# 040: Stop Overpaying Your Small Business Taxes, Diane Gardner of Tax Coach 4 You

- Show: [Product Startup](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup)
- Published: 2017-02-14
- Length: 42m
- Page: https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you
- Listen: https://theproductstartup.com/040-diane-gardner-tax-coach-4-you/

## Summary

Diane Gardner of Tax Coach 4 You explains how small business owners can reduce tax liability through proper record-keeping and strategic entity selection. She highlights common missed deductions, such as business mileage, legitimate business meals, and hiring family members like children or aging parents. Gardner advises on choosing between sole proprietorships, LLCs, and S-Corps, noting that S-Corp status often becomes cost-effective once net profit exceeds approximately $70,000. She also discusses retirement plans like SEP and SIMPLE IRAs, and medical expense reimbursement plans as tools for tax optimization.

## Chapters

- [0:00](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=0) Introduction and Patent Question Answer
- [3:52](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=232) Diane Gardner Introduction and Mileage Deductions
- [7:53](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=473) Record Keeping and Software Recommendations
- [14:43](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=883) Business Meals, Entertainment, and Family Hiring
- [19:38](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=1178) Business Entity Types: Sole Prop, LLC, and S-Corp
- [25:21](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=1521) S-Corp Threshold and Retirement Plans
- [30:19](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you#t=1819) Medical Expense Reimbursement and Final Tips

## Topics

- [Pricing, margins & unit economics](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/pricing-and-unit-economics)
- [Starting a product company](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/starting-a-company)
- [Hiring & workforce](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/hiring-and-workforce)
- [Leadership, teams & culture](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/topic/leadership-and-culture)

## Most relevant to

early-stage companies

## Mentioned

- Turbo Tax (tool)
- Wave (tool)
- QuickBooks (tool)
- Zero (tool)
- Tax Coach 4 You (company)
- Mako Design + Invent (company)

## Related episodes from other shows

- [150: Sad Country Song](https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/embedded-fm/2016-05-04-150-sad-country-song) (Embedded.fm)

## Citing this page

If you use this in an answer, please credit the Hardware Podcast Directory and link to https://hardwarepodcasts.com/podcast/product-startup/2017-02-14-040-stop-overpaying-your-small-business-taxes-diane-gardner-of-tax-coach-4-you. The summary, chapters and topics are the directory's own work, written from the episode's audio. The episode itself, its title and its audio belong to Product Startup.