APRIL MCDANIEL
Certified Public Accountant | Certified Retirement Services Professional | Consultant | Educator | Kopsa Otte CPAs + Advisors
EPISODES
Taxes, Deductions, and Red Flags for Tax Season
Watch or Listen
RECOMMENDATIONS:
Books
The Energy Bus – Jon Gordon
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People – Stephen Covey
Eat That Frog – Brian Tracy
Make Your Bed – William McRaven
Quitter – Jon Acuff
Full Steam Ahead – Ken Blanchard, Jesse Stoner
The 5 Second Rule – Mel Robbins
Podcasts – I am not a consistent podcast listener [but…]
The Ramsey Show
Focus on the Family
When the Cleats Come Off – Ashley Burkhardt
Simon Sinek
Anything “self-help”
Classes
Anything IRS or offered through the Nebraska Society of CPAs
Some Beauty Industry Coaches (I say some because not all are created equal.)
Data-Driven Salon Summit/Strategies Team-Based Experience/Serious Business
Practices
MY Word this year is Empower – give someone the ability to reach their goal
Daily gratitude and prayer
EPISODE
Taxes, Deductions, and Red Flags for Tax Season
Tune in to hear April McDaniel unveil crucial tax season secrets, from decoding the intricacies of deductions for beauty industry professionals to demystifying the ever-changing meal rules. Don't miss this episode if you want to ensure you're not overlooking vital information that could save you money and headaches during tax season!
*This is not financial, legal, or tax advise*
Key Takeaways
April started off as a private sector auditor before working with Kopsa Otte, helping the beauty industry with their taxes!
If you are a suite owner, you are a business owner and must look at taxes differently than an employee.
Service Sales vs Retail Sales will be your source of income. Keep your receipts, write down, in detail, why it is a business-related expense, and take a picture of the receipt and save it in a Google Drive file! The IRS says your credit card statement is insufficient; they want to see itemized receipts.
Meal rules change yearly, so talk to your accountant about the new rules for deducting meals.
Personal car use is only a business expense when using it explicitly for business purposes...driving to and from work does not apply.
Get QuickBooks and learn it; it will make your life amazing.
Solopreneurs and salon owners have a better argument for the home office deduction, but you must document it by keeping a calendar showing the time you spent there. S-Corps, not so much.
Meals at super expensive restaurants could be seen as research on your part into hospitality and customer service, but you must document the service on your receipt when you store it. Otherwise, it could look sketchy....basically, meals are not easily deductible, and you do not get 100%
Car Deductions: it has to be primarily used for business purposes, and your commute to and from work does not technically count as a business purpose.
Tips are income, and you must claim all that income. Venmo is a paper trail, and they will report you to the IRS eventually, so stay apprised of all updates and start claiming your tips now!
TIPS: the Govt can assume you make 10-15% in tips of your total revenue. So, if you are not claiming your tips at all, then you could be due to pay back taxes and penalties. VENMO and ZELLE have systems to identify your transactions, so do not think using those platforms and not claiming tips is safe.
