In a previous post, I talked about the Great American Problem – taxpayers are overpaying their taxes to the tune of over $1Billion dollars. EVERY YEAR! It’s very likely, if you are a business owner, that you are one of the 93% small business owners who are simply sending Uncle Sam too big of a check at tax time.
So, what’s the solution to paying too much tax?
There are plenty of unscrupulous and unethical tax preparers who are willing to sign their name to fraudulent returns – returns that include credits you’re ineligible for, deductions for expenses that are not legitimate, and sloppy tax work that could (and probably eventually will) have the IRS breathing down your neck or knocking on your door.
There has to be a better way! You’re a law-abiding citizen, willing to pay your fair share of taxes, but not willing to send in more of your hard earned dollars than you absolutely have to!
You want to save money on taxes, but you want to do it completely above board.
If you’re agreeing with this so far, you’re my kind of person!
Enter strategic tax planning. This is tax work that goes far beyond simply reporting the history of what happened last year and is instead a proactive planning of what you want to happen next year.
Strategic tax planning is taking advantage of legal, court-tested, IRS approved strategies, deductions, credits, loopholes, and structuring in order to maximize your savings.
It is not a shoddy throwing together of a few things to “see what sticks”. It is not a haphazard and dangerous “living on the edge”. It is not coloring outside the lines.
It is using the existing tax code to your advantage as a business owner.
And the result is thousands of dollars in savings!
I told you about Barb in my last post – how her comprehensive tax plan saved her over $149K every year! There was no magic little tweak to yield that kind of savings. Instead, it was a well-planned out, implemented, strategy for her life and her business.
I also told you about Josh – how he saved $40K every year on his taxes once we started working with him, applied the tax code strategically to his life and business and implemented a few strategies that yielded massive results.
Now I want to tell you about what tax planning is not – just to clear up any possible misconceptions.
- Tax Planning is playing it risky and will open you up for audit. This is a myth. In fact, it is the opposite of the truth. Strategic tax planning, using legal strategies, deductions, and loopholes protects you more than exposes you. Good tax planning helps you have all your “ducks in a row” and documentation in place. If you are audited (audit rates are at a historical low, but they do happen!), be prepared to blow the Revenue Officer away with your tidy records and substantiated positions on all your tax strategies!
- Tax Planning is unethical. This couldn’t be further from the truth! (In fact, I’m writing an entire post about the good ethics of tax planning which I will be publishing soon). There is a huge difference between tax evasion (not paying taxes that you legally owe) and tax avoidance (not paying taxes you don’t legally owe). Tax avoidance (strategic tax planning) is good stewardship. It is resourcefulness, frugality, and plain good business sense.
- Tax Planning is only for the uber-wealthy. Again, so. not. true. It is true that the uber wealthy have teams of tax planners working for them around the clock to find every legal tax loophole, credit and deduction. They may be able to make one little tweak to their strategy and identify hundreds of thousands or perhaps even millions in tax savings for their clients. But with similar tweaks and strategies, you could save thousands or tens of thousands. Tax planning is more accessible now than it ever has been! Especially with the roll-out of our Tax Strategy Library and Membership Community. Now, even if you can’t afford a multi-thousand dollar plan of your own you can have access to premier strategies that can be immediately implemented in your business and create massive savings.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again (and will keep doing so until you’re tired of hearing it!)… YOU SHOULD PAY LESS TAXES! It’s completely possible, within reach, and affordable to implement.
Now the only question is HOW MUCH WILL YOU SAVE?
