Too Good To Be True?

Information that sounds too good to be true is actually too good to be true? No way.

The place to get good tax advice isn’t on TikTok? No way.

I promise these sarcastic thoughts come from somewhere, as this recent article from Forbes sent my whirring in different directions, and not many of them good. The article highlights something that I thought was worth spending a little extra time on, though, so here we are.

The article itself speaks of a viral TikTok post that discussed the Augusta Rule in taxes, a use of which can involve businesses renting space in an owner’s home for business meetings. It then spins off into a discussion of an example of how difficult and nuanced the rule actually is.

And yes, the general rule being discussed is real, there are actually potential tax benefits for business owners to use their homes for business meetings. So if you happen to be a business owner and you hear about something like this that you think you could legitimately use, yes, you should be interested and should look into taking advantage of it.

The problem, though, is when looking into it stops there. If one just runs with an idea without looking into where the idea comes from, it does not often lead to good places (which is something we should remember in many area of life). I don’t even want to say that you need to enlist an expert because it’s not like looking up any more information is beyond a layperson. I just want to say that any idea one feels deserves action also deserves another moment or two to get more than just one piece of information before taking that action.

And that concept should probably be leaned on a little more when the potential for an IRS audit increases when you don’t do it.

The internet is a wonderful place where many people are allowed to have a voice that they may not have otherwise. But that doesn’t mean it’s always a place filled with truth. But it could be - just give yourself the extra moment to find out where it is. For every wild, untrue claim posted out there, there are many more things posted that are closer to the truth. A search can find these if we step outside our hopeful echo chambers.

And of course, if you ever feel you do need the opinion of an expert, to find out how something works in truth, please feel free to contact us.

Warmly,

Josh Bousquet
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