Freelance Finances & Brass Taxes with Catriona & Rus Garofalo

Mar 8

On this episode of Financially Naked: Stories from The Financial Gym, our host is Catriona Williams, Level 2 Certified Financial Trainer. Joining her is the Founder and President of Brass Taxes, a company that specializes in working with freelancers, artists, and other nice people. Today, Catriona and Rus sit down and talk all about how he started doing taxes, the history of Enrolled Agents, what the heck a ‘write-off’ is, and his biggest pieces of advice for self-employed folks to be prepared for tax time.

Podcast Notes

Rus was working as a writer and editor in New York for many years. In 2008, he needed to find a day job and started working for his friend’s dad doing taxes. He realized very quickly that he had been doing his own taxes badly for years, and his friends probably were too!
- What started as Rus doing taxes on the side for his friends has transformed into Brass Taxes. They now have a team of creative professionals all trained to be amazing tax advisors.
- He wanted to create the company that he wished existed when he was working as a freelancer.
- Rus is an Enrolled Agent, which is different from a CPA. The EA designation dates all the way back to The Civil War!
There is a lot of value in having a conversation with someone who understands your industry. You should feel comfortable talking to them, asking questions, and feel confident they understand your day-to-day.
- Tax laws are always changing and so are your personal finances. It’s not worth teaching yourself how to do taxes every year.
- Taxes are like a video game. Brass Taxes advisors play the game 300 times a year whereas most people doing it themselves just play it once. An advisor knows the rules and nuances to get the best result.
Dealing with taxes is a lot of bad branding and graphic design. It’s hard to know what’s important when you look at the forms. Brass Taxes advisors specialize in talking about taxes in plain language. They let you know what’s important and what you don’t need to worry about.
When you’re an employee at a company, you get a paycheck and the employer withholds taxes for you. Filing at the end of the year is pretty straightforward. If you’re a freelancer, have a side hustle, or make untaxed income, it becomes more nuanced.
As soon as you’re paid money without taxes withheld, poof! You’re a business! You don’t need a formal structure like an LLC or DBA to be a business.
- As a business, you are only required to pay taxes on the profit: All income (the money that comes in) - expenses (the money you spend to run the business) .
- Any money spent that is ‘reasonable’ and ‘necessary’ to run your business can be considered a business expense. This is a fluid line and varies depending on your line of work. You can choose to be more aggressive or conservative with your position.
You don’t need a ‘business’ bank account, but keeping your business spending separate from your personal spending will make your life much easier. It can be a designated credit card or separate checking account, whatever works for you!
Brass Taxes works with freelancers, creative professionals, and nice people who want to understand more about their taxes!
They’re also working on different options to work with their clients all year round including monthly memberships. It will come with an automated expense tracker and consultations throughout the year!
If you want to work with Brass Taxes this year, use code FinGym50 for $5o off the price of your first return.