“If you don’t have a plan to pay less taxes, you won’t.”

John Beidle offers a tax planning service focused on helping small business owners and real estate investors pay the least amount of tax as legally possible.

Gus: What are your top three tips for small businesses that are just starting to work on their income taxes?

John: 1 – Get professional help from a well qualified tax planner. You don’t want to be going to a tax preparer after the year is over with a box full of receipts and expect to pay less taxes. If you didn’t know you could write off your kid’s braces there is nothing you can do about it after the fact. Plans and documentation need to be set up before hand in order for you to receive the benefit.

2- Keep good records. Sooner or later you can figure that you will be audited and the more successful you are, the more likely it will be sooner. If you did not keep proper records you will be paying extra taxes, penalties and interest.

3- Don’t be afraid to take a deduction you deserve because you have heard it increases your audit odds. Unfortunately, there is more myth than truth that seems to circulate about what triggers an audit. No one needs to fear an audit if they are properly documenting their deductions.

Gus: What are the biggest tax mistakes that see you see people make and how can they be avoided?

John: #1 Mistake: Failing to Plan

2. Mistaking “proactive” for “aggressive”

3. Wrong business entity

4. Wrong retirement plan

5. Missing family employment

6. Missing medical benefits

7. Missing home office expenses

8. Missing car/truck expenses

9. Missing meals/entertainment

10. Missing my services because I help small business owners avoid the previous 9 mistakes. If you don’t have a plan to pay less taxes you won’t.

Gus: What are some of the advantages of implementing a pro-active tax planning strategy?

John: The advantage of a pro-active tax strategy is that you as a small business owner will know what to do, when to do it and how to do it so you pay the least amount of tax as legally possible.

Gus: What’s influenced your decision to start the process of making your site membership based?

John: Time or the lack there of. If I am going to service more businesses, I need a more efficient means of distributing the hands on help that business owners need. If I build a membership area to my site with short simple how to videos it should increase customer service, satisfaction and make my business more referable.

Gus: What investment strategies would you suggest to someone who is unfamiliar with the process or the options they have available to them? What kind of research should they be doing to educate themselves?

John: I advise clients on the tax aspects of various investment strategies. I do not give investment advice but do work with clients investment adviser’s to help reduce client’s tax burdens for both taxable and tax deferred investments.

Gus: What’s the most exciting thing on the horizon for you personally or professionally?

John: Besides transitioning my site into a full blown membership site, I am also involved in a couple of other startup ventures and am a mentor for new startups with Innovate VMS and ITEN. I find entrepreneurship and the raising of capital for new ventures both fascinating and frustrating.