528: The Small Business Owner’s Guide to Taxes, LLCs, Deductions, & Audit Risks

Starting your first or next business? This episode is for you. Today, we’re bringing you everything you need to know about small business taxes for beginners. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur, partner, landlord, house flipper, Airbnb host, or something in between, you MUST know about these tax laws before you start making money with your own business because if you get them wrong, you could be paying a MASSIVE penalty come tax time. You could save yourself thousands, or TENS of thousands, just by tuning in!
Brandon Hall, CPA, runs a real-estate-focused tax and accounting firm for big and small real estate investors. But, even if you’re not investing in real estate, these tax tips also apply to YOU. In today’s episode, we threw dozens of hard-hitting tax questions at Brandon so you know what to do with your next side hustle or full-blown business.
We’ll discuss whether you need an LLC, the real benefits of getting one, and which business entity (LLC, S-corp, C-corp, etc.) makes the most sense for your specific business and tax needs. Making money on your own but NOT paying quarterly taxes? This could cost you BIG, but thankfully, Brandon goes through exactly how much you could owe. And if you want to owe less to the IRS, we’ll give examples of tax deductions plus, which are NOT worth it and could put you at a BIG audit risk.
Need a tax professional for your small business? Find one for free with BiggerPockets Tax and Financial Services Finder! 

In This Episode We Cover
Self-employment and small business taxes for beginners 
Whether or not you need an LLC and why most real estate investors have this all wrong
Estimated taxes and the MASSIVE penalty you’ll pay if you forget about this
Tax deductions and the audit red flags that the IRS is looking for
The different business entities you can start and which has the best tax benefits 
The three things you NEED to set up an LLC and the most critical one beginners forget
“SALT” taxes and why those selling goods in different states could owe even more
And So Much More!

Links from the Show
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How to Obtain Real Estate Professional Tax Status
Hear Past Episodes with Brandon:
BiggerPockets Real Estate 196 - LLCs, House Hacking, and Saving on Taxes with Brandon Hall
BiggerPockets Real Estate 269 - How the New Tax Code Affects Your Real Estate Investments
BiggerPockets Real Estate 934 - How to Pay Less Taxes by Buying Real Estate (1 Write-Off You’re Overlooking)
On the Market 96 - The Biggest Real Estate Tax Loophole You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of
On the Market 165 - Year-End Tax Updates, New IRS Interest Rates, and URGENT News for LLCs
On the Market 187 - 100% Bonus Depreciation Coming Back? (Do NOT File…Yet)

00:00 Intro
01:42 Do You Need an LLC?
02:01 Different Business Entities
09:29 3 Steps to Set Up an LLC
16:49 KEY Dates to Know 
19:14 Estimated Taxes
25:48 The “SALT” Taxes
31:56 Tax Deductions and Audit Red Flags
44:22 Claiming Passive Losses 

Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-528

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