering calls from
clients.
Maybe you're looking up stuffon your phone, and so having an
idea of what percentage you useyour cell phone for business is
a write-off, especially in thisday and age.
(12:46):
Everybody uses their cell phone.
I don't know many peoplewithout a smartphone.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And Alayna, I was just going to ask.
I'm a little bit more liberalwith this.
I write off 100% of my internetand my cell phone because my
business is called BalancedVirtually.
So I do everything online.
So I've had a few tax CPAs tellme well, you can, especially if
majority of it is related tobusiness.
(13:12):
But the technically right thingto do is to track it.
No different from we would themileage correct.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Correct.
So the reason why I say justtrack it?
Because you may be a personlike, like you may be a person
who's not heavily on your phoneat all, like outside of work,
and you're virtual Right.
So when you're virtual youprobably are using your phone a
lot more for just business thananything else, but you can write
(13:40):
it off 100 percent.
I do have a couple of clientstoo who they have a separate
line and that line is just forbusiness only.
And then I have some someclients who they have just one
line but they have it set upwhere maybe they have an app
that all their business callscome through and they're really
not phone people, and so thosetypes of people which sounds
(14:03):
like you.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Mm-hmm, and so those type of people which sounds like
you, you're basically usingyour phone station and they're
like Veronica, is it okay if Iuse my business card?
And I tell them yes, but I alsosay, when you meet with your
amazing CPA, like Ms Anthony,we're going to see what gives
you more bang for your buck.
If the mileage is a thousandand all the vehicle charges for
gas was 500, I usually do anadjusting entry to account for
(14:44):
that.
Is that the right way of doingthings or you should only do one
or the other?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
You should only do one or the other from the tax
perspective, and this is anotherthing that people don't realize
and I'm glad you actuallybrought this up.
So there's one way to do itmanagerial wise, so veronica is
more so a managerial cpa, cfothere is one way to do it.
That way from the taxperspective is one or the other.
(15:11):
So yeah, so from the taxperspective, whichever one, like
veronica said, gives you themost bang for your buck, that
that's what you should use.
Most of the time I haverealized, like, especially if
you're a person who use your carpersonally.
Also, I've seen it where it'sbetter if you do mileage.
(15:34):
But then there are some peopleout there who you know,
depending on what they do for abusiness, like one of my clients
is a construction client, sothey have a vehicle completely
dedicated to construction.
And so for that vehicle we doeverything actuals.
Or if you think about I want tosay like a good kind of in
(15:54):
between, if you think of likemaybe a real estate agent who's
going back and forth and showinghouses, but you know they're
also using our car for justeveryday errands, it may be a
situation where we want to seewhich one works out best for
them.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
No, fair enough, and I see that quite a bit too,
where I mean it just keeps goingup.
Elaine, I feel like it's up tolike 70 cents now for the IRS
mileage.
I mean, back in the day, we waslike, ooh, this is a lot when
it was like 50 cents.
So when you think about that ifyou're driving more than a
hundred miles throughout theyear.
You know you might or I won'tsay without the year, maybe
(16:34):
throughout the month.
You know where it starts addingup.
That's going to be a lot morethan you just filling your tank
up and it might just be 50 or$60.
So definitely track your miles.
But, like I've been saying tofolks, go ahead.
If you have gas and differentthings, we can always make the
tax adjustment at the end of theyear.
But to Elena's point, it'seither one or the other.
(16:55):
We can't write off all your gasand your maintenance and all
the things.
And on top of that, take themileage reimbursement, so, yes.
So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of?
Just top of that, take themileage reimbursement, so yes.
So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of, just
top of head?
That is like, hmm, this issomething that people miss.
We talked about mileage.
What other things that you canthink?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
of let's talk about.
Well, I always bring up thehome office deduction.
That's something that peopledon't think about a lot.
I will say this, though, for myindividuals out there without a
business If you work from homeand you work for a company, you
cannot deduct your home office,Because that has been a big
(17:41):
question that I get every yearsince COVID.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
But that's good, I'm giggling, but I get that, elena,
I get.
Well, I got to pay forchildcare.
Isn't that a business deduction?
I'm like, baby, you had thosekids before you had the business
, or even after, it doesn'tmatter, you still had to pay for
those.
I try to tell folks would youhave this expense if you didn't
have the business?
And if it's yes, then mostlikely it's something that you
(18:11):
can't deduct.
But then it's those gray areaslike we talked about with
internet and cell phone andstuff like that.
But I'm glad that you mentionedthat if you work or if you're a
W-2 employee for someone, youcannot deduct a home office.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Not at all.
But if you have a business andyou have a dedicated office
space, you can deduct it.
What you will need is thesquare footage of that space, so
length times width.
That's what I always tellpeople when they don't remember
the square footage I'm likewhat's the length times the
width?
You can get that for me and thenthe full square footage of your
(18:44):
home, then we can.
We have a percentage of spaceas the home office and then also
you can apply to that.
You know the different expensesyou have and that percentage
times those expenses can be thededuction.
Now that's the more I would saythe advanced deduction.
There is a simple deduction andif you have like a, I typically
(19:09):
apply, everybody does itdifferent but for me, like if
you have a business that youhave on the side and you have an
office, I typically do thesimple deduction, just because
it's a little bit easier, lessscrutiny.
But if you like work out ofyour office all day, like this
is your full-time businessTypically, I would like to get
(19:29):
like all your expenses and thenuse those numbers to be able to
compute what your home officededuction is.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Oh, I like that so simplified deduction, similar to
like if we were to itemize,versus the standard deduction,
which that's high now too.
I think that's almost $30,000for married folks and almost
15,000 for individuals.
So I'm glad that you broughtthat up too, that there is a
simplified version, and I'm gladthat you also added it's not as
much scrutiny.
(19:57):
And I tell a lot of my smallbusiness folks the odds of you
getting audited by the IRS aslong as you've kept your taxes
up to date, meaning that youhaven't gone more than three tax
seasons without filing, thenit's like 5% chance of you
getting audited.
But I still want people torealize like, hey, you know like
(20:17):
you have to still have supportfor what you're doing and you
just don't want it there to belike a big red flag that all of
a sudden it's like, wow, look atthis.
I feel like any huge deductionwill be a red flag to the IRS if
it doesn't make sense for yourbusiness.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Correct.
You don't want to put yourselfon the radar because what
happens is if they see one thingit'll open you up to other
years, and you just don't wantit to be that.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So, elena, we're almost to the end of the show.
I would love if you can justlist a couple of just tips that
can help folks listening toreduce their tax season stress.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Okay, so if you're not already organized with your
financials, please, please,please get organized.
It'll make your life so mucheasier, and the best way to do
it is to use some type ofbookkeeping software.
Quickbooks is my favorite, butthere are plenty out there that
you can choose from.
But you want to track yourincome and your expenses and
(21:16):
make sure they're categorizedcorrectly, and if you are
struggling doing it yourself,then you definitely should get
with someone to get some help inthat category.
The next thing you want to makesure you have done is have your
business finances separatedfrom your personal finances.
When you have them together,you are opening yourself up.
(21:43):
So just to give you a quickexample if say something happens
unfortunate and maybe you aresued by a client, if your
finances are together, the judgecan say oh, you didn't separate
them.
So, we're going to access yourpersonal also, so you basically
(22:04):
lose that corporate veil, as welike to say, that protection.
So keep them separated and it'sgoing to help you in tracking
and not missing any expensesthat are available to you that
you can write off.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I totally agree.
I tell my students that all thetime when I teach a financial
tools class.
Even though you're an LLClimited liability corporation,
you still need to separate yourbusiness bank account from your
personal bank account.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yes, definitely, and any other?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
tips that you would say that you want to make sure
that we keep in mind this season.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I would say for this season just make sure that you
are planning ahead.
I am really big on tax planning.
That's kind of like our mainthing that we offer outside of
tax preparation.
As you are going through theyear, you're bringing in income,
make sure you are meeting withyour CPA or your accountant
(22:57):
looking at what your possibletax liability is going to be and
then making a plan for that.
You don't always have to paymore taxes.
There are things you canimplement early so that you do
not have to pay as much and youcan use that money for the
things you really want to do.
Yes or pay.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Ms Anthony or myself, to assist you with those things
, exactly so you can have moremoney on the back end.
Well, elena, I'm so thankful tohave you on and this is going
to be a reoccurring segment, soI hope those that are listening
have more confidence.
During this tax season, the keything is to prepare, to stay
proactive, to save time, moneyand stress.
(23:38):
So, elena, if you can justplease give your information, if
anybody wants to reach out toyou for tax support, sure your
information.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
If anybody wants to reach out to you for tax support
, sure, so you can find me atwwwamplifyaccom and that is
A-M-P-L-I-F-Y-A-Ccom, and youcan reach me at hello at
amplifyaccom.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Wonderful and I just want to thank again everybody
for listening to the VeronicaEdwards Show, and you can listen
to all prior shows atveronicaedwardsbuzzsproutcom or
on my website, sponsor of theshow, balancevirtuallycom.
We're also available on ApplePodcasts, spotify and Amazon
Music.
So until next time, staybalanced and financially savvy.
Welcome to the Veronica Edwards show, where we
have fun financial conversationsthat everyone listening can
apply to their personal andprofessional life.
Welcome back, guys, to seasonfive.
I am your host again, veronicaEdwards, cpa.
So excited to be back seasonfive, completely independent.
(00:27):
I definitely want to shout outthe V team because we were out
for four months due to HurricaneHelene.
So if you guys didn't hear myopening monologue, we talked
about that and before we stoppedrecording, the end of September
, we had about four or 500downloads to go to hit 5,000.
And, guys, we hit 5,000downloads.
(00:49):
So thank you everyone for thesupport and I know that you guys
are going to continue tosupport and we have an amazing
show for you guys today.
So again, it's season five.
So we're going to be introducinga new segment called CPA Tax
Chat and before I bring on myamazing CPA co-host for the
(01:09):
segment, I wanted to formallyintroduce her.
This beautiful CPA is thepowerhouse behind Amplify
Accounting and Consulting.
As a seasoned CPA tax advisorand financial educator, she
brings over 20 years ofexperience to the table.
Her journey into the world oftaxes began with her first
(01:30):
paycheck as a teenager, sparkinga lifelong passion of numbers
and financial strategy.
I know that's right.
I would love to welcome goodfamily friend, ms Elena Anthony.
Welcome, elena.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
Thank you.
Thank you for having me, oh,and congratulations on those 5K
downloads.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
That's a big deal.
I'm excited for you.
It's a big deal.
I know it's not like a Cardi Bviral moment of 5 million.
However, I take every downloadvery seriously and and I so
appreciate basically trying tojust get a thousand downloads a
season and we've been doing thatand I'm hoping, now that we're
100% independent, sponsored byBalance Virtually LLC, that we
(02:15):
will continue to get even moredownloads.
So, before we get into the CPAtext chat edition, elena, tell
us a little bit more about you.
You know I met you.
We were trying to figure out ifI've been married to Carlos
almost 16 years.
I feel like I've known you all16 of those years.
(02:36):
So tell the listeners how youknow the Edwards clan.
Speaker 2 (02:41):
Okay, so I know the Edwards because I'm a military
kid, I'm an Army brat and whenwe were stationed at Fort Bragg,
north Carolina, I met theEdwards cousin, jessica.
And so when they would come andvisit or either, you know, with
church stuff, we have all ourdifferent events.
(03:03):
I met the Edwards.
So when my parents decided toretire and they said, oh,
Charlotte is a location, I waslike I asked them what school
they went to.
I was trying to be whereverthey were, to actually be with
someone who you know, youactually know actually be with
(03:28):
someone who you actually know.
Speaker 1 (03:29):
Yes, well, I've always loved Elena and when we
first met, you weren't a CPA asof yet, and I wasn't a CPA as of
yet either.
So I love our journey where youwent more of a tax route.
I'm more managerial, fractionalCFO.
So when I was seeing you postthings earlier in 2025, I was
like, oh my God, elena, we gotto talk.
I would love to have you on theshow.
I don't know why I didn't eventhink about having you on the
(03:51):
show before, so I'm so excitedto have you on.
And again, shout out to mycousin, jessica, jessica's, one
of my favorite cousins.
Love Jessica's.
Philadelphia, always fun.
And, side note, you know thatthey changed the name to Fort
Bragg, to Fort Liberty, and nowthey changed it back to Fort
Bragg, girl.
Speaker 2 (04:08):
Oh, did they change it back?
Speaker 1 (04:10):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (04:10):
I was not going to accept Fort Liberty.
I get it.
I understand why they wanted tochange it.
Right but it had been FortBragg for so long and it's such
a pivotal part of my childhood.
I refused to call it PortLiberty.
Speaker 1 (04:26):
I agree they found like a loophole I think it was
like yesterday where they'relike well, we found another
general named Bragg.
That was honorable and we'regoing to rename it.
I'm not mad at that, I'm withyou too.
Me too, as African-Americanwomen, there's certain things
where I'm just like it ain'tthat deep, but I appreciate what
everyone was trying to do.
(04:46):
But just letting you knowthat's my Black history fact.
We're recording this inFebruary.
Fort Bragg is back to FortBragg.
Speaker 2 (04:54):
Yay, I can't wait to tell my friends.
Speaker 1 (04:58):
So let's jump in Alayda with our first CPA text
chat.
So, just for those listening,this is going to be a
reoccurring segment and we'regoing to be diving into
different tax topics thatespecially small business owners
are interested in, and we'rerecording this now in February,
but this is going to air aroundmiddle of March.
(05:20):
So we know right now everyone'sknee deep in tax season.
So, whether you're asolopreneur, a startup or an
established business, preparingfor tax season can be
overwhelming.
So we definitely today want totalk about tax season survival
guide small business edition.
So we're going to break it intothree segments.
(05:42):
We're going to talk about thedifferent tax deadlines and
requirements, common smallbusiness tax deductions people
typically overlook and how toavoid last minute tax stress.
So, elena, I'm going to hand itover to you.
Friend, I told Elena like thisis your show today you are the
tax expert.
Today you are the tax expert.
(06:07):
I am going to let you lead usin with some of these tax
deadlines and things and justkey dates that those are
listening to keep in mind, evenif you're not a business owner
but just those dates that arequickly approaching us this tax
season.
Speaker 2 (06:19):
Okay, well, let's just start with.
I know you referenced HurricaneHelene in the very beginning.
Let's just start with.
I know you referenced HurricaneHelene in the very beginning,
and so let's start there.
So if you are located in Alabama, georgia, north Carolina and
South Carolina, or either partsof Florida, tennessee or
(06:40):
Virginia, then the IRS did issuesome disaster tax relief.
Issue some disaster tax relief.
So everyone in those locationsthey have until May 1st 2025 to
file their 2023 individual andbusiness taxes, if they had
filed an extension previously.
And then you also have thatsame timeframe to file for 2024.
(07:05):
So that includes anyone who isa partnership or S-Corp and your
taxes are due March 15th of2025, you have until May 1st.
And then also, if you are anindividual or a corporation,
where your due date is April 15,2025.
(07:25):
So that's just something toreally keep in mind, and that
also includes the last quarterlytax payments.
So if you pay quarterly taxes,those are also extended.
So you definitely would want totake advantage of that, because
we know that a lot has happened.
We want to make sure that youwell, we, but also the IRS wants
(07:49):
to make sure that you are ableto get everything in on time,
because I know it has beendifficult to keep up with
everything, especially in yourtime of need.
Speaker 1 (08:02):
So, yeah, no, I agree .
Yeah, I was kind of like, comeon, give us more than two weeks.
You know, I know it's May 1st,I don't take it.
And it does help for folks likemyself where I am an S-Corp.
So it would have been due Marchthe 15th.
So that did give me, you know,an extra six weeks.
You know.
But from my understanding Elena, correct me if I'm wrong for us
(08:27):
for profits where we receivedany type of grant money related
to Hurricane Helene, I haven'tseen them come out and say any
of that is not taxable, similarto like what they did during
COVID where it affectedeverybody.
So let me know if you've heardanything on your end about the
IRS making it.
I guess exempt is the properword for any donations that came
(08:51):
in for a business, but from myunderstanding the IRS reads any
benefit to your business istaxable.
Speaker 2 (08:57):
Yeah, I haven't heard anything either.
I was checking that out becauseI actually do have a client in
North Carolina who was affectedand I did not see a thing, which
is a little disheartening.
And I also agree with the wholeMay 1st.
I really thought that theywould push it back even further,
(09:18):
especially because there are alot of people who are still, you
know, not getting any aid.
Yeah, so I am hoping now I'm notsure current administration,
but I am hoping that they willpush it back a little bit more,
because to think that in I wouldsay what it's been almost six
(09:40):
months that people will haveeverything together and you're
like in order to file your taxes, is crazy to me.
Speaker 1 (09:48):
Yeah, I totally agree .
I think with the wildfires inLA I'm sure that got pushed back
all the way to October.
So I was told by other tax CPAsthey can wait all the way to
May the 1st to say, oh, we'regoing to change some of the tax
law or we're going to make thisexempt.
So I definitely will say to thelisteners stay tuned because
there can be changes.
(10:08):
So next that we wanted to talkabout, elena, is common small
business tax deductions thatpeople overlook.
I get this all the time wherepeople are paying for things
personally and have no idea thatit really can be a business
deduction.
So I know right now you're inyour busy season.
What are some things, elena,that you see that people
(10:29):
commonly overlook?
Speaker 2 (10:33):
A lot of, especially my, product-based businesses.
They tend to forget that theycould deduct mileage what?
And yeah, it's very interestingbecause they are the ones who
typically they don't have, likeyou know, the UPS store or USPS
coming to their house to pick uppackages.
(10:54):
They are literally going to mailthese packages off.
So a lot of them do not realizethat they can deduct mileage
also for service-basedbusinesses.
Especially if you're aservice-based business who does
like deliveries a lot of themthey don't.
And when I say deliveries likeI would say, the first thing
(11:16):
that comes to mind to me is likea baker, like if you bake any
type of cakes, or even if you'rea caterer and you are dropping
those items off at the locationwhere they need to be.
That is a deduction and you canuse like a mile tracking app.
Actually, please use the miletracking app to track your
(11:41):
mileage.
My favorite one is Mile IQ.
I love it for that.
It's just really good becauseit actually I've tested it for
clients and literally you couldset that app that as soon as you
get in the car, realize you aremoving and it's going to ask
you is this a personal trip or abusiness trip?
And I think that's what I loveabout it most, because a lot of
(12:02):
times we're just in our routineand going and so to have the app
remind you of that is a prettyamazing thing.
So definitely tracking yourmileage is one of them.
I think like things like yourcell phone usage is another
thing.
Even though you may use yourcell phone for personal, yep you
(12:25):
a percentage of it is forbusiness, especially if you're
running a business that's onlineor you're answering calls from
clients.
Maybe you're looking up stuffon your phone, and so having an
idea of what percentage you useyour cell phone for business is
a write-off, especially in thisday and age.
(12:46):
Everybody uses their cell phone.
I don't know many peoplewithout a smartphone.
Speaker 1 (12:51):
And Alayna, I was just going to ask.
I'm a little bit more liberalwith this.
I write off 100% of my internetand my cell phone because my
business is called BalancedVirtually.
So I do everything online.
So I've had a few tax CPAs tellme well, you can, especially if
majority of it is related tobusiness.
(13:12):
But the technically right thingto do is to track it.
No different from we would themileage correct.
Speaker 2 (13:19):
Correct.
So the reason why I say justtrack it?
Because you may be a personlike, like you may be a person
who's not heavily on your phoneat all, like outside of work,
and you're virtual Right.
So when you're virtual youprobably are using your phone a
lot more for just business thananything else, but you can write
(13:40):
it off 100 percent.
I do have a couple of clientstoo who they have a separate
line and that line is just forbusiness only.
And then I have some someclients who they have just one
line but they have it set upwhere maybe they have an app
that all their business callscome through and they're really
not phone people, and so thosetypes of people which sounds
(14:03):
like you.
Speaker 1 (14:20):
Mm-hmm, and so those type of people which sounds like
you, you're basically usingyour phone station and they're
like Veronica, is it okay if Iuse my business card?
And I tell them yes, but I alsosay, when you meet with your
amazing CPA, like Ms Anthony,we're going to see what gives
you more bang for your buck.
If the mileage is a thousandand all the vehicle charges for
gas was 500, I usually do anadjusting entry to account for
(14:44):
that.
Is that the right way of doingthings or you should only do one
or the other?
Speaker 2 (14:50):
You should only do one or the other from the tax
perspective, and this is anotherthing that people don't realize
and I'm glad you actuallybrought this up.
So there's one way to do itmanagerial wise, so veronica is
more so a managerial cpa, cfothere is one way to do it.
That way from the taxperspective is one or the other.
(15:11):
So yeah, so from the taxperspective, whichever one, like
veronica said, gives you themost bang for your buck, that
that's what you should use.
Most of the time I haverealized, like, especially if
you're a person who use your carpersonally.
Also, I've seen it where it'sbetter if you do mileage.
(15:34):
But then there are some peopleout there who you know,
depending on what they do for abusiness, like one of my clients
is a construction client, sothey have a vehicle completely
dedicated to construction.
And so for that vehicle we doeverything actuals.
Or if you think about I want tosay like a good kind of in
(15:54):
between, if you think of likemaybe a real estate agent who's
going back and forth and showinghouses, but you know they're
also using our car for justeveryday errands, it may be a
situation where we want to seewhich one works out best for
them.
Speaker 1 (16:11):
No, fair enough, and I see that quite a bit too,
where I mean it just keeps goingup.
Elaine, I feel like it's up tolike 70 cents now for the IRS
mileage.
I mean, back in the day, we waslike, ooh, this is a lot when
it was like 50 cents.
So when you think about that ifyou're driving more than a
hundred miles throughout theyear.
You know you might or I won'tsay without the year, maybe
(16:34):
throughout the month.
You know where it starts addingup.
That's going to be a lot morethan you just filling your tank
up and it might just be 50 or$60.
So definitely track your miles.
But, like I've been saying tofolks, go ahead.
If you have gas and differentthings, we can always make the
tax adjustment at the end of theyear.
But to Elena's point, it'seither one or the other.
(16:55):
We can't write off all your gasand your maintenance and all
the things.
And on top of that, take themileage reimbursement, so, yes.
So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of?
Just top of that, take themileage reimbursement, so yes.
So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of, just
top of head?
That is like, hmm, this issomething that people miss.
We talked about mileage.
What other things that you canthink?
Speaker 2 (17:18):
of let's talk about.
Well, I always bring up thehome office deduction.
That's something that peopledon't think about a lot.
I will say this, though, for myindividuals out there without a
business If you work from homeand you work for a company, you
cannot deduct your home office,Because that has been a big
(17:41):
question that I get every yearsince COVID.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
But that's good, I'm giggling, but I get that, elena,
I get.
Well, I got to pay forchildcare.
Isn't that a business deduction?
I'm like, baby, you had thosekids before you had the business
, or even after, it doesn'tmatter, you still had to pay for
those.
I try to tell folks would youhave this expense if you didn't
have the business?
And if it's yes, then mostlikely it's something that you
(18:11):
can't deduct.
But then it's those gray areaslike we talked about with
internet and cell phone andstuff like that.
But I'm glad that you mentionedthat if you work or if you're a
W-2 employee for someone, youcannot deduct a home office.
Speaker 2 (18:23):
Not at all.
But if you have a business andyou have a dedicated office
space, you can deduct it.
What you will need is thesquare footage of that space, so
length times width.
That's what I always tellpeople when they don't remember
the square footage I'm likewhat's the length times the
width?
You can get that for me and thenthe full square footage of your
(18:44):
home, then we can.
We have a percentage of spaceas the home office and then also
you can apply to that.
You know the different expensesyou have and that percentage
times those expenses can be thededuction.
Now that's the more I would saythe advanced deduction.
There is a simple deduction andif you have like a, I typically
(19:09):
apply, everybody does itdifferent but for me, like if
you have a business that youhave on the side and you have an
office, I typically do thesimple deduction, just because
it's a little bit easier, lessscrutiny.
But if you like work out ofyour office all day, like this
is your full-time businessTypically, I would like to get
(19:29):
like all your expenses and thenuse those numbers to be able to
compute what your home officededuction is.
Speaker 1 (19:37):
Oh, I like that so simplified deduction, similar to
like if we were to itemize,versus the standard deduction,
which that's high now too.
I think that's almost $30,000for married folks and almost
15,000 for individuals.
So I'm glad that you broughtthat up too, that there is a
simplified version, and I'm gladthat you also added it's not as
much scrutiny.
(19:57):
And I tell a lot of my smallbusiness folks the odds of you
getting audited by the IRS aslong as you've kept your taxes
up to date, meaning that youhaven't gone more than three tax
seasons without filing, thenit's like 5% chance of you
getting audited.
But I still want people torealize like, hey, you know like
(20:17):
you have to still have supportfor what you're doing and you
just don't want it there to belike a big red flag that all of
a sudden it's like, wow, look atthis.
I feel like any huge deductionwill be a red flag to the IRS if
it doesn't make sense for yourbusiness.
Speaker 2 (20:34):
Correct.
You don't want to put yourselfon the radar because what
happens is if they see one thingit'll open you up to other
years, and you just don't wantit to be that.
Yes.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So, elena, we're almost to the end of the show.
I would love if you can justlist a couple of just tips that
can help folks listening toreduce their tax season stress.
Speaker 2 (20:56):
Okay, so if you're not already organized with your
financials, please, please,please get organized.
It'll make your life so mucheasier, and the best way to do
it is to use some type ofbookkeeping software.
Quickbooks is my favorite, butthere are plenty out there that
you can choose from.
But you want to track yourincome and your expenses and
(21:16):
make sure they're categorizedcorrectly, and if you are
struggling doing it yourself,then you definitely should get
with someone to get some help inthat category.
The next thing you want to makesure you have done is have your
business finances separatedfrom your personal finances.
When you have them together,you are opening yourself up.
(21:43):
So just to give you a quickexample if say something happens
unfortunate and maybe you aresued by a client, if your
finances are together, the judgecan say oh, you didn't separate
them.
So, we're going to access yourpersonal also, so you basically
(22:04):
lose that corporate veil, as welike to say, that protection.
So keep them separated and it'sgoing to help you in tracking
and not missing any expensesthat are available to you that
you can write off.
Speaker 1 (22:16):
I totally agree.
I tell my students that all thetime when I teach a financial
tools class.
Even though you're an LLClimited liability corporation,
you still need to separate yourbusiness bank account from your
personal bank account.
Speaker 2 (22:29):
Yes, definitely, and any other?
Speaker 1 (22:32):
tips that you would say that you want to make sure
that we keep in mind this season.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
I would say for this season just make sure that you
are planning ahead.
I am really big on tax planning.
That's kind of like our mainthing that we offer outside of
tax preparation.
As you are going through theyear, you're bringing in income,
make sure you are meeting withyour CPA or your accountant
(22:57):
looking at what your possibletax liability is going to be and
then making a plan for that.
You don't always have to paymore taxes.
There are things you canimplement early so that you do
not have to pay as much and youcan use that money for the
things you really want to do.
Yes or pay.
Speaker 1 (23:16):
Ms Anthony or myself, to assist you with those things
, exactly so you can have moremoney on the back end.
Well, elena, I'm so thankful tohave you on and this is going
to be a reoccurring segment, soI hope those that are listening
have more confidence.
During this tax season, the keything is to prepare, to stay
proactive, to save time, moneyand stress.
(23:38):
So, elena, if you can justplease give your information, if
anybody wants to reach out toyou for tax support, sure your
information.
Speaker 2 (23:45):
If anybody wants to reach out to you for tax support
, sure, so you can find me atwwwamplifyaccom and that is
A-M-P-L-I-F-Y-A-Ccom, and youcan reach me at hello at
amplifyaccom.
Speaker 1 (24:08):
Wonderful and I just want to thank again everybody
for listening to the VeronicaEdwards Show, and you can listen
to all prior shows atveronicaedwardsbuzzsproutcom or
on my website, sponsor of theshow, balancevirtuallycom.
We're also available on ApplePodcasts, spotify and Amazon
Music.
So until next time, staybalanced and financially savvy.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
The Joe Rogan Experience
The official podcast of comedian Joe Rogan.