Apple Expected to Report Strong Earnings Today, But Unlikely to Set Record-Breaking Quarter

[IJ Reilly]

Yep, paying low capital gains tax is basically a scam. And hedge fund guys who pay that tax rate on their salaries is a total scam. But I think the small business owner also gets good deals. I've never known a small business owner that didn't have tons of tax deductions piled up for dubious work related things like "meals" and "clothes" that I as a normal W-2 worker have to pay for in after tax dollars. So I'm not sympathetic to the tax burden of the small business owner either.

As a small business owner I get some of that (20% for meals for work out of town), but nothing for clothes even though I figure flip-flops and t-shirts are a kind of uniform. My huge whopping health care premium comes off the top line (though none of my other healthcare costs are deductible), and if that one goes in the name of "simplification," my tax bill goes up by thousands right away. And I do pay the employee and employer share of the payroll tax. Overall the message is, "stop working, you dummy." I guess I should listen and do just that.
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Watch out for the pump and dump.

Oh, thanks for the warning.

 

[TallManNY]

As a small business owner I get some of that (20% for meals for work out of town), but nothing for clothes even though I figure flip-flops and t-shirts are a kind of uniform. My huge whopping health care premium comes off the top line (though none of my other healthcare costs are deductible), and if that one goes in the name of "simplification," my tax bill goes up by thousands right away. And I do pay the employee and employer share of the payroll tax. Overall the message is, "stop working, you dummy." I guess I should listen and do just that.
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Well it depends in part on how ethical you are. I've been out to dinner many times with friends who have a small business who grab the bill (sometimes just their portion) and plan on claiming it for a business expense because at some point during the dinner they asked me for some advice. Home office, cable internet, cellphone, laptop, car expenses, etc. these all get deducted. I'm sure you do pay a lot for health care premiums. I know a couple of small business owners who don't have insurance at all because of this issue. But they have lots of deductions still. And (in the case of a bar/restaurant owner), off the books cash flow.

 

[IJ Reilly]

Well it depends in part on how ethical you are. I've been out to dinner many times with friends who have a small business who grab the bill (sometimes just their portion) and plan on claiming it for a business expense because at some point during the dinner they asked me for some advice. Home office, cable internet, cellphone, laptop, car expenses, etc. these all get deducted. I'm sure you do pay a lot for health care premiums. I know a couple of small business owners who don't have insurance at all because of this issue. But they have lots of deductions still. And (in the case of a bar/restaurant owner), off the books cash flow.

People will game whatever system you got. I had a CPA many years ago who encouraged us to deduct our dry cleaning bills. Uhhh, no.

Yeah, those individual plan premiums are a killer. I have a pre-ACA plan that was grandfathered in. Nearly $15k a year, sure to go up a lot again next year. The game on that is, as a self-employed, everything you pay in premiums for healthcare is deductible, but nothing else you pay for actual healthcare is. Do we live in a great country, or what?