The 5 New Business Tax Tips Episode :: Love, Death and Taxes Ep. 105 ft. Agnes Amisano

Agnes, a tax resolution specialist, gives Ryan her top five tax tips for people starting a business: choose the right entity, handle sales tax filings, separate employees from contractors, keep receipts, and track deductible expenses and operating losses. They also cover meals and mileage deductions, the home office deduction, and personal spending that cannot be written off as business expenses.

Takeaways

• Pick your business entity first, because it decides which tax forms you file and whether business debts can reach your personal money.
• If you owe sales tax, file every period even when sales are zero, and know whether the people you pay are employees or contractors because payroll taxes are held in trust and penalties are serious.
• Keep receipts and records for every business expense so you can explain each deduction if you are ever asked.

Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome and the top five tax tips setup
• 1:35 Tip 1: choose the right business entity
• 4:44 Tip 2: sales tax filings, even at zero
• 7:24 Tip 3: employees versus independent contractors
• 10:34 Tip 4: keep your receipts
• 13:42 Tip 5: deductions and net operating losses
• 16:46 Home office deduction cautions
• 18:51 Personal spending that is not deductible
• 24:41 Quick recap of the five tips

Conversation and opinion, not medical, legal, tax or financial advice.