You may have heard that last week was National Small Business Week. And I didn’t hype it up in this space because, well, that’s the kind of stuff we do all the time. It is not necessarily a bad thing to set aside specific time to give extra attention to important things, but it is a better thing to pay attention to them all the time.

So maybe waiting a week makes anything I say here take on a little more importance because we don’t have to only talk about these things when the calendar dictates it. And one very clear reason for this is we are a small business ourselves. We have either been where you are or understand where you are. No special week required.

At least partially tied in with that is an urge to see small businesses succeed.  On the surface, some of the work we do is (seemingly) easily understood and just takes away some tasks from a business owner. Beneath that, though, what we do can be used to go further and provide information that can help a business pinpoint different ways to thrive. No special week required.

A lot of times this moving beyond the obvious comes from needing that outside look. No one starts a business and understands all the aspects of running the enterprise. Help will be needed from outside people with expertise in areas where you do not have it. And we provide value by giving that and then potentially moving to things you didn’t even think we could do. No special week required.

So yes, we do want to celebrate small businesses, but we want to celebrate them all the time. And this covers a large spectrum of cases – from those who are just contemplating how they might enjoy starting a new venture to those who may be on the verge of no longer just being a ‘small’ business. We enjoy it all.

This then comes with the hope that it can spur some conversation. Again, this can run the gamut from how you can start a business to how we can help your growing business thrive. We cannot promise to have answers to everything, but if you think it’s a conversation worth having with us, that means we can probably at least point you in a good direction to get the answers you want. And again, these can happen whenever. No special week is required.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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We are less than a month removed from tax season, which means that we have recently spent a lot of time talking about planning and how it can help you avoid surprises. This week, though, I wanted to write a little bit about the surprises that you can’t do much about, and how planning even helps with those.

These thoughts occurred to me when I saw a Forbes article musing on whether the increased amount of people working from home would hurt city budgets. I won’t get into the minutiae of what the article says here, for the premise is obviously sound enough to at least warrant thinking about (and dare I say some planning).

From there I started to think not only about the budgets of the city themselves, but what about various shops and restaurants located in (what were at least once) areas saturated with businesses. And simply, once there are less people frequenting the area, that is less potential business for those establishments.

That is one of those types of surprises that could not have been planned for. One would have to possess some mystical level of clairvoyance to have predicted the pandemic, the increase of work-from-home situations, and calculate numbers of how that would look for businesses.

If one had already been doing general planning, though, then your books would have been in good enough shape to be make some reasonable general estimates. And from there, you are in a better position to realize when such unforeseen circumstances start affecting your business and can combat it as early as possible.

I am not writing with any actual answers to such a situation here. I am not even saying that every situation like this would have potential answers. Surely there were businesses so affected by what happened over the last couple years that saving things was impossible. What I am saying, though, is that planning – and the state you must keep your books and knowledge of your business in to be able to do so – will at least give you an opportunity.

Because even now when things have achieved some sense of normalcy, the ideas we are imagining involve situations where its effects will continue to trickle into the future. So one must maintain some vigilance, never think that all storms have been weathered, and remain in a position to see problems while there is still time to react to them. And as always, if there is anything we can do to help you get to that space, let us know. 

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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Once the regular tax filing season passes, we here take a deep breath of relief as the deadline pressure eases and a much is taken off our plates. This is not the case for everyone, though, as those who did not file can feel the pressure and worry of what happens now since they did not.

Well let’s start off with really good news – if you are owed a refund, there generally will be no penalty for not having filed on time. For people in that situation, the IRS is largely happy if you don’t file, for then it doesn’t have to send you that refund money. So, if you think you may be getting a refund and you just didn’t file, you should, for that money can still be yours.

Of course, most who do not file their taxes on time are not in this position. A lot of people who do not file neglect to do so because they fear they will be unable to pay what they owe at the end of the process. First, know that if you are in this situation, you are only setting things up to snowball. You will face penalties for not filing, interest for not paying on time, and once you ignore this once, it becomes easier to push it off in future tax years – further snowballing the penalties, interest, and total you owe to the IRS.

Not filing your taxes is likely not going to help you avoid the bill, either. If you owe taxes, it’s because you did not pay what you owe on money you received – and all those forms you got that say you received this money, the IRS has those, too. Failing to file is not going to keep those powers-that-be from knowing that you should have done so and what you should have paid. 

In fact, without filing you are only going to owe more in taxes because the IRS may know of all the money you received, but it will not know about all the deductions for which you could be eligible to lower your burden.

Beyond that, there may be payment options that you are unaware of that will enhance your ability to pay beyond what you think it is. We cannot guarantee some wonderful solution to whatever issue you are fearing, but we can guarantee more concrete numbers and possible solutions.

If you are reading this after having not filed your taxes, not filed an extension, hiding, and just hoping that this doesn’t come back and bite you in the future, well, we can’t make you act differently.  But we can offer the opportunity for more clarity and help you get a better grip on where you really do stand. So please reach out if you would like to gain this.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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First off, this is my annual(ish) plea that you forgive a shorter message this time of year as we recover from the end of tax season. The energy level, well, it crashes a bit after the deadline passes.  And of course, with extensions and such (and just regular work that isn’t tax return-related), work here is not exactly over, but things do ease up a bit when the weight of that deadline is removed.

Next, though, I do want to say that it was nice to have something closer to a regular tax season than we have had in a couple years. Of course, there were still plenty of pandemic issues involved in tax filing this year, but there was never any real serious talk about postponing the deadline, which was a welcome change. Here is to hoping that this return to normalcy continues and the next year treats us even better in that way.

Finally, I also want to give a thank you to all who are still with us after all those trying times - whether it be with filing your taxes, in one of those other non-tax-related areas, or all the above. The way that we have had to communicate and work together with our clients has changed over these last couple years, and it has definitely not always been a smooth transition. To be able to find ways to still make this happen, and still provide you with the services you need, has been challenging but rewarding. So thank you for coming with us on this journey and may it continue in ways both old and new.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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As we rapidly approach the end of tax season, it is inevitable that many people have questions about audits. Even if someone has never had to undergo one, it feels like a big, scary thing that everyone wants to avoid. And although there is no way to ensure that you will be forever ‘audit-proof,’ there steps you can take to remain confident your return will hold up to an audit.

The first step here is to be honest. If you report all your income and only claim legitimate deductions, then you have followed the rules and there is nothing to catch you on. The next step, though, is to make sure that you can document all of this, too. It is one thing to have legitimate deductions, it is another to have the receipts and/or paperwork that back it up. Just know as a rule, anything that you cannot back up will be disallowed by an auditor.

I am not going to be so naïve as to pretend that I don’t know people are fudging some numbers on their returns. I even believe that a lot of fudging is genuine as in – “I made this purchase but don’t have the receipt” or “I made a donation in cash at an event.” That is where the deductions can be legitimate but cannot be proven.  At that point, you are kind of playing the audit lottery, assuming you’ll slide under the radar and not be called out to prove the numbers.

And of course, an overwhelming majority of tax returns are not audited, so much of this passes the without special notice. A lot of this is done with smaller numbers, which makes it easier to slip by. Once numbers start to get beyond the norm, though, that is when they can start to raise some flags.  And if you want a little more view into that process, you can read this recent article from CNBC.

Before I leave here, though, I want to mention the income side of the equation a little more. For sure, deductions can easily be transactions that take place outside the purview of tax forms, which is where a lot of that fudging exists. The money you have earned, though, is essentially already reported to the IRS. If you receive a 1099 for money you didn’t realize was going to be taxed, a form also went to the IRS. It is going to be more difficult to get away with thinking you can simply not report that to avoid the taxes.

In closing, remember the best way to feel comfortable when thinking about an audit is to do things the right way when you file your return.  And if you need any help with that, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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