Quick Preview:
Clients often come to us with tax questions, so we decided to hire a tax advisor last year that is available to our clients year-round. Today he’s sharing his top tax tips with you.
On This Episode:
Today we’re joined by Chris Pepper, a tax advisor at our office. We decided to hire him last year so our clients would have quicker access to someone with tax knowledge and who could help with tax returns.
Chris has been a great addition and has a lot of experience. He worked for a top 10 national CPA firm and a family office with assets of over $4 billion.
When a new client comes in, Chris likes to get at least two years of their tax returns to see what’s in it. He sometimes also finds errors previous tax preparers made.
Chris has done a couple hundred tax returns for our clients already, and some things have stood out to him. Some of the biggest things that popped out were Schedule Cs that really needed to be S Corps or a partnership. You can’t take all your deductions as Schedule C.
If you’re coming to meet with Chris, make sure you have all your current year information available, including W2s, 1099s, etc. Some people prefer to meet in person. Others want to talk by phone or just drop off their documents.
There are some things you can do this year to improve your tax situation. You can take advantage of lower rates and roll IRAs and 401ks into Roth accounts, recognizing capital gains while we have preferred rates.
If you have any questions about your taxes, Chris is accessible year-round. Your tax prep fee means you have access to him by email and cellphone all year.
Thanks for listening to this week’s show. Feel free to utilize the timestamps below to skip around to specific topics.
Timestamps:
0:32 – Meet Chris Pepper
3:13 – Tax preparation process
5:19 – Chris’ work history
7:08 – Tax returns
7:57 – What to bring
8:59 – Changing tax laws
10:30 – Withholdings
13:00 – Client questions
14:33 – Capital gains
18:10 – Write-offs
20:05 – Side businesses
“I’ve seen probably 30 or 40 clients this year that have been hit by a pretty big tax bill, and it was really just withholding. ” – Chris Pepper
