While Jason Tartick may have first made headlines and gained viewers in Season 14 of the ABC series Bachelorette partyHe has carved out a place for himself in the business world that has made him a trusted expert in personal finance—with or without the final rose.
Tartick owns five firms (including his current talent agency, Talent management redesigned) and host of one of Apple’s top-rated podcasts on business and money, Trade Secrets with Jason Tartick. This “Wall Street Journal” bestselling creator Talk to me about money can summarize complex financial issues in a way that helps atypical people understand what they’ll do to enhance their businesses, increase their income, and increase their financial future.
Entrepreneur sat down with Tartick, who is partnering with TurboTax this 12 months, to debate one of the most difficult tasks for businesses and individuals—filing taxes. Tartick offered advice on what to avoid, what to look out for, and what to begin doing today to maximise your refunds, each now and in the future.
Responses have been edited and condensed for clarity.
Entrepreneur:What should small business owners focus on first when starting their tax return?
Jason Tartick: I think the most vital thing for small business owners is organization. There are a lot of statistics that show that when small business owners are disorganized, they lose out on expenses or opportunities to cut back their taxable income, which is simply money they do not have in their pockets. For small businesses and startups, this is key. The most vital thing is that inside five years, [about] 50% of startups in the United States fail, often as a result of poor management and lack of organization.
What is the first concrete step business owners should take to get organized and stay organized?
I’d recommend QuickBooks first and foremost to implement accounting. Small businesses [can] they have problems with outsourcing to experts, so that is when they need to use TurboTax Live Businesswhere they’ll file their taxes themselves, file an extension, or file their taxes with an expert. The neatest thing about the experts is that they are available day, night, and weekends — they are available via FaceTime or phone if they have any questions.
Is outsourcing to an expert the best method to make sure you’re maximizing your tax refund, each personally and for what you are promoting? How should people stay on top of what deductions they’re eligible for?
The only constant in tax law is change, and we see that in all types of all the indicators that go into the economy, tax rates, and changes in tax laws in general. So the problem is that unless you’re employed with an expert, you will not know what the closest or most appropriate deduction is for your particular business or industry. America is so pro-business and there are so many—I’ll call them strategies, not loopholes—but strategies that individuals can make the most of. There are even tax deductions for the size of your automobile, the weight of your automobile, the percentage of your private home which you can deduct for office space, meals, business travel, mileage, and depreciation on your automobile—there are things that business owners spend money on every day that they do not claim as tax deductions. And because they struggle to do all of it themselves and wear all the hats, they lose out on those things. Outsource it to an expert because it’s so area of interest.
Aside from attempting to do all the pieces at once and without anyone’s help, what’s one other major mistake that companies and individuals make when filing their taxes?
The biggest mistake I’ve seen with tax firms and even individuals is mixing personal and business expenses. Some people don’t have a separate business card and a separate personal card and don’t have the ability to do accounting. So things that must be spent as personal expenses are spent on business and vice versa. And the biggest problem with the success of those small businesses is managing the numbers. If your numbers aren’t accurate, how will you manage them? How are you able to reduce your tax liability? How are you able to get into a position where you’ll be able to reinvest money to grow? It’s all the time a miscategorization of things because of disorganized expense management.
Going into the 2024 tax season, are there any big changes to filing taxes that individuals should know about?
Let’s take a look at the past 12 months, especially the individual phrases that are [due] coming April 15. Sixty-four percent of people that filed a request for a refund — and a refund of as much as $2,700 on average. And we still see so many people not even filing taxes, which is just absolutely crazy in today’s world. The other thing we see is the IRS is putting a whole bunch of thousands and thousands of dollars into auditing small business and individual tax returns. So when I think about 2024 and the biggest change in taxes and the IRS, it’s the IRS putting a ton of cash into auditing. If you look back at your last few years and you see things that weren’t done right, you are going to pay [for] The IRS is stepping in; they are stepping in hard and shall be at people’s doors when we least expect it.
To avoid an unpleasant encounter with the IRS, is there an ideal timeline you’d recommend for individuals and businesses to begin handling their tax filings? How early should people prepare?
Every quarter you must know where your books are, understand your funds and have all of your tax receipts and invoices for the quarter. When people wait all 12 months, things get lost. There are also a variety of other deductions that may contribute to your retirement depending on the time of 12 months. If you contribute to your 401k or if you have a high deductible health plan, for example, those cutoffs fall in the second quarter this 12 months. You’re going to miss out on a huge amount of savings if you do not contribute to those pre-tax opportunities that may prevent money and be turned into investments. So all of us think March fifteenth, we think April fifteenth, we think October fifteenth extensions if we miss the deadline. And we think, “That’s it,” when it involves taxes. But there are so many different dates and times throughout the 12 months that we are able to miss the opportunity to take pre-tax dollars and invest them or qualify for certain expenses.