The Veronica Edwards Show
Welcome to "The Veronica Edwards Show". On this podcast, we navigate general financial topics useful for your personal and business growth through unapologetic, honest, fun conversations with local for-profit and non-profit business owners and community leaders. Be sure to subscribe to this podcast so you never miss a single fun and informative conversation.
The Veronica Edwards Show
Navigating Tax Season: CPA Tax Chat with Alanna Anthony, CPA
In this episode of the Veronica Edwards show, host Veronica Edwards welcomes CPA Alanna Anthony to discuss essential tax strategies for small businesses during tax season. They celebrate reaching 5,000 downloads and introduce a new segment called CPA Tax Chat. The conversation covers tax deadlines, common deductions that are often overlooked, and practical tips to reduce stress during tax season. Alanna emphasizes the importance of organization, separating personal and business finances, and proactive tax planning to maximize savings and minimize liabilities.
02-04-2025
Welcome to the Veronica Edwards show, where we have fun financial conversations that everyone listening can apply to their personal and professional life. Welcome back, guys, to season five. I am your host again, veronica Edwards, cpa. So excited to be back season five, completely independent. I definitely want to shout out the V team because we were out for four months due to Hurricane Helene. So if you guys didn't hear my opening monologue, we talked about that and before we stopped recording, the end of September, we had about four or 500 downloads to go to hit 5,000. And, guys, we hit 5,000 downloads. So thank you everyone for the support and I know that you guys are going to continue to support and we have an amazing show for you guys today. So again, it's season five.
Speaker 1:So we're going to be introducing a new segment called CPA Tax Chat and before I bring on my amazing CPA co-host for the segment, I wanted to formally introduce her. This beautiful CPA is the powerhouse behind Amplify Accounting and Consulting. As a seasoned CPA tax advisor and financial educator, she brings over 20 years of experience to the table. Her journey into the world of taxes began with her first paycheck as a teenager, sparking a lifelong passion of numbers and financial strategy. I know that's right. I would love to welcome good family friend, ms Elena Anthony. Welcome, elena.
Speaker 2:Thank you. Thank you for having me, oh, and congratulations on those 5K downloads.
Speaker 1:That's a big deal. I'm excited for you. It's a big deal. I know it's not like a Cardi B viral moment of 5 million. However, I take every download very seriously and and I so appreciate basically trying to just get a thousand downloads a season and we've been doing that and I'm hoping, now that we're 100% independent, sponsored by Balance Virtually LLC, that we will continue to get even more downloads. So, before we get into the CPA text chat edition, elena, tell us a little bit more about you. You know I met you. We were trying to figure out if I've been married to Carlos almost 16 years. I feel like I've known you all 16 of those years. So tell the listeners how you know the Edwards clan.
Speaker 2:Okay, so I know the Edwards because I'm a military kid, I'm an Army brat and when we were stationed at Fort Bragg, north Carolina, I met the Edwards cousin, jessica.
Speaker 2:And so when they would come and visit or either, you know, with church stuff, we have all our different events. I met the Edwards. So when my parents decided to retire and they said, oh, Charlotte is a location, I was like I asked them what school they went to. I was trying to be wherever they were, to actually be with someone who you know, you actually know actually be with someone who you actually know.
Speaker 1:Yes, well, I've always loved Elena and when we first met, you weren't a CPA as of yet, and I wasn't a CPA as of yet either. So I love our journey where you went more of a tax route. I'm more managerial, fractional CFO. So when I was seeing you post things earlier in 2025, I was like, oh my God, elena, we got to talk. I would love to have you on the show. I don't know why I didn't even think about having you on the show before, so I'm so excited to have you on. And again, shout out to my cousin, jessica, jessica's, one of my favorite cousins. Love Jessica's. Philadelphia, always fun. And, side note, you know that they changed the name to Fort Bragg, to Fort Liberty, and now they changed it back to Fort Bragg, girl.
Speaker 2:Oh, did they change it back?
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:I was not going to accept Fort Liberty. I get it. I understand why they wanted to change it. Right but it had been Fort Bragg for so long and it's such a pivotal part of my childhood. I refused to call it Port Liberty.
Speaker 1:I agree they found like a loophole I think it was like yesterday where they're like well, we found another general named Bragg. That was honorable and we're going to rename it. I'm not mad at that, I'm with you too. Me too, as African-American women, there's certain things where I'm just like it ain't that deep, but I appreciate what everyone was trying to do. But just letting you know that's my Black history fact. We're recording this in February. Fort Bragg is back to Fort Bragg.
Speaker 2:Yay, I can't wait to tell my friends.
Speaker 1:So let's jump in Alayda with our first CPA text chat. So, just for those listening, this is going to be a reoccurring segment and we're going to be diving into different tax topics that especially small business owners are interested in, and we're recording this now in February, but this is going to air around middle of March. So we know right now everyone's knee deep in tax season. So, whether you're a solopreneur, a startup or an established business, preparing for tax season can be overwhelming. So we definitely today want to talk about tax season survival guide small business edition.
Speaker 1:So we're going to break it into three segments. We're going to talk about the different tax deadlines and requirements, common small business tax deductions people typically overlook and how to avoid last minute tax stress. So, elena, I'm going to hand it over to you. Friend, I told Elena like this is your show today you are the tax expert. Today you are the tax expert. I am going to let you lead us in with some of these tax deadlines and things and just key dates that those are listening to keep in mind, even if you're not a business owner but just those dates that are quickly approaching us this tax season.
Speaker 2:Okay, well, let's just start with. I know you referenced Hurricane Helene in the very beginning. Let's just start with. I know you referenced Hurricane Helene in the very beginning, and so let's start there.
Speaker 2:So if you are located in Alabama, georgia, north Carolina and South Carolina, or either parts of Florida, tennessee or Virginia, then the IRS did issue some disaster tax relief. Issue some disaster tax relief. So everyone in those locations they have until May 1st 2025 to file their 2023 individual and business taxes, if they had filed an extension previously. And then you also have that same timeframe to file for 2024. So that includes anyone who is a partnership or S-Corp and your taxes are due March 15th of 2025, you have until May 1st. And then also, if you are an individual or a corporation, where your due date is April 15, 2025.
Speaker 2:So that's just something to really keep in mind, and that also includes the last quarterly tax payments. So if you pay quarterly taxes, those are also extended. So you definitely would want to take advantage of that, because we know that a lot has happened. We want to make sure that you well, we, but also the IRS wants to make sure that you are able to get everything in on time, because I know it has been difficult to keep up with everything, especially in your time of need.
Speaker 1:So, yeah, no, I agree. Yeah, I was kind of like, come on, give us more than two weeks. You know, I know it's May 1st, I don't take it. And it does help for folks like myself where I am an S-Corp. So it would have been due March the 15th. So that did give me, you know, an extra six weeks. You know. But from my understanding Elena, correct me if I'm wrong for us for profits where we received any type of grant money related to Hurricane Helene, I haven't seen them come out and say any of that is not taxable, similar to like what they did during COVID where it affected everybody. So let me know if you've heard anything on your end about the IRS making it. I guess exempt is the proper word for any donations that came in for a business, but from my understanding the IRS reads any benefit to your business is taxable.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I haven't heard anything either. I was checking that out because I actually do have a client in North Carolina who was affected and I did not see a thing, which is a little disheartening. And I also agree with the whole May 1st. I really thought that they would push it back even further, especially because there are a lot of people who are still, you know, not getting any aid.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I am hoping now I'm not sure current administration, but I am hoping that they will push it back a little bit more, because to think that in I would say what it's been almost six months that people will have everything together and you're like in order to file your taxes, is crazy to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I totally agree. I think with the wildfires in LA I'm sure that got pushed back all the way to October. So I was told by other tax CPAs they can wait all the way to May the 1st to say, oh, we're going to change some of the tax law or we're going to make this exempt. So I definitely will say to the listeners stay tuned because there can be changes. So next that we wanted to talk about, elena, is common small business tax deductions that people overlook. I get this all the time where people are paying for things personally and have no idea that it really can be a business deduction. So I know right now you're in your busy season. What are some things, elena, that you see that people commonly overlook?
Speaker 2:A lot of, especially my, product-based businesses. They tend to forget that they could deduct mileage what? And yeah, it's very interesting because they are the ones who typically they don't have, like you know, the UPS store or USPS coming to their house to pick up packages.
Speaker 2:They are literally going to mail these packages off. So a lot of them do not realize that they can deduct mileage also for service-based businesses. Especially if you're a service-based business who does like deliveries a lot of them they don't. And when I say deliveries like I would say, the first thing that comes to mind to me is like a baker, like if you bake any type of cakes, or even if you're a caterer and you are dropping those items off at the location where they need to be. That is a deduction and you can use like a mile tracking app. Actually, please use the mile tracking app to track your mileage.
Speaker 2:My favorite one is Mile IQ. I love it for that. It's just really good because it actually I've tested it for clients and literally you could set that app that as soon as you get in the car, realize you are moving and it's going to ask you is this a personal trip or a business trip? And I think that's what I love about it most, because a lot of times we're just in our routine and going and so to have the app remind you of that is a pretty amazing thing. So definitely tracking your mileage is one of them. I think like things like your cell phone usage is another thing. Even though you may use your cell phone for personal, yep you a percentage of it is for business, especially if you're running a business that's online or you're answering calls from clients. Maybe you're looking up stuff on your phone, and so having an idea of what percentage you use your cell phone for business is a write-off, especially in this day and age. Everybody uses their cell phone. I don't know many people without a smartphone.
Speaker 1:And Alayna, I was just going to ask. I'm a little bit more liberal with this. I write off 100% of my internet and my cell phone because my business is called Balanced Virtually. So I do everything online. So I've had a few tax CPAs tell me well, you can, especially if majority of it is related to business. But the technically right thing to do is to track it. No different from we would the mileage correct.
Speaker 2:Correct. So the reason why I say just track it? Because you may be a person like, like you may be a person who's not heavily on your phone at all, like outside of work, and you're virtual Right. So when you're virtual you probably are using your phone a lot more for just business than anything else, but you can write it off 100 percent. I do have a couple of clients too who they have a separate line and that line is just for business only. And then I have some some clients who they have just one line but they have it set up where maybe they have an app that all their business calls come through and they're really not phone people, and so those types of people which sounds like you.
Speaker 1:Mm-hmm, and so those type of people which sounds like you, you're basically using your phone station and they're like Veronica, is it okay if I use my business card? And I tell them yes, but I also say, when you meet with your amazing CPA, like Ms Anthony, we're going to see what gives you more bang for your buck. If the mileage is a thousand and all the vehicle charges for gas was 500, I usually do an adjusting entry to account for that. Is that the right way of doing things or you should only do one or the other?
Speaker 2:You should only do one or the other from the tax perspective, and this is another thing that people don't realize and I'm glad you actually brought this up. So there's one way to do it managerial wise, so veronica is more so a managerial cpa, cfo there is one way to do it. That way from the tax perspective is one or the other. So yeah, so from the tax perspective, whichever one, like veronica said, gives you the most bang for your buck, that that's what you should use. Most of the time I have realized, like, especially if you're a person who use your car personally. Also, I've seen it where it's better if you do mileage. But then there are some people out there who you know, depending on what they do for a business, like one of my clients is a construction client, so they have a vehicle completely dedicated to construction.
Speaker 2:And so for that vehicle we do everything actuals. Or if you think about I want to say like a good kind of in between, if you think of like maybe a real estate agent who's going back and forth and showing houses, but you know they're also using our car for just everyday errands, it may be a situation where we want to see which one works out best for them.
Speaker 1:No, fair enough, and I see that quite a bit too, where I mean it just keeps going up. Elaine, I feel like it's up to like 70 cents now for the IRS mileage. I mean, back in the day, we was like, ooh, this is a lot when it was like 50 cents.
Speaker 1:So when you think about that if you're driving more than a hundred miles throughout the year. You know you might or I won't say without the year, maybe throughout the month. You know where it starts adding up. That's going to be a lot more than you just filling your tank up and it might just be 50 or $60. So definitely track your miles. But, like I've been saying to folks, go ahead. If you have gas and different things, we can always make the tax adjustment at the end of the year. But to Elena's point, it's either one or the other. We can't write off all your gas and your maintenance and all the things. And on top of that, take the mileage reimbursement, so, yes. So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of? Just top of that, take the mileage reimbursement, so yes. So what else do you have, elena, that you can think of, just top of head? That is like, hmm, this is something that people miss. We talked about mileage. What other things that you can think?
Speaker 2:of let's talk about. Well, I always bring up the home office deduction. That's something that people don't think about a lot. I will say this, though, for my individuals out there without a business If you work from home and you work for a company, you cannot deduct your home office, Because that has been a big question that I get every year since COVID.
Speaker 1:But that's good, I'm giggling, but I get that, elena, I get. Well, I got to pay for childcare. Isn't that a business deduction? I'm like, baby, you had those kids before you had the business, or even after, it doesn't matter, you still had to pay for those. I try to tell folks would you have this expense if you didn't have the business? And if it's yes, then most likely it's something that you can't deduct. But then it's those gray areas like we talked about with internet and cell phone and stuff like that. But I'm glad that you mentioned that if you work or if you're a W-2 employee for someone, you cannot deduct a home office.
Speaker 2:Not at all. But if you have a business and you have a dedicated office space, you can deduct it. What you will need is the square footage of that space, so length times width. That's what I always tell people when they don't remember the square footage I'm like what's the length times the width?
Speaker 2:You can get that for me and then the full square footage of your home, then we can. We have a percentage of space as the home office and then also you can apply to that. You know the different expenses you have and that percentage times those expenses can be the deduction. Now that's the more I would say the advanced deduction. There is a simple deduction and if you have like a, I typically apply, everybody does it different but for me, like if you have a business that you have on the side and you have an office, I typically do the simple deduction, just because it's a little bit easier, less scrutiny. But if you like work out of your office all day, like this is your full-time business Typically, I would like to get like all your expenses and then use those numbers to be able to compute what your home office deduction is.
Speaker 1:Oh, I like that so simplified deduction, similar to like if we were to itemize, versus the standard deduction, which that's high now too. I think that's almost $30,000 for married folks and almost 15,000 for individuals. So I'm glad that you brought that up too, that there is a simplified version, and I'm glad that you also added it's not as much scrutiny. And I tell a lot of my small business folks the odds of you getting audited by the IRS as long as you've kept your taxes up to date, meaning that you haven't gone more than three tax seasons without filing, then it's like 5% chance of you getting audited. But I still want people to realize like, hey, you know like you have to still have support for what you're doing and you just don't want it there to be like a big red flag that all of a sudden it's like, wow, look at this. I feel like any huge deduction will be a red flag to the IRS if it doesn't make sense for your business.
Speaker 2:Correct. You don't want to put yourself on the radar because what happens is if they see one thing it'll open you up to other years, and you just don't want it to be that. Yes.
Speaker 1:So, elena, we're almost to the end of the show. I would love if you can just list a couple of just tips that can help folks listening to reduce their tax season stress.
Speaker 2:Okay, so if you're not already organized with your financials, please, please, please get organized.
Speaker 2:It'll make your life so much easier, and the best way to do it is to use some type of bookkeeping software. Quickbooks is my favorite, but there are plenty out there that you can choose from. But you want to track your income and your expenses and make sure they're categorized correctly, and if you are struggling doing it yourself, then you definitely should get with someone to get some help in that category. The next thing you want to make sure you have done is have your business finances separated from your personal finances. When you have them together, you are opening yourself up. So just to give you a quick example if say something happens unfortunate and maybe you are sued by a client, if your finances are together, the judge can say oh, you didn't separate them.
Speaker 2:So, we're going to access your personal also, so you basically lose that corporate veil, as we like to say, that protection. So keep them separated and it's going to help you in tracking and not missing any expenses that are available to you that you can write off.
Speaker 1:I totally agree. I tell my students that all the time when I teach a financial tools class. Even though you're an LLC limited liability corporation, you still need to separate your business bank account from your personal bank account.
Speaker 2:Yes, definitely, and any other?
Speaker 1:tips that you would say that you want to make sure that we keep in mind this season.
Speaker 2:I would say for this season just make sure that you are planning ahead. I am really big on tax planning. That's kind of like our main thing that we offer outside of tax preparation. As you are going through the year, you're bringing in income, make sure you are meeting with your CPA or your accountant looking at what your possible tax liability is going to be and then making a plan for that. You don't always have to pay more taxes. There are things you can implement early so that you do not have to pay as much and you can use that money for the things you really want to do. Yes or pay.
Speaker 1:Ms Anthony or myself, to assist you with those things, exactly so you can have more money on the back end. Well, elena, I'm so thankful to have you on and this is going to be a reoccurring segment, so I hope those that are listening have more confidence. During this tax season, the key thing is to prepare, to stay proactive, to save time, money and stress. So, elena, if you can just please give your information, if anybody wants to reach out to you for tax support, sure your information.
Speaker 2:If anybody wants to reach out to you for tax support, sure, so you can find me at wwwamplifyaccom and that is A-M-P-L-I-F-Y-A-Ccom, and you can reach me at hello at amplifyaccom.
Speaker 1:Wonderful and I just want to thank again everybody for listening to the Veronica Edwards Show, and you can listen to all prior shows at veronicaedwardsbuzzsproutcom or on my website, sponsor of the show, balancevirtuallycom. We're also available on Apple Podcasts, spotify and Amazon Music. So until next time, stay balanced and financially savvy.
