Episode 134: Making Your Wedding Business Taxes Easier & Less Stressful with Melissa Whaley

No wedding business owner loves the topic of taxes but what if taxes could be easier for you? What if you could get more tax deductions and know that your tax matters are handled? You can, with your own magical tax unicorn. Today’s guest is my magical tax unicorn and she’s sharing all sorts of tips to help you know your numbers and manage your taxes in a way that doesn’t make you want to poke your own eyes out.

Melissa is a Virtual Tax Advisor for creative business owners. She helps demystify taxes for people who light up over their work and freak out over their numbers. She is a California native, married to her college sweetheart for 10 years and they have 4 awesome kids together. You can find her chugging iced coffee while geeking out over all things tax.

In this episode we’ll cover:

• The importance of knowing your numbers
• What tax law changes mean for you
• How quarterly estimated tax works & how to calculate what you need to pay
• The difference between personal deductions & business deductions
• What the standard deduction is and how it works
• What a business deduction is
• Getting over the fear around business deductions
• What the “big fat scary deductions” are
• How to deduct your mileage
• The most overlooked deductions for creative business owners
• Why you shouldn’t fear an audit or the IRS
• How to separate business and personal expenses when buying things for both
• The awesome retirement contributions deduction you probably don’t know about
• Why you shouldn’t use a tool like Honeybook or Dubsado for your bookkeeping
• Why you shouldn’t spend just to save on your taxes.
• When to work with a tax pro
• How to deal with the anxiety of the unknown

Links & Resources:

Start your free 10-day trial to The Wedding Business Collective!
Wave Accounting Workshop
Know Your Numbers
Melissa’s Ultimate Tax Deduction Guide
MileIQ
Quickbooks Self Employed
Betterment
Wave
Profit First book
Episode 44: Putting Profit First with Mike Michalowicz
 

More from Melissa:

Website: www.melissawhaley.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/MelissaWhaleyTax
Instagram: @melissawhaley
 

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