In this essential episode, Bill Betts is joined by Chante, founder of C Squared Accounting in Houston, Texas, to break down the often-overlooked but critical topic of tax compliance for pet business owners.

With over a decade of experience in accounting, Chante shares expert advice on how groomers and other pet professionals can avoid common tax pitfalls, understand deductible expenses (including how your pet might actually help reduce your tax bill!), and stay on the right side of IRS regulations.

Whether you're a solo groomer or running a team, this episode is packed with practical insights to help you stay compliant, maximise your deductions, and build a financially sound grooming business.

You can find out more about Chante's accountancy here: https://general.c-squaredaccounting.com/home

💬 Key Takeaways

1. Tax laws are complex, and working with an experienced accountant is vital for small businesses in the pet industry.
2. Pet professionals can claim pet-related expenses (if used in service delivery or marketing), and mileage is a commonly missed deduction.
3. Timely bookkeeping and filing are critical to avoid interest, penalties, and unnecessary stress at tax time.
4. Software like QuickBooks can make financial management easier—if set up correctly from the start.
5. Having a professional review your books could uncover hidden savings and help you keep up with changing legislation.

As always, I'd like to thank the podcast sponsor, Lopay, the low-cost payment platform that helps you keep more of the money you earn!

You can find out more and sign up for Lopay here: https://merchant.lopay.app/ref/PETPASSION2500, where listeners of this podcast get £2500 of fee-free transactions!

And of course, if you feel like you could benefit from Bill's business programs for the Pet Grooming industry, visit our website: https://petpassiontoprofit.com/

Welcome to the Pet Grooming Business Podcast with me, Bill Betts, where we give practical business advice to help you grow your pet grooming business.

This podcast is sponsored by Low Pay, the low rate payment app that gives you more.

So without further ado, let's get going.

Right.

Welcome everyone.

Welcome back to this next podcast episode.

This one goes is for our listeners in the usa because we are here with Shantae from C Squared Accounting.

How are you?

I'm doing well.

How are you?

Yeah, very good, Very good.

Thank you for, for joining us on the podcast.

So tell let's, first of all, let's, let's understand where you are at the moment.

Whereabouts in the world are you?

Are you, are you living?

So I am in Houston, Texas, so the southern part of the US I grew up in Florida, so a little bit east of where I am now.

But it is a chilly day for us.

It's about 50 degrees Fahrenheit, which is chilly for this part of the country.

But yeah, it's a nice area to be in.

Nice.

Cool.

Do you work from home or do you work from a office?

I do.

I work from home.

Yeah.

Before I started my business during COVID I started working from home with my job that I had.

And I pretty much have worked from home ever since.

So it's, it's sometimes I'm like, oh, I kind of miss the office a little bit.

But most days I really enjoy just being able to roll out of bed and, you know, walk my dog and kind of get my morning going at a slower pace.

Yeah, that's it.

But I always sort of make a few jokes because people think, well, you work from home and you're like, you know, not really working.

Are you though?

But you know, I've got an office.

I work from home, but I work from an office.

There's lots going on.

Yeah.

Yeah.

And I honestly, I find that I'm more productive working from home than I was in the office because there's less distract, like in the office, you know, there's people wanting to talk about different things that you're working on together or just like talk about their weekend or their kids or whatever it is.

And then, you know, you get up and you go to get coffee and, you know, someone starts a conversation about something and what should have been like a two minute thing turns into like a 15 minute thing.

So I feel like I'm definitely more productive working from home kind of in my own little area.

With your, you say dog, you say you walk your dog.

It's More like walk your horse.

You've got massive dogs.

That's true.

I have a Great Dane, he is around 160 pounds.

And a lot of people do say, is that a dog or a horse?

So tell us about your business then.

What made you start your business and what do you do?

I suppose so.

I started C Squared Accounting because I wanted to be able to provide my expertise to smaller businesses.

So I have been in the accounting industry for over 10 years now.

I went to college for, got my CPA license, which is Certified Public Accountant license.

I think they call it a chartered accountant in the uk.

But I did all that studying.

I worked for larger companies and worked with, you know, Fortune 500s and all of that.

And then I just said, like, I think I can do this for smaller businesses and, you know, help them.

And so I just decided that, you know, I would give it a try on my own.

And then, you know, I started learning more about being an entrepreneur, about having a business and how to grow it.

And people were always saying, oh, you got to pick an industry to serve, you got to niche down and all of that.

And so I started thinking about, well, who is it that I would most likely want to talk to?

Who are the people that I'm really interested in?

And I just kept coming back to the pet space because I spend most of my time with other dog owners or people who are in the pet industry in some kind of way because of my Great Dane.

And so I said, I'm already, you know, talking to these people a lot.

Why not make my business focus there as well?

Yeah.

So I take it, do you cover all the, all the, all the sort of different pet professionals?

I mean, in the, in the States you have, obviously you have pet groomers.

I know that, but do you have dog walkers, pet sitters, pet shops?

Obviously, yes, yes, we have all of that.

And I am open to serving everyone.

I also, I have one client that is actually like pet tech.

They are kind of in a startup phase, but they're working on some, like, wearable technology for dogs.

And I was like, hey, like, it's not my typical client, but it is related to the industry, so why not?

And I'm really looking forward to kind of how things go once they're able to really get up and running and get their products launched and all of that.

Right?

Yeah.

So I'm open to working with everyone.

I work with veterinarians, I work with those that are, you know, pet sitters.

I work with the trainers.

I'm open to anyone in the space.

It'S a really big field, isn't there, with a lot of professionals in it?

Lots of different professionals doing different, Offering different services?

Yes.

I didn't realize just how many different businesses people have in this space space until I really started getting into it and studying about.

And I'm like, man, like, I could even, you know, drill down even further and just specialize in, you know, one particular lane if I really wanted to because there's just so many people that are doing the grooming and so many people that are doing the training and that kind of thing.

And I don't know about in the uk, but here in the US we've got a lot of people that are doing like mobile grooming now.

Yeah, definitely, yeah.

I've talked to a lot of people that are, you know, doing the mobile thing and, you know, they have questions about, like, how to pay for, you know, getting a van or a bus or whatever they're going to use and all of that.

So, yeah, it's, it's definitely interesting to see all the things that are happening in the pet space.

And what do you, what services do you offer?

So, you know, obviously accountancy, do you do bookkeeping?

And wages pay, I suppose payroll isn't it for you?

That sort of stuff.

So we are pretty much full service.

We do bookkeeping, we do the accounting, which is kind of more on the advisory side of looking at reports for you, highlighting red flags and that type of stuff.

And then we do taxes as well.

I don't have any clients that I am doing payroll for right now, but it's something that I'm open to helping a client with if it's a need that they have.

So in the uk we can be self employed and we can do our own taxes.

There's no, like, legal requirement to have an accountant and it's thoroughly recommended that we do have an accountant because taxes and tax returns can be quite complex, although I'm sure there's many out there that do it themselves and do it well.

But is that the same in the States?

Can you put your own taxes in and do your own returns and how often do you do them?

Yes, you, you can do your own.

I would say there probably are a lot of people, especially like, you know, the sole proprietors that, you know are making 100k or less that do do their own.

And I have had people that were on the smaller scale of revenue where I told them, like, it's not really worth it for you to pay for my services.

Like some people just have businesses that are simple enough where they can just do it on their own and use a service like, you know, TurboTax or something like that.

So it definitely, you know, is up to the person.

But it is recommended for the most part that people who have, like, officially signed up and registered for a business to work with an accountant.

And I would say for most people, it's definitely helpful, just because the tax code here in the US Is super complicated and it changes constantly.

Like, with every administration, there is something new that they're doing.

Like the one big, beautiful bill that the Trump administration just released last year, or it made a lot of changes.

And even as someone in the accounting industry, I'm still learning things, researching things, and trying to figure out all the changes that they made with that bill.

So I could not imagine someone who.

This isn't their career having the time to figure out all the changes and how it applies to them and all of that.

So I think this year and maybe the next couple years are probably a little more critical than other years to work with a tax professional, just because there have been a lot of changes.

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There are changes to keep up with.

So if you.

If I was a sole proprietor, which I think in the UK is a sole trader, I'm.

I'm working on my own.

I've got my own business.

Is there any sort of things that you often notice that people forget to claim for?

They don't realize that they can put through their tax return or don't understand that they can put through their tax returns or any sort of obvious ones that you often come across.

Yeah, I think mileage is a big one that people don't necessarily really understand how that works.

Like, I think everyone knows in the US like, hey, I can claim mileage.

But exactly what that means and how it works, I think is something that people don't necessarily fully grasp.

Like, you know, you can make a trip to the bank to, you know, do a deposit for, you know, your business, and that mileage is something that you would count.

So it's little nuances like that that I think people tend to miss out on.

And then in the pet space, I don't think a lot of people realize that their pets can be claimed, like the expenses related to their pets if they're using their pet in the business, which most people are like, most people are Using their pets in marketing.

Trainers most of the time have trained their own pets.

And here is my pet.

Have trained their own pets and are using them in that business.

Okay, before you go, lay down, please.

And so that is something else that I think a lot of people don't realize, because the general rule is you can't claim pets.

They don't count as a dependent, even though a lot of us treat our pets like our children.

But when you have a business and you are in this space, you can claim a lot of those experiences.

That's really interesting because I don't think many of us in the UK would get away with putting our dog food and pet insurance and stuff like that through our businesses.

But I suppose in the us, if your pet appears on your adverts or your logos and your, you know, is in your salon or is part of your.

Part of your.

Part of your business, you can claim for everything.

Vets, bills, you know, does that, can that go through?

Yeah, well, I'm claim.

Claim those as long as your pet is actually being used in their business.

In your business.

So in that case, they call them like a working animal, I think is like the term that they use in the tax code.

And so since they are a working animal, they're pretty much treated like an employee, so to speak.

And so the expenses for that employee are things that you can deduct.

Have you seen any weird pets going through, like tortoise or snake or stuff?

Butterfly.

I've got five dogs.

I mean, imagine that.

Imagine putting all five dogs through the business.

That'd be amazing.

Yeah, yeah, I've.

I've never seen anything too weird, but.

Yeah, but like, I mean, if, if, you know, you're a dog trainer and you got your five dogs that are all part of your training business, you can get them all classified as a working animal and their expenses would be something that your business could deduct.

Wow.

And tell us about the mileage then.

So if I'm.

If I'm taking.

If I've got some cash from appointments for the day and I'm taking that cash to the bank, I can claim the mileage from my premises to the bank or from home to the bank.

Yeah.

So from home, from, you know, your business office to the bank and back, that mileage you would be able to look to claim.

And then, like, if you're a trainer and you're doing home visits, you can claim the mileage to the client's home.

So there's a lot of things that you can claim that I think people don't necessarily realize.

Yeah, one.

One thing that I often surprise people with, and I get surprised myself because I say it now and then I forget that people don't always understand it.

But when you take a card payment and the card.

The card machine or the card provider charges you a fee, that's an allowable expense.

Is that the same in the States?

You can claim that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

That is.

That is a big one that people should be tracking if they aren't, because I know those expenses add up, but, yeah, that is one that you can claim in the U.S. well, I mean.

It'S sometimes people like, oh, my God, I've done this for five years and I've not.

I've not.

Not known that.

I said it to someone yesterday, I think, and they're like, I did not know that.

But these are.

This is.

This is what.

This is what we're talking about, isn't it?

This is why having a professional and accountant on your side, on your team, on your business team, is important because you get, you know.

Well, I mean, there are loads and loads of rules and regulations, but, you know, the common ones to, like, make sure that all this is being.

Being deducted.

Yeah, yeah.

And then that's the thing.

Like, I feel like even if you're someone who doesn't have, you know, a huge business and you can do your own bookkeeping, whatever it is, like, even just, like, finding someone who you can have, like, a meeting with once a year for an hour or two just to go over everything and make sure that, like, you've captured everything is definitely worth it.

And I know there's a lot of accountants out there who don't want to just, you know, talk to people once a year for a couple of hours.

But there are those of us who, like, genuinely want to help people and who, you know, don't mind, you know, I mean, obviously there will be a small fee involved, but I think it's worth it.

Like, you know, if you've got $10,000 in credit card transaction fees that you didn't realize you could deduct, like, if you pay an accountant, you know, a couple hundred bucks to point out, you know, just that one thing for you, that's, you know, a big savings right there.

That's it.

And as a sole proprietor or a business do, when we're talking about bookkeeping, do businesses, do you have to be on a system, I think, like you said, TurboTax, or is the tax return.

Can it be done manually and just have a Bag of receipts or is it things going all digital where you are?

No.

So you can still do a paper return in the US and you can still keep your books manually.

I've actually across a few people who did that who were thinking about, like getting me to help them out and I was like, well, like we're in different states.

There's no way that I can get access to.

Yeah, that's information if everything is on paper, but there are people who are still doing it and you know, you just have to find somebody local when you're in a situation like that.

Yeah, yeah.

Photocopying the page and sending it to you.

It's pretty pointless, isn't it?

Is there any particular systems that you recommend in your business?

So QuickBooks is a good accounting software that you can use for your bookkeeping?

I'm actually a QuickBooks online pro advisor, which just means that I've done training to learn their system and so that's what I use with my clients.

Xero is another one that is a pretty good tool for small business owners to use and it's pretty user friendly, but there's a lot of stuff out there.

You just kind of have to find one that works for you and for your business.

A lot of them are becoming more automated, which is nice.

You know, with all of the crazy happening in the tech space, a lot of them are becoming more automated.

So it makes it a little easier for people to use on their own.

I would say if you are going to kind of handle your own books and you want to use one of these softwares, I would recommend having an accountant or a bookkeeper set it up for you so that you know that like it's set up correctly, that things are being categorized correctly and all of that, and then you can just kind of maintain it from there.

I think that is the one issue that I think people have is they get the software and then they try and set it up themselves and then things kind of go awry and they have trouble maintaining it because it just wasn't set up perfectly in the first place.

And I don't know about in the uk, but in the US it can be pretty expensive to have someone do a cleanup for you.

Yeah, I, I've, I've sent, I've used QuickBooks before.

I made a bit of a mistake and because I was doing it myself.

And I think one of the issues with these systems, or accounting in general, is if you make a mistake in January, by the time you get to October, that mistake kind of just Gets bigger and bigger and bigger, doesn't it?

And then it takes a lot of work to then go all the way back and nail that like one.

Where did it all go wrong?

And I'd be fair, I'm not sure we ever found it, you know, but I did pay an accountant to try and find it and we did, you know, we were managing to do our books.

But I'm never, I was never, I was Never convinced that QuickBooks was correct all the time sort of thing.

So, yeah, that was one, one incident.

What we just persuaded me and convinced me to go and get like a bookkeeper and an accountant to, to look after all of this for me because it was.

Yeah, it was too much to do sort of thing.

Yeah.

And it definitely, like when you are someone who's trying to manage your business, and I know a lot of people in the pet space are like actively operating in their business, they aren't just, you know, like the business owner.

So to be actively operating in your business, trying to do the marketing and trying to do all of the finance on top of it, like, that's a lot like you're doing like three, three, four careers in one.

And I strongly recommend that people kind of siphon off things where they can because one, it just makes life in general better, but it also helps you be able to focus on your business where you can and where it makes the most sense and where you're able to provide the most value.

And that's generally not like with your head in your books.

No, that's it.

And again, it's like anything, isn't it?

If you're going to do look after your books, you need to make it like a daily, weekly task.

Because as soon the amount of volume of transactions that go through your bank account, it's all getting recorded in your software.

It all adds up so quickly, doesn't it?

You know, hundreds of transactions to go through by the time you have to file for your tax and you're like, oh, yeah, bye.

Yeah, yeah.

I would say that's the biggest tip that I would give people that are doing their own books is don't try and wait till like the end of the year and do everything.

Like set aside a time at least monthly to just say, like, I'm going to spend an hour a month doing something for my books.

Like, even if you don't, like, get every single thing that you know you should get done done, at least do the basics, at least, like bring in all of your expenses and your income and categorize Them like just do something so that at the end of the year you don't have a meltdown because you've got so much to do.

Or at the end of the end of the year you suddenly realize what your turnover is or how much money you've made.

Then you get a big shock for how much tax you owe.

Yeah.

Wow.

But computer systems are only.

I always say this, I've been seen to be saying this a lot lately.

But computer systems are only as good as the information that you put in them.

So again, if you're not looking after Xero QuickBooks and reconciling and updating and then you try and use that to rely on that to make decisions, then you know you're not going to be able to make great decisions because it's not correct, it's not up to date.

I think that's the thing too.

A lot of people don't realize like how valuable their finances are in them being able to make better decisions for their business.

They kind of just do a gut check on a lot of things.

And it's like you should really go back to the numbers and see what's happening.

You can look at things and see which product is selling best if you're in a pet shop or see like what package that you have is selling the best if you're doing training or if you're, you know, a pet sitter.

Like there's a lot of things that you can kind of glean from looking at your numbers pretty regularly that I think could be a big impact on businesses and most people just aren't taking advantage of that.

Yeah.

What's the, what's the biggest trouble people get into when it comes to tax?

I mean, first of all, what's the filing deadline?

Do you have like one deadline a year in the States?

You have to do your yearly.

So April 15th is the main deadline for filing taxes.

There are deadlines throughout the year for like people who need to make estimated payments.

So essentially if you're self employed and you're going to owe like any tax, you're supposed to make estimated payments for that four times out year.

And it's kind of the equivalent of like people who are employed, their employer takes tax money and remits it to the government.

So it's kind of the same thing when you're self employed throughout the year you're supposed to remit something to the government as kind of like your estimate of what you may owe for the year.

But April 15 is the deadline to file your return for the previous year.

And then any additional tax that you owed, you are able to get extensions.

If you know, for whatever reason you aren't going to be able to meet that April 15 deadline, you can file for an extension and then they give you until October 15th.

And then that is kind of the typical.

There are some different deadlines if you're kind of in a specialized entity structure, but those are, those are the big ones.

I like the way you say you're supposed to.

As if in the way you say that, you kind of give me the impression that people don't really do this.

You know, you're supposed to do this, but you know, are you not very strict with that?

You know, so.

Yeah.

So with making estimated payments, most people don't do it.

I think a lot of people go into business not necessarily realizing that that is something that they're actually supposed to do.

And the way that they frame the requirement isn't super clear because every government.

Just make it really wishy washy and it's all down to interpretation.

Yeah.

And so I would highly recommend that people make estimated payments.

But I will say that as long as you file and pay by the April 15 deadline, if you do owe taxes, they usually are going to, not going to, you know, kind of give you any penalties or anything like that.

I think it's one of those things that's kind of low hanging fruit and they just don't have time to chase down people for not making the estimated payments.

So as long as they get it in by the April 15th, you're generally okay.

But that is not technically the, the actual policy.

It's not the spirit of the law.

Yeah.

So if you're making quarterly payments, estimated payments, do you have to upload your profit and loss to them at the same time or you just.

No.

So there's no like actual return required with the estimated payments.

You just have to make the payment.

They do have a form for you to kind of walk through what numbers you have, but it's more like for your own records.

All they want to see is that you've made a payment.

And then for some reason, like if you're making, you know, let's say 10,000 every quarter for years, and then all of a sudden your estimated payment goes down to like a thousand.

You may get flagged for that kind of thing and then they may ask you like, hey, like can we see the support on how you got to this number?

But for the most part it's just make the payment and you're good to go.

Yeah.

Okay.

So I take it at some point, if you're a sole trader, you know, you're setting up a business on your own, I'm assuming at some point you've got to register with.

Is it irs, isn't it?

We've got hmrc, IRS over where you are.

So you must have to register as a sole proprietor with the IRS at some point.

Yes.

So you, when you start your business, you're supposed to register.

So I guess I'll step back.

To incorporate a business, you file with your state, and in some states you will have to pay taxes, some you don't.

Another nuance of Judy.

Great US but once you file with your state and actually get incorporated, then you will file for an employer identification number with the irs.

And that essentially is what you would use to file your business taxes, is that employer identification number when you're filing generally.

But you only file for that number once you've incorporated with the state.

So here we go.

You got like state, state taxes and then federal taxes and all sorts going on just to make things better.

And does that, does that catch people out?

You know, if you're trying to do this on your own, can that can really catch you out as well?

Yes.

State taxes definitely kind of can be a problem for people, especially because the rules are similar to the federal government's rules, but they are nuanced.

And then in the US it's not always about paying taxes just like where you live.

So, like, if you're someone who lives in one state but does a lot of work in another, well, both states are going to want records from you to make sure that you don't owe, you know, taxes in both places.

Because it's not just about where you live, it's also about where you work.

So it can get pretty complicated, especially like if you move from one state to the other at some point during the year.

Like, you still have to make sure that you are tracking things appropriately for both of those.

So it's.

Yeah, it definitely is.

And then one thing that a lot of people do in the US Is they start their business in a state that they don't live in because the laws are a little different across states.

And so some states have better policies for businesses where they'll charge you less tax and all of that kind of stuff.

And so you'll see, like, a lot of people on TikTok or like commercials where people are like, oh, file in Delaware because they have the best, you know, laws for businesses.

But then you live in Texas And Texas is in, like.

Yeah, you may have filed in Delaware, but you live here.

So I still need to know what income you're bringing in, and you still need to report that to me.

Luckily, Texas does not have a separate state income tax, but they do have a franchise tax for businesses.

So even if you have a business in another state, you may be subject to that tax.

So, yeah, it can get pretty complicated over here.

They'll get you one way or another, don't they?

Yeah.

So I was thinking about what's the biggest.

How do people get into trouble with their taxes?

So you have to file your return on April 15.

You have to pay it then as well.

So you got to be ready for.

Ready with the money.

And what, what if you can't?

What if you, you've made like, you've not put enough money aside for your tax or you can't.

You just can't pay that tax?

Do they start adding interest?

If you can't pay, you still need to go ahead and file by the 15th.

And then you would want to work with someone at the IRS to set up a payment plan.

So that is something that they do if you are in that situation.

Unfortunately, not a lot of people either know about the options for payment plans or just too afraid to contact the IRS when they can't pay.

And so a lot of people don't pay when they can't afford it.

And then they do end up with tons of interest.

And unfortunately, that doesn't go okay.

They will continue to have their interest.

There is no, like, cap or anything like that.

And so people do find themselves in trouble, I will say, like, if you haven't paid taxes in a few years, the IRS is still willing to work with you years down the line to structure some kind of payment plan and provide some type of relief.

There are, like, federal relief programs out there for people who have really high tax amounts, but they aren't necessarily super easy to get involved with or get accepted to.

But there are things out there, but it doesn't go away unless you actively do something about it.

It can't just be a thing where it's like, oh, I don't have it, so I'm not going to pay.

And you think they're going to forget about it?

Do they try and repossess your car or repossess your house or anything like that?

Do they go that far or is it just a continual additional interest?

No, if it gets too egregious, they will come after your assets.

Yeah, they will.

You'll Be warned.

So you know what I was going to say.

So if, if you haven't paid tax for a while and you're a bit concerned, is there, like, we've got the government gateway in, in the UK where we can log in and look at our, look at our tax sort of situation and stuff like that.

Is that something similar in the, in the States?

So you can go on the IRS's website.

The problem is that they don't really calculate, like, hey, this is what you owe us, and like, put it out to you.

It's your job to do and do that calculation everything, send everything in.

Like, they don't send you a paper and say, like, this is your tax bill for the year.

Which that's what makes tax professionals so helpful in helping you, like, figure out what it is that you owe.

So what they do is you file your return and it has the calculation of what you owe and then they compare that to the information that they've received from different sources.

So, like, you know, if you've got an investment account and they are sending you your forms at the end of the year to say, like, hey, this is the interest that you got, they're also sending that information to the irs.

Banks are also required to send certain information to the irs, and so they are comparing that to the information that you input on your return and making sure that there are no huge gaps.

But there isn't something where they have calculated, like, you owe me $10,000 this year and you get that form and then you're just supposed to pay the $10,000.

Yeah, I wish that it worked that way.

It would simplify a lot of things for a lot of people, but the onus is on you.

Yeah, it's always amazed me, like, and obviously your system sets up similar to, to ours.

It's like, how much of this is done on trust?

And like, how so?

You know, the States is, is huge.

So I don't know whether they've got millions of people working for the irs.

But, like, how, what would stop a small business owner going, well, you know, I'm only a small entity.

I don't, I don't make that much money.

Are they ever actually really going to check me?

Are they actually going to look at my, at my tax return, at my file sort of thing?

Yeah, and I think a lot of people do have that kind of mindset where it's like, I'm so small, like, they won't even notice me and I won't, I won't say there isn't truth to that, I mean, there is the possibility that you could go without paying your taxes for years if you're small.

And it won't be caught for years or maybe ever.

But they do have, like, systems and checks in place to try and make sure that they are capturing everything.

And if you're someone who's ever filed and then all of a sudden you kind of stop, that's going to be something that immediately gets flagged.

Yeah.

So there are things where they are doing kind of checks and they will get back to you on certain things.

And like I mentioned before, like, if they are getting information from, you know, a bank or some other financial institution showing that, like, you've got some activity happening and then they don't get anything from you, then they're definitely going to say, like, hey, like, we think you might owe XYZ because we saw that you got, you know, interest of $2,000 this year or whatever the case may be.

So there are those checks.

But it's definitely possible for you to not pay your taxes and not hear from the irs, just because although there are a lot of people that, you know, work for the irs, they do a lot of other things besides just managing the federal tax situation.

And so it's possible with the, you know, hundreds of millions of people in this country that are paying taxes or a few people to slip through the cracks.

Yeah.

But no one, you know, you wouldn't want to be buried under a sea of paperwork once you get found out and then to, like, prove what you've done, prove what you've been doing or you haven't been doing.

Yeah, just bear with you, wouldn't they?

Yeah.

And they.

So they do.

They do audits sometimes, too.

And that's the thing.

Like, even if you are filing things, you can still be subject to an audit where they just want to come in and make sure that everything is actually being done correctly.

So that's something else to kind of have in the back of your mind that even if you are staying on top of things, it's possible that you would just randomly get selected for an audit and then you've got to prove that everything is correct and they are not going to relent.

Like, once they start to dig in on you, like, you're going to have to be ready for a bit of a fight.

I mean, even places like in the UK now, eBay, have to report people's earnings on their sites.

So even selling sites, so they've got access to so much information now we, we get an Allowance in the UK for selling items on ebay and Facebook Marketplace or I think it's about a thousand pounds a year which is tax free.

Do you, you allocated allowances in the States?

Do you have a tax free allowance?

Like we can earn up to, we can earn 12,500 and something pounds a year before we then start paying taxes.

Do you get anything like that?

No, there isn't like an official allowance anything if you owe, so you always have to do the calculation to see what you actually owe.

In the US if you owe more than $100, you are supposed to file and pay that money.

But we have deductions like, so I don't want to get too technical, but we have like a deduction amount that everyone is able to take from their tax return to reduce it.

So if your income is less than that deduction amount, then you don't have to pay anything.

But they still like for you to file the return like for record keeping purposes and all of that.

Wow, that's interesting, isn't it?

It's really interesting how, how it all works.

And you know, and I think we've sort of demonstrated how mind boggling it could be just, just by trying to do it, by trying to do it yourself.

I mean it's definitely a lot and I mean there are definitely a lot of cases where people can kind of work through with the software and you know, get it done and get it right.

Uh, but I would say that if you're living like a very simple situation and not just like from your business, but just like your life in general, I would say if you, you know, don't have kids, if you don't have a home that you own, like those types of things that like really simplify things, then you probably are okay to, you know, do it on your own.

But like if you have a business, if you have children, if you have a home, I would say you probably would want someone else to, you know, take a look.

You know, if you have student loans, like all of those little things play into the tax situation here.

And there are things that you could be doing potentially to save on taxes that you aren't aware of, which I think is another thing that people kind of miss out on when they don't talk with the professional.

Because there are a lot of, you know, everyday life things that could potentially help you if you time things right and if you kind of keep certain records or move things around a certain way.

So yeah, there's good benefits to working with a tax professional besides just staying out of trouble.

So.

Yeah.

And reducing your stress and your time as well.

Yeah.

Do you.

So you're in Houston.

Do you cover other states?

Can you.

Are you licensed to cover other states?

Can you, you know, work for All Out, All Over America?

Yes.

So the way it works.

So I have my CPA license, which I actually got licensed in Florida because that's where I grew up and where I went to college and where I started my career.

Was it a town?

Yeah.

And so even though I'm just licensed in Florida, I can still help people throughout the country because the test that you have to take to get licensed is like a uniform test across the country and it's not state specific.

So you kind of have to start to learn what's happening in the states just by experience after you've taken that exam and gotten licensed.

States also offers something called a reciprocal license.

Or like, if you spend enough time working in that state, they will allow you to apply for a license without having to go through like all of the hoops because you're already licensed in another state.

But that's something I thought about doing here in Texas, but actually haven't done it just yet.

But it's not necessary for me to work with people in other states for me to have the reciprocal license.

All right, excellent.

So let us know how people can get hold of you.

Are you taking on clients at the moment?

Pet Professionals?

Yes, I am taking on clients.

I kind of have set aside a little extra time of the next couple months to bring on some additional tax clients because I know there are going to be some other people that need help.

But you can find me on my website.

It's c squared accounting.com.

i'm also on LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook and you can just look for Ashanta Dask and you can find me there.

Excellent.

Well, it's been really interesting learning about the the States version.

I, I speak to a few dog groomers in, in the States.

I've got a couple of customers as well.

So it's always helpful for me to have a bit more knowledge around what goes on as well.

So it's been really interesting.

Thank you very much and hopefully catch up with you another time.

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Sol.