In this video, the speaker outlines the extensive array of taxes that business owners may encounter—including income, capital gains, corporate, dividend, excess profit, distribution, gift, gross receipts, inheritance, franchise, payroll (FICA, federal unemployment), workers' compensation, property, personal property, land value, vehicle registration, consumption (alcohol, carbon, fat), financial transaction, fuel, internet, luxury, soda, sin, transfer, and sales taxes. He explains that while accountants typically file income tax returns (personal and business), any tax that requires a separate filing form—such as sales tax, payroll tax, personal property tax, and gift/estate taxes—must be explicitly included in the engagement agreement and often incurs additional fees. The speaker emphasizes the importance of clarifying responsibilities with the accountant, noting that separate filings have distinct frequencies (monthly, quarterly, annually) and that accountants can add value by handling multiple returns, reducing errors, and managing deadlines. He shares a client example where in‑house payroll errors cost more than outsourcing the service. The video concludes with a motivational reminder that profit is a choice.
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All right, as a business owner, there are lots of taxes that you have to pay. And so the question we got is, which taxes and filings are you responsible for versus knowing which ones the accountant is responsible for? So first, I want to go over a list of— to give you an idea of the scope of what taxes actually are. And I'll do that really quickly. So we understand income taxes, but income taxes also within that group, you have capital gains taxes, corporate taxes, dividend taxes, excess profit taxes, distributions in excess of basis taxes, gift taxes, gross receipts tax, inheritance tax, franchise tax. You also have payroll taxes. This is referring to Social Security and Medicare, sometimes called FICA. You also have a federal unemployment tax that's part of payroll. And usually with payroll, you also have some form of workers', like unemployment insurance, which is really a tax. Property taxes. So you're familiar with your house, and you pay property taxes. But there's also personal property tax, which I've always found to be a terrible name. Because it's a business tax on personal property you use in the business after you've already paid sales tax on it. Love it. Sometimes there's a land value tax. Car registrations and renewals are generally a tax. Then there's consumption taxes, alcohol tax, carbon tax, fat taxes. They put an extra tax on unhealthy food. Financial transaction tax. like selling stocks, um, like the transaction of selling the stock. Fuel taxes, internet tax, luxury tax, soda tax, sin taxes, um, usually referring to, uh, like cigarettes or gambling. Um, transfer tax if you're transferring properties. And then sales tax. That's just— I mean, those are pretty broad categories. A lot of those taxes, we pay them as we go. You get the invoice, you pay it. So what do you have to worry about versus what the accountant can take care of? Ultimately, if you're engaging the accountant, you know, or you should know, or have a list of what the two of you have agreed on, on the services the accountant is doing for you. So if one of those taxes is not on the list of services they're providing for you, then you would be responsible for it. Income tax is generally the one that we all kind of think of. I'm hiring an accountant, they're going to file my tax return. So your personal tax return, your business tax return, those filings, you would assume, rightly so, are part of that agreement. What's not automatically included, so it has, it has to be separately stated on your engagement, just because it's a separate filing. And so usually, a general rule of thumb is if the tax requires you as a business to file a separate form, separate from your income tax form, then you probably have to engage the accountant with that specific service. Sales tax is a common one. Just because you've hired an accountant to do their personal— your personal taxes and your business taxes, that does not encompass also doing your sales tax return. That'd be a separate conversation, probably an additional fee. Sales taxes can be filed monthly, quarterly, sometimes annually. Payroll taxes, same deal. Just because they're doing your income tax return doesn't automatically mean they're doing your payroll tax filings. Payroll tax filings also could be filed monthly, quarterly, and annual. Obviously, there's requirements that dictate which frequency you're filing those returns. But those are separate filings that an accountant would charge extra money for. The one that we usually see the highest frustration with is personal property taxes. This is an annual return. Your county or your city— sorry, your city that you live in usually charges this to you and they take money from you. And who knows what value you get out of that, but it's something that we legally have to do in the US. That is not automatically included. That's a separate filing. Yes, the accountant probably has most of the information they need to file that return. Because they did your income tax return, but it is a separate filing. So don't automatically assume that your accountant is going to file that just because they did your income tax return. You'd want to clarify with them, and usually there would be a little bit of an extra fee for that. And then gift and estate taxes as well. Again, separate filing, separate service, additional value created, which means there should be compensation for that. Those are the common ones. But again, you could be responsible for it, or the accountant is. It just depends on what you've agreed to with the accountant. I hope that helps. I know it's a lot of moving parts in the tax world, and it's actually crazy how many taxes we actually pay on an ongoing basis. But again, if you have any questions, reach out to your accountant so you can discuss I didn't— I saw this video. I just wanted to make sure sales tax, payroll taxes, personal property, who's handling those? And, you know, if you value someone who does more than one return, because as a business owner you would be filing for your one business and they would be filing for multiple businesses. So theoretically, they'd have more experience than you. If you value that type of thing, it might be worth engaging with them to discuss You know, can you just take these off my plate and responsibility? And then they put it on their schedule and they reach out to you when they know that that filing is going to happen. That's one of the values. And of course, the other value is they'll file it the right way. I have a client still to this day, I cannot get them to switch from doing their own payroll in-house. And we are invoicing them more in fixing their payroll errors and what they're would pay us if they just had us do that service for them from the beginning. Um, there are certain things that just— you don't know until you know. Uh, so anyways, hope that helps. Profit is a choice. Have the courage and wisdom to choose it.
