Stop Guessing What You'll Owe in Taxes [E241]

Thanks to our partners Promotive, WickedFile, Maverick Shop Owners, and OverdryveDo you actually know what you'll owe the IRS next spring, or are you just hoping it works out? And if your accountant has been extending your taxes for years, is that actually saving you anything?This week, Hunt Demarest, CPA with Paar Melis &amp; Associates, kicks off a two-part series on taxes by tackling the piece most shop owners skip entirely: tax planning. Hunt draws the line between tax preparation (backward-looking, mandatory, and reactive) and tax planning (forward-looking, optional, and the thing that actually keeps you from getting blindsided). He walks through the exact five-minute math he uses to annualize a shop's net income from partial-year numbers, why extending your return "to lower audit risk" is a myth, and the personal-return landmines, like ACA marketplace credits and phased-out child tax credits, that catch shop owners off guard even when the business side looks fine.Whether you've never run a tax estimate in your life or you just want to sanity-check what your accountant is telling you, this episode gives you the framework to stop being surprised every April.What You'll Learn…(02:29) Why this isn't the tax-saving episode you expected(05:00) Tax prep vs. tax planning: it's about timing, not paperwork(05:53) The financial-analysis cycle behind every good tax plan(07:14) Why most shops never build a real tax plan(09:08) Busting the "extending lowers my audit risk" myth(09:57) When it's time to fire your accountant over extensions(11:30) The annual tax planning calendar Hunt runs for clients(15:04) How to annualize your own net income in five minutes(17:09) Red flags: when your numbers swing too high or too low(18:27) The 25% rule for ballparking what you'll owe(19:53) Kids, credits, and the ACA surprise that blindsides shop ownersThanks to our partner, PromotivePromotive has over 40 years of recruiting and automotive experience. If you need qualified technicians and service advisors and want to offload the heavy lifting, visit https://gopromotive.com/Thanks to our partner, WickedFileTurn chaos into clarity with WickedFile, the AI for auto repair shops. Transform invoices into insights, protect cash flow, and stop losing parts, cores, or credits to maximize your bottom line. visit https://info.wickedfile.com/Thanks to our partner, Maverick Shop OwnersYou're working on growing a more profitable shop - that's critical. That's exactly what the 24-video Blueprint course by Maverick Shop Owners addresses - customers, sales, profit, people, systems, and freedom. Get free access for our listeners only at https://maverickshopowners.com/blueprintThanks to our partner, OverdryveOverdryve is your AI-powered marketing operating system. It predicts slow weeks before they happen, automatically launches revenue-driving campaigns, tracks ROI down to the dollar, and optimizes performance in real time. Visit https://overdryvemarketing.com/Paar Melis and Associates – Accountants Specializing in Automotive RepairVisit us Online: www.paarmelis.comEmail Hunt: podcast@paarmelis.comGet the FREE 2026 Auto Shop Benchmark Report: https://hubs.ly/Q04j-grh0Download a Copy of My Books Here:Beyond the Bays: A Financial Playbook for Auto Repair Shop OwnersWrenches to Write-Offs<a href="https://paarmel