Tax attorney Hubert Johnson is a Navy Veteran and founder of Guardian Tax Law. On this episode of American Warrior Radio, Hubert shares tax tips for Veteran entrepreneurs.
While serving in the Navy, he injured his spine, resulting in a medical discharge. He was feeling sorry for himself until he reported to the VA pain clinic at the age of 19. Witnessing the situation that the older Veterans were in, he says at that moment “I was going to be all right.”
Hubert despised his federal tax class in law school. But “life happened” and he fell into tax law because “I just needed a job and I have been doing it ever since.”
Hubert shares important tax tips for Veteran entrepreneurs, the foremost being to always get good, expert advice. The advantages/disadvantages of the various business structure options should be explored before starting operations.
Adding employees is an especially important threshold. The IRS treats payroll tax issues as if one is “stealing from their employees.” Entrepreneurs can be held personally liable for both payroll and sales tax issues.
Hubert recommends people be extremely cautious when entering into partnerships. “Trust but verify.”
We discuss an issue unique to entrepreneurs who are still serving in the military; having a plan in place for the business to keep operating and taxes filed during a deployment. There are special provisions for military members serving overseas.
Hubert clarifies residency issues relative to military members. The rule of thumb is residency is established as state where their enlistment took place. However, residency can be established somewhere else. He cites California & New York tax laws as particularly onerous when it comes to military members. In contrast, Oklahoma doesn’t tax military Veterans. “Before you leave a state, file a non-resident tax return so they will leave you alone.”
TAKEAWAY: “Get a mentor. Surround yourself with people who can help bouy you up and you can call and ask questions. There isn’t a millionaire out there that truly did it all by themselves.“
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