Simple ways to cut your tax bill without breaking the law

By Carey Lampel, LLM
EBS Consulting, Inc

Whether your business be large or small, you know you’re going to have to pay several different taxes: federal, state and local. But it might surprise you to know that the amount of tax you pay has to do with several factors other than the amount of profit you make in a year. For example, different taxes apply to a greater or lesser extent according to the industry you’re in and the type of business you have.

It is perfectly legal to organize your business in such a way that you maximize your entitlement to all the available deductions. Such a strategy is not tax evasion; it is tax avoidance.

Consider the structure

What do we mean by structure? Maybe your business is a sole proprietorship. But have you considered the other options? The same business might be structured a

The 12 Most Essential IRS Audit Red Flags
By Carey Lampel, LLM
EBS Consulting, Inc

Although there is no sure way to avoid an IRS audit, you should be aware of red flags that could increase your chance of drawing some unwanted attention from the IRS.

Perhaps you sometimes wondered why some tax returns are audited by the IRS while most are ignored. There are many reasons. The IRS only audits about one per cent of all individual tax returns annually. The agency doesn’t have sufficient staff or resources to examine every tax return filed during a given year. So the chances are slim that your return will be picked for an audit. And of course, the only reason filers should worry about a tax audit is if they are cheating.

But, the odds in favor of you being audited or otherwise hearing from the IRS can increase depending upon a variety of factors, which include whether you omitted

By Carey Lampel, LLM
EBS Consulting, Inc

Depreciation is a very simple concept. Suppose you purchase a vehicle for your business. It begins to lose value the minute you drive it out of the dealership. The vehicle is considered an operational asset in running your business. Each year that you own the vehicle, it loses some value, until the truck finally stops running and has no value to the business. Measuring the loss in value of an asset is known as depreciation.

Depreciation is considered an expense and is listed in an income statement under expenses. In addition to vehicles that may be used in your business, you may depreciate office furniture, office equipment, any buildings you own, and machinery you use to manufacture products.

Land does not wear out like vehicles or equipment and therefore is not considered an expense, nor can it be depreciated

To find the annual depr

By Carey Lampel, LLM
EBS Consulting, Inc

It is perfectly legal to run your business in such a way that you reduce your tax liability. Of course, you're entirely within your rights to claim every lawful deduction or credit and there are tax consultants who will advise you the optimum method of going about this. But, if you evade paying your due taxes by fraudulent means, that's a very serious crime. A lot of people seem to confuse the distinction between tax evasion and tax avoidance.

Failing to report cash income, claiming false deductions and inflating the value of donations to charity are the most common form of tax fraud. This is known as underreporting income. You may not fall foul of the law if you can show that you made an honest mistake but, if a revenue agent audits your books and discovers fake documentation or reveals you have deliberately entered false information on yo

Top Tax Deductions for Your Small Business

By Carey Lampel, LLM

EBS Consulting, Inc

The more tax deductions your business can legitimately take, the lower its taxable profit will be. It’s not rocket science. Aside from leaving more money in your bank account at the end of the year, the tax code provisions that govern deductions can also yield a personal benefit: a nice car to drive at a small cost, or a combination business trip and vacation.
It all depends on paying careful attention to IRS rules on just what is – and is not – deductible. When you're calculating your business's expenses at the end of the year, don't overlook these important business tax deductions.

1. Auto Expenses

If you use your car for business, or your business owns its own vehicle, you can deduct some of the costs of keeping it on the road. Mastering the rules of car expense deductions can be

Fact Sheet: Tax Breaks for Small Businesses

Article from: US Small Business Administration

America’s entrepreneurs and small business owners continue to grow their businesses and create jobs due to unprecedented tax cuts that have been signed into law over the past two years. This includes billions of dollars in tax relief from laws such as the Recovery Act, the Small Business Jobs Act, the HIRE Act, the Affordable Care Act, and the Tax Relief and Job Creation Act.

Zero Capital Gains Taxes on Key Investments in Small Businesses

Capital gains taxes have been fully eliminated on certain small business stock – providing an incentive for key investments in small businesses.

The Recovery Act excluded 75 percent of capital gains from the sale of certain small business investments held more than five years. The Small Business Jobs Act went one step further – excluding all c

Our government encourages us to own business's and invest through favorable treatment in the tax code!  However, the federal tax code alone is over 44,000 pages long and growing not to mention your states tax code.  Use us to decipher this code to your advantage!


If you set up your tax structure well by incorporating strategic tax planning, you can create wealth and save money on your taxes. We believe in educating our clients to learn how to maximize their savings through proper tax planning. We advocate using the tax code to your advantage to help create wealth, and to build for your financial future.
Entity Formation:

It's our job to make sure you are in the correct entity for your business model in order to maximize your tax savings.  For example, a real estate business that "flips" houses should be set up in a corporate entity while a long term hold real estate p