Ep. 2 How Do I Know if I Need Tax Help? - The Count On It Podcast

Gabby Parker and Chris Cameron discuss Tennessee taxes, including state taxes and franchise and excise tax. They cover filing state business taxes through TenTap and the decision to itemize deductions. The conversation also touches on the implications of quarterly tax payments and the importance of considering time as money in tax preparation. They highlight the benefits of hiring a firm for personal and business taxes and stress the importance of keeping business financials up to date.

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[00:00:09.50] - Gabby Parker

My name is Gabby Parker, and I am the executive accountant for Genovations Accounting. And we're here today to talk about business taxes and individual taxes, which is the hot topic right now. I have one of my clients, Chris Cameron, here with me, and he is the manager and owner of Center Street Media, a media production company here in Nashville, Tennessee. So I'll be answering some of his questions about taxes.

[00:00:33.39] - Chris Cameron

Awesome. Well, thanks for having me.

[00:00:34.60] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Of course.

[00:00:35.89] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. So I think taxes are hot topic right now because of when it is. It's just we're just on the it's February fifth. Right?

[00:00:42.10] - Gabby Parker

Yep. 

[00:00:42.50] - Chris Cameron

My birthday was yesterday, so that's why I know day. Yeah. But tax season's coming up, and so I think it's, like, you know, hot hot time for anybody who owns a business. Like, we got, like, a month. Yeah. That's my personal taxes. I've got, like, two months

[00:00:55.89] - Gabby Parker

Yep.

[00:00:56.20] - Chris Cameron

Before stuff's due. So, yeah, I'm thinking about taxes. Yeah. I'm also thinking about taxes because my social media feeds are, like, you know, flooded with, like, you I'm a small business owner, so I think people target me, you know, in social media. But they're like, you should do this and not do this thing and not this thing or do these five steps to whatever whatever. So I think, really, my first question I think this is a kinda maybe specific because I am doing business in the state of Tennessee.  But you're also in the state of Tennessee.

[00:01:22.79] - Gabby Parker

Yep. Also in Nashville.

[00:01:24.09] - Chris Cameron

What are like, the Tennessee specifics that I need to be thinking about as a small business owner when it comes to, like, my business taxes and my state filing?

[00:01:32.29] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. So Tennessee is known as a no income tax state, which is, very, you know, advantageous for people who live here, and is something that draws investors into our state as well. So that is really helpful for  Individuals. As far as businesses, though, Tennessee has one of the higher tax rates for state taxes and local taxes. So in terms of sales tax, the state charges seven percent, and then local taxes can bring that seven percent up to nine point seven five percent depending on where you are. So sales tax can get up there in terms of purchasing, things or items in the state of Tennessee. Mhmm. For property taxes, Tennessee is also a good state for that. They're relatively low on the national scale. They vary by county and city, and the amount is based on the appraised value of your property. So it's also relatively low. So in summary, the income tax is a major draw. Like, there's no income tax, but sales tax can can jump to nine point seven five percent in certain counties. Businesses in in the state of Tennessee also have franchise and excise and business tax charged to any LLC, s corp in the state of Tennessee. So franchise and excise tax is six and a half percent of your net income for your business plus point two five percent on every one hundred dollars of assets you own as a business. So if you're a media production company, you have cameras and gear and lighting and all the things, It could jump up to, like, several thousands of dollars of equipment. Depending on how much the book value of that equipment is in that year, you'll pay point two five percent on every one hundred dollars that's worth. So it can jump up if you get to, like, a hundred thousand dollars of assets. Uh-huh. But if you have, like, ten thousand dollars in your book value of your assets, it's gonna be pretty minimal at a hundred dollars. So franchise and excise tax, you know, is pretty much six and a half percent of your net income plus either a hundred dollars or higher for your assets. And then business tax is twenty two dollars minimum for any LLC. It's just twenty dollars for the entire year. And then you get your business license. And the state of Tennessee actually changed this in twenty twenty three, and they came out with a minimal activity license. So if your business does under a hundred thousand dollars of gross income in that year, you can file what's called a minimal activity license and not have to pay that twenty two dollar fee. So it's a little bit of savings, and you get to keep that minimal activity license however long you make less than a hundred thousand dollars of gross revenue in a year.

[00:04:05.59] - Chris Cameron

I would file that myself or, like, my accountant files that on my behalf?

[00:04:09.40] - Gabby Parker

Yes. So you can create a login in the Tennessee Department of Revenue's site called TenTap.

[00:04:14.80] - Chris Cameron

Mhmm.

[00:04:15.09] - Gabby Parker

And you can connect your company's EIN to that and get a state, sales tax, business tax, and franchise and excise tax number from that.

[00:04:23.80] - Chris Cameron

Okay.

[00:04:24.19] - Gabby Parker

And do it yourself. If you have over a hundred thousand dollars of gross revenue and have to file both, I would recommend looking to a professional to file that for you. Because at that point, if you have over a hundred thousand dollars of gross revenue, you're probably having a professional file your personal tax return anyways.

[00:04:40.00] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:04:40.50] - Gabby Parker

So just ask them if they can also do your state taxes. It's easy for them to lump in to their services, and it allows you to have that kind of accountability to your numbers, and make sure it gets filed on time as the time or the deadline is the exact same as your federal return.

[00:04:55.50] - Chris Cameron

Gotcha.  Okay. So I think then since it's Tennessee and I do have some state taxes I have to pay, not personally, but my business will.  So 've lived in Tennessee my whole life. I'm not real familiar with paying taxes to the state. I'm only paying federal taxes. So how do I actually file my state business taxes?

[00:05:14.39] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. So department of revenue called TenTap dot gov.

[00:05:17.50] - Chris Cameron

Uh-huh.

[00:05:18.10] - Gabby Parker

You go in there, and once you have your state sales tax and franchise and excise tax accounts open, So there'll be two, like, basically windows on the portal. You can select that. It'll lead you through a series of questions. It says, like, what's your net income for this year? When did you start your operations? Is it an LLC or a partnership? Those kinds of things. Submit, and then you file the payment right in that portal as well. Okay. You either pay with your debit card or your credit card. So it's right there, all easy to pay right before the deadline.

[00:05:49.50] - Chris Cameron

Okay. And is that also where you'd pay, like, your quarterly taxes if you're you're doing, like, quarterly

[00:05:55.00] - Gabby Parker

No. Quarterly is quarterly state tax or quarterly federal tax.

[00:05:58.89] - Chris Cameron

Oh, I don't know.

[00:05:59.80] - Gabby Parker

So quarterly taxes are for federal taxes.

[00:06:01.80] - Chris Cameron

Okay. Okay.

[00:06:02.30] - Gabby Parker

So  that's the IRS.

[00:06:03.69] - Chris Cameron

Okay.

[00:06:04.00] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. That's separate. So the IRS dot gov website it Allows you to submit payments there for your federal return.

[00:06:10.00] - Chris Cameron

So state taxes, you only have to submit once a year. Yep. But your federal taxes, you pay quarterly.

[00:06:15.10] - Gabby Parker

Yes. Correct.  And the state doesn't require you to do quarterly, and there's no fees for submitting it all in March or April. The IRS will charge you interest if you don't submit quarterly tax payments no matter what.

[00:06:27.89] - Chris Cameron

Yeah.  Okay. Well, I think that's probably covers some of my business tax questions Okay. But then my personal taxes. Yeah. I think my real first question is, like, for the last I mean, I I've been paying taxes. I guess I've been filing tax returns ever since I started working. Yeah. So for, like, twenty years now.

[00:06:46.30] - Gabby Parker

Yeah.

[00:06:46.80] - Chris Cameron

But, you know, I got married when I was twenty two or something like that. So married, filing joint. Mhmm. I've mostly only done my own taxes.

[00:06:54.30] - Gabby Parker

Yeah.

[00:06:55.30] - Chris Cameron

And my income has traditionally been fairly simple. Like, I my first job was at the UPS store, so I got a w two from there.

[00:07:01.19] - Gabby Parker

Okay.

[00:07:01.69] - Chris Cameron

Then I worked at Chick fil A for, like, seven years, so I got a w two from there. Yeah. You know, just, like, single things. But now my taxes are, like, a little more complex. Mhmm. Mhmm. You know, k ones and some w two stuff. My wife works. We have some ten ninety nine income. Mhmm. So I think my question is really, what's kind of the gauge for when I need to reach out for help and get, like, personal, like, professional help on my personal taxes?

[00:07:27.60] - Gabby Parker

That's a great question. So as a tax preparer, I would say, generally, if you have multiple sources of income with multiple types of filings Okay. That's we need a professional. Even if you have multiple w twos, it's all the same type of filing.

[00:07:42.19] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:07:42.39] - Gabby Parker

Just do it yourself. I personally recommend FreeTaxUSA. That's the the one that I like the most. But if you have, like, a w two and a ten ninety nine, that's when you may wanna consult a professional. If you have an LLC, if you have an s corp, if you have investments, if you have real estate, definitely wanna get a professional involved as there's ever changing laws and ever changing credits that you that are available to you as a business owner or individual, and they can help make sure you're aware of those. Yeah. You know, another concept that people talk about is time is money. So if you know that filing your personal return will take you about two hours and outsourcing to a professional firm like ours is 02:25, if you could bill out two hundred and twenty five dollars or more in that two hours of your time and make more than what you paid me, then it's worth it to you.

[00:08:34.39] - Chris Cameron

For sure.

[00:08:34.70] - Gabby Parker

Right. Even if you only have w two income, if you can bill out more or make more in those two hours, then for sure, outsource to a professional. Time is money, and you wanna be aware of that as well.

[00:08:44.70] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. That's smart for sure. Because I mean, to the point, it's like a win win. Right? Yeah. You save the time doing your taxes, but then you get the extra work. You get to do what you love instead of sitting there trying to figure out your tax return for two hours.

[00:08:55.79] - Chris Cameron

Yes. Which is definitely a thing because as a cinematographer, you know, I can do stuff with a camera in my hands. But  When I sit down and look at numbers for too long, I'm like a little 

[00:09:05.60] - Gabby Parker

and I'm the opposite I would rather sit down to the numbers, and you can do the filming.

[00:09:09.50] - Chris Cameron

That's why we work well together. Yeah. So on my personal taxes, I think I have a question that probably a lot of people have.  I I'm married. I have four kids. Yeah. Like I said, I have those various types of income. I've always just taken the standard deduction. Mhmm. Right? So, like, I don't even I think I might know how to itemize in, like, the software I've used. I've used free tags USA. Uh-huh. Like, at what point should I even think about itemizing? Maybe I already should have thought about it. I don't know. Like, what I've always just used the same deduction. So what, like, what is that? And should I should I use it, or should I, like,  Think about a different thing?

[00:09:46.00] - Gabby Parker

So the standard deduction in twenty twenty three was thirteen thousand eight hundred and fifty per individual. So as a married couple, you get twenty seven seven. Automatically deducted from your taxes, but from the IRS.

[00:09:56.39] - Chris Cameron

Mhmm.

[00:09:56.79] - Gabby Parker

That's on the federal individual level. So on the business level, it doesn't necessarily apply. It reduces from what's in your individual tax return. So twenty seven seven was twenty twenty three. And then in twenty twenty four, they've increased it to fourteen thousand six hundred per person, which is, quick math, says twenty nine thousand two hundred for the both of you. So in terms of taking itemized deductions, they're mainly comprised of charitable contributions, medical expenses, real estate expenses, like interest, primary residence expenses. But you have to add all of those up to more than, in twenty twenty three, twenty seven thousand seven hundred for it to make sense. So if you're nowhere near twenty seven seven, don't even worry about it. Like, don't spend your time on it. Most of the time, business owners take the standard deduction unless you have high charitable contributions or high medical because you can take a lot of deductions on your business return by spending that money or getting credits there.

[00:10:57.79] - Chris Cameron

Right.  And

[00:10:58.20] - Gabby Parker

And then when it pushes to your individual, you know, that is, not typically so much, and you can just take the standard deduction, and it's helpful. So taking the deductions on the business side is often more advantageous and worth your time. Not very often will people have more than twenty seven seven in medical, charitable contributions, those kinds of things. So I wouldn't waste your time on it, personally. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:11:19.89] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Yeah. I guess, unless you're, like, a big philanthropist or something.

[00:11:22.29] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Unless you're a philanthropist or you're, like 

[00:11:24.00] - Chris Cameron

You're probably in a different tax bracket at that point anyway.

[00:11:27.39] - Gabby Parker

Twenty seven seven is really a sweet spot for a lot of individuals, at least that I've been working with in Nashville for the income levels that people have. Yeah.

[00:11:35.50] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. I mean, you'd have to make a lot of money to just, like, donate more than

[00:11:39.50] - Gabby Parker

Right.

[00:11:39.89] - Chris Cameron

Almost thirty thousand dollars.

[00:11:41.20] - Gabby Parker

Right.

[00:11:41.50] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. I guess medical, I I didn't think about that too much, but you'd have to spend a lot of money on medical stuff.

[00:11:46.60] - Gabby Parker

Yes. And medical only applies if it's over seven and a half percent, or up to seven and a half percent of your gross income. So you can't even take all of your medical. It's after a certain threshold is reached. Then you can take those as deductions. So that's not even reasonable for people either.

[00:12:02.00] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. That's not even it's even hard to see the threshhold

[00:12:04.29] - Gabby Parker

but the twenty seven seven shouldn't even reduce your taxable income to zero. It should reduce it enough where you maybe get to a lower tax bracket. And then you're only taxed at, like, the twenty two percent or the fifteen percent bracket instead of, let's say, the twenty five percent or twenty four percent bracket. So it's not supposed to bring it to zero, but it is supposed to help bring you down maybe a bracket or maybe two.

[00:12:25.10] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Well, that's helpful. So one of my questions and, again, I'm so I think I get targeted with a lot of this stuff on social media. But, I feel like the people from, like, the, certain camps of financial advising, they're like, if you get a tax return, then you know, your personal taxes, like, you get a refund or whatever, then you're you just gave the IRS a zero percent interest loan for the last year.

[00:12:50.10] - Gabby Parker

Okay.

[00:12:50.70] - Chris Cameron

You know, because I've I've got a lot of kids. Right? I've pretty much always, I think, gotten a tax refund. Uh-huh. But it should I, like, restructure my withholding to where I get a smaller refund? Is that, like, smart, or is it risky? I feel like it's risky, but I don't know.

[00:13:06.79] - Gabby Parker

Well, for you, it seems that you want to ensure you've paid your taxes and don't wanna owe anything on April fifteenth.

[00:13:13.10] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:13:13.39] - Gabby Parker

That's one of the goals it seems that you have. Other people don't mind. They're like, I would like to keep all of my money all year and owe seven thousand dollars on April fifteenth. And that's how they roll. Yeah. So it depends on what kind of payment plan or what kind of business person you are. Like, if you want to exceed your tax liability via withholdings and you want a refund every year, that's how you wanna function.

[00:13:35.70] - Chris Cameron

Sure.

[00:13:36.00] - Gabby Parker

Some people like it because they're really bad at managing finances. So they're like, take it. Take it from me. I don't even wanna know I have it. And then give me back what I'm or what I'm owed on April fifteenth. And that's how they they roll. It's really hard to calculate the specific withholdings that you should have because tax, incomes change so frequently. You could change a job. Even the rates change.

[00:13:57.60] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:13:57.79] - Gabby Parker

Depending on part time income, anything could change. So I always recommend people overestimate their withholdings because it's nice to get a refund. But if you need that cash now to invest into something you're doing that's gonna make you money, then you owe money on April fifteenth. You know, maybe that's how you need to roll as well because you're starting up a real estate investment group or you're starting an LLC or something. You need the cash now. Depends on that timing as well.

[00:14:24.70] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. That makes sense. So it's like I I think I've operated from the place of I don't wanna get pinged with taxes Mhmm. When you know, a tax payment when the thing comes around. So I've always just defaulted to the, you know, take, you know, take it. That that idea. But I do see how, like, if I were, you know, trying to I guess the idea is, like, I would think if I'm gonna use the money to make more than what I would have owed the IRS Yep. Then, obviously, it's it's a helpful thing Right. To do at that point.

[00:14:55.10] - Gabby Parker

If you need the money to repair an Airbnb that you just purchased and then you're gonna make five thousand dollars on that in the next five months

[00:15:01.60] - Chris Cameron

Right. You

[00:15:02.39] - Gabby Parker

You gotta do that. Again, the though, the IRS charges a a penalty anytime that you don't make quarterly payments or don't have withholdings. So you just gotta weigh the the pros and cons of

[00:15:15.00] - Chris Cameron

not on personal, though. Right? You don't have to make quarterly tax payments personally.

[00:15:19.79] - Gabby Parker

quarterly tax payments are on your personal return because an LLC is a flow through. So whatever you would report on your personal return so, like, last podcast, I talked about the safe harbor rule. You know, you pay a certain amount of your last tax return or in quarterly payments to avoid a fee even if you owe more. Quarterly payments are for your personal tax return because it's a federal level. It's all flow through.

[00:15:43.79] - Chris Cameron

watched the last podcast because I'm a fan, but I thought you were talking about business quarterly taxes. Oh. I didn't realize it. It's personal. I've never paid personal quarterly taxes because I've never owed taxes. Oh, okay. That's the only reason I've never gotten penalized. Right?

[00:15:57.60] - Chris Cameron

Yeah.

[00:15:58.00] - Gabby Parker

So that helps with the child tax credit Right. Because then it gets you more money back in those credits.

[00:16:03.10] - Chris Cameron

I haven't always had four kids, but, I mean, I guess, as I've made more money, I've also had more kids.

[00:16:07.70] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Right. Because it cost.

[00:16:09.20] - Chris Cameron

But so, like, the idea, though, is, like, if I let's say, like, next year I did owe the IRS even five hundred dollars, but I didn't pay quarterly quarterly on it, I would get penalized. Yep. Wow.

[00:16:18.39] - Gabby Parker

Yep. I know. And it comes even if you pay let's say you pay the five hundred on April fifteenth on file, you'll get a letter about six to eight weeks later that says, hey. We got your payment, but here's your penalties that we charged you, and then you have to pay that. What day? Sometime in May, June, May, June.

[00:16:32.20] - Chris Cameron

People know?

[00:16:33.00] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. That's a great question. Listening to these podcasts. That's true. Doesn't publish, you know, this information other than their website, which is, like, IRS tax code jargon.

[00:16:43.39] - Chris Cameron

Yeah.

[00:16:43.79] - Gabby Parker

That tax professionals have

[00:16:45.00] - Chris Cameron

to I certainly don't need that.

[00:16:47.00] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Translate for people.

[00:16:49.89] - Chris Cameron

Wow. Yep. That's super helpful to know. Yeah. I, what do

[00:16:53.79] - Gabby Parker

you know? Husband and I, this is the first year that we'll get a refund. But last year, we owed. We owed, I think, it was six hundred dollars.

[00:17:00.50] - Chris Cameron

Mhmm.

[00:17:00.79] - Gabby Parker

We got charged a penalty six to eight weeks after we filed the return.

[00:17:03.79] - Chris Cameron

Because you weren't paying quarterly?

[00:17:05.00] - Gabby Parker

Didn't pay quarterly.

[00:17:06.20] - Chris Cameron

That's wild. Mhmm. You didn't know either?

[00:17:08.50] - Gabby Parker

Well, I I did know, but I thought withholdings were coming out of his paycheck, my husband's paycheck, and they were not. So that was also my mistake where I didn't look at our paychecks. I thought withholdings were coming out the whole time, and they were not. So on the withholdings for this year, I increased it to add an additional hundred dollars per paycheck to make sure that we could, like, get a refund this year and

[00:17:31.40] - Chris Cameron

to pay taxes. I filled out the document. I'd we recently did it because my wife got a new w two job. But, like, I don't when you're like, we increased it to make sure we did an additional hundred dollars a month. Like, I don't even know if I would know how to do that on that document. Mhmm. Like, how to Yeah. It's like I guess I would just thought, like, an all or nothing kind kind

[00:17:48.70] - Gabby Parker

kind kind of the w four?

[00:17:50.70] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Yeah.

[00:17:51.20] - Gabby Parker

Yes. So there's a line on there that says if you would like additional withholdings. Just note on here which would they which they would be.

[00:17:58.50] - Chris Cameron

Because they're by default gonna withhold the, like, a FICA Federal Like,

[00:18:02.70] - Gabby Parker

all the, like The federal rate.

[00:18:03.79] - Chris Cameron

Pseudo whatever thing.

[00:18:05.20] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Well, those are separate.

[00:18:06.50] - Chris Cameron

Okay.

[00:18:06.90] - Gabby Parker

Those are employer employee taxes, and then withholdings are a separate calculation. So the federal whatever the federal rate is. And they actually increase

[00:18:14.50] - Chris Cameron

That happens no matter what?

[00:18:15.90] - Gabby Parker

No matter what.

[00:18:16.50] - Chris Cameron

Gotcha.

[00:18:17.09] - Gabby Parker

They increased the federal rate in COVID to help people out, but now they've been cutting that back down to the normal rate. So twenty twenty three was, like, a shock to a lot of people because they had such little withholdings even though they changed nothing on their w four.

[00:18:30.20] - Chris Cameron

Mhmm.

[00:18:30.90] - Gabby Parker

So I've a lot of my clients have had to put an additional amount taken out of their paycheck because the standard amount is not enough for them.

[00:18:39.20] - Chris Cameron

Oh, wow. Yeah. I don't know. I haven't done my taxes yet this year. I I

[00:18:42.29] - Gabby Parker

I I guess we'll see.

[00:18:43.20] - Chris Cameron

I don't but I'm not like I said, I've got four kids, so I don't think I'm in too much danger. But

[00:18:48.00] - Gabby Parker

Right.

[00:18:48.50] - Chris Cameron

Maybe.

[00:18:49.20] - Gabby Parker

It shouldn't do much danger. And and even if you do owe, you shouldn't owe so much of the penalties will be extreme. Yeah. But, yeah, I definitely missed that withholdings on my husband's Yeah. Paychecks, and it hurt us. So then we got penalized, but then I pay attention to it ten in twenty twenty three, and we're getting a refund.

[00:19:06.29] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Yeah. So It sounds easy to miss. Like, that's Yeah. That's tricky.

[00:19:10.00] - Gabby Parker

I mean, you just get your paycheck and you move on. You know? Right. Right.

[00:19:11.90] - Chris Cameron

Right. Right. Right. Okay. So I guess my last question, I think this probably applies to my personal taxes and my business taxes Mhmm. Is, like, what are the dates I need to keep in mind for filing? Because I don't think they're all the same. Right? Like, I'm real used to that April fifteenth date. Yeah.

[00:19:25.79] - Gabby Parker

Because that

[00:19:26.20] - Chris Cameron

that's been my whole life. But

[00:19:27.40] - Gabby Parker

Right.

[00:19:27.90] - Chris Cameron

Business isn't quite the same. Right?

[00:19:29.29] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. So individuals often reach out to me, like, the first week of January. They're like, hey. When can we get started? I'm like, well, hold on. It took January fifth. We just wrapped up the year, but ten ninety nines and w twos have to be sent out by January thirty first. So people may not even get those documents if they're mailed until the middle of February.

[00:19:48.40] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:19:49.00] - Gabby Parker

Also, the IRS doesn't even open up their portal to receive returns until the last day of December or January, the last business day of January. So we can't even file returns. This year, it's January twenty ninth. They opened up January twenty ninth. So just a week ago. That's the first time we could submit any tax return. So that is that's something to consider when when starting your return. And then if you own a partnership, if you're in business with somebody, that's due March fifteenth as well as c corps. So March fifteenth is that deadline. That is also the deadline for your state taxes.

[00:20:22.50] - Chris Cameron

Okay. So you

[00:20:22.90] - Gabby Parker

have to file your federal ten sixty five and your state taxes, business and franchise and excise, at the same time. April fifteenth is when individual tax returns are due as well as single member LLC as well as those state taxes related to those single member LLCs. So for you, it'd be March fifteenth for your business. You'd get the k one, and you'd also submit the state taxes at that time. And then you use your k one to file your personal return by April fifteenth. No state taxes then because you already filed them by March fifteenth. Those are the basic deadlines for tax season. And then extensions for partnerships and c corps is until September fifteenth, and the extension for a single member LLC is until October fifteenth. So it's a six month delay. Uh-huh. Yep. And anything after that, if you don't file by that time, is penalized by the IRS.

[00:21:17.50] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Alright. Well, yeah, I mean, yeah, those are important to keep in mind. What's the deadline for when I have to file for an extension? Like, if I know I'm not gonna make it, it like, can I do it, like, a like, can I, on April fourteenth, be like, hey?

[00:21:28.20] - Gabby Parker

Yep. Definitely. Yeah. Anytime before or on the day that your tax return would be due. So for your business, if you're like, I'm not ready. It's March fifteenth. File an extension. By that point, you should have known already. You should have filed an extension maybe a week or two before. But if you're really trying to crunch it, you can file an extension on March fifteenth and have until September fifteenth to do it. But then you have to submit a second extension filing for your personal return.

[00:21:52.90] - Chris Cameron

Right.

[00:21:53.20] - Gabby Parker

It's not the same.

[00:21:54.00] - Chris Cameron

Right. Right. You You

[00:21:54.40] - Gabby Parker

You You have to have two different filings. Yep.

[00:21:57.09] - Chris Cameron

Great. I mean, that I think that that's super helpful. I feel like this is, like, super helpful content for small business owners. And, you know, because I think every small business owner also has a personal tax return they have

[00:22:09.00] - Gabby Parker

to file.

[00:22:09.50] - Chris Cameron

Yep. So there's this kinda double consideration, which I guess is just part of doing business. Yeah. But, you know, like I said, I'm a cinematographer. Right? Like, I film stuff. Yeah. I didn't go to accounting school, so, like, you know, learn any of that stuff. So Yeah. I think that's super helpful. There's a a lot of really good information in this that I think will be really helpful to a lot of people.

[00:22:28.40] - Gabby Parker

And something else you may wanna consider too is some if if you're going to file your personal return yourself and you own a business, it's nice to have your business financials done and completed by December thirty first for the year so that you have that profit and loss statement or you have the balance sheet or whatever records you have ready January one. And so then you can focus on collecting your other information, your ten ninety nines, your w twos, charitable contribution statements, whatever it is. And QuickBooks actually has an assisted bookkeeping, platform that you can pay, like, fifty bucks a month for to have them enter your transactions and do your bookkeeping for you if you're a really small business. And that helps relieve the pressure of getting all the information together come January. And you're like, what happened last March? I don't know. I don't remember. It was nine months ago or Yeah. Or whatever it is. Our firm also does bookkeeping. So if you our recommendation is that if your business makes over fifty thousand dollars of gross in income Yeah. You should outsource your bookkeeping to our firm or to a firm like ours so that it is seamless to have your business financials exported at the end of the year and your tax return done. That also gives you, like, every month, you can see where you're at with your business instead of just looking at your business bank account. You know? Because those two may not align, whether you're accrual or cash or or what. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:23:50.09] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Yeah. Well, that's tricky. Yeah.

[00:23:51.00] - Gabby Parker

Yeah.

[00:23:51.70] - Chris Cameron

I if like, let's say I do hire a firm to do my business taxes. Mhmm. Would it be typical that that same firm does my personal taxes?

[00:24:02.59] - Gabby Parker

It is typical. We've had some clients where they have three businesses, and so they'll have one firm do two businesses, one firm do the business, and the personal return of the owner. So there's two forms there, but, usually, the businesses are very different. Like, one's a real estate and one is a media company, so they're very different in terms of how they function. And so that accountability and and additional perspective is very helpful. For a lot of our clients who have, like, one business, maybe two business endeavors, they just put everything through our through us. And then what that allows us to do is take their business re return, file it by March fifteenth, and then we immediately use it for their personal return. So it's a very seamless process. There's some transfer of information, and it saves time and cost. Yeah.

[00:24:48.50] - Chris Cameron

It seems like you could really keep it all in in under one roof in that way, and it would help, like, enter information less. And

[00:24:55.20] - Gabby Parker

Right.

[00:24:55.59] - Chris Cameron

Just they'd have it all in mind.

[00:24:57.29] - Gabby Parker

Yeah.

[00:24:57.79] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. And

[00:24:58.09] - Gabby Parker

I can't speak to how other firms do this, but our firm has multiple tax repairs that have specific responsibilities. So the tax repairer that does your business return won't be the same tax repairer that does your personal return. So we have multiple eyes on it as well to catch any potential errors before it's submitted to the IRS.

[00:25:14.59] - Chris Cameron

Yeah. Nice. Yeah. That's awesome. Yeah. Well, thanks for having me on today. Yeah. I've really enjoyed getting to talk money with you. It's not something I usually enjoy talking about. Like I said, you know, in my line of work, we don't have stock money too. I guess we have to talk budgets, but Right. Not tax stuff. But it's super helpful. Thanks a lot.

[00:25:30.79] - Gabby Parker

Yeah. Of course. Thanks for joining, and thanks for watching. Don't forget to check out the description for links to our social media. And remember, don't stress your success, and see you next time.