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Soundboard Self-employment taxes are overwhelming. Soundboard does your tax work, you focus on what you love.

04/03/2026

Dr. Fernando Ovalle is a Florida-based, board-certified plastic surgeon.

Like many high-earning 1099 business owners, there came a point where doing it all himself was no longer worth the stress (and potential overpayment). Taxes had gotten more complex, and it was taking attention away from the work that mattered most.

Dr. Ovalle, thank you for trusting us with your business. Our goal is simple: help make taxes feel lighter, so you can stay focused on your craft and your patients.

03/27/2026

We have clients who are high earning self employed barbers, manicurists, nail technicians or hairdressers.

Most self-employed people don’t realize that it’s almost always forbidden to write off your nails, haircut, skincare or clothes.

They ask, “but it’s essentially required in my job”.

There’s the famous military haircut case from 1969 called Drake v Commissioner. At the time employees could deduct ordinary and necessary expenses that were not covered by the employer, enlisted soldiers had to get a haircut every 2 weeks. Drake wanted to deduct haircut costs for the year, and it was disallowed in court, claiming it was inherently personal grooming and the requirement of the job was not a valid test

The rule of thumb is that if it can benefit you outside of work in any way, then it’s not allowed

03/16/2026

Putting real estate in an S-Corp can be a trap: easy to get in, hard to unwind.

1) If you move appreciated property out of the S-Corp, the IRS can treat it as if the corporation sold the property at fair market value, which can trigger tax on the built-in gain.

2) Corporate debt usually does not increase your shareholder basis in an S-Corp unless you personally lend money to the company. Lower basis can limit losses and create other tax friction.

Not legal, tax, or accounting advice. General educational information only.

AI deepfakes are making IRS scam calls more convincing than ever.Scammers can now sound professional, authoritative, and...
03/12/2026

AI deepfakes are making IRS scam calls more convincing than ever.

Scammers can now sound professional, authoritative, and even reference partial personal details to make the call feel legitimate.

A few quick reminders:
• The IRS usually contacts taxpayers by mail first
• They don’t demand payment over the phone
• They don’t ask for gift cards or crypto
If something feels urgent or unusual, hang up and verify directly with the IRS or your tax professional.

Learn how to spot an AI deepfake call from the IRS.
Full article in bio.

03/09/2026

With the General Corporate Tax for S-Corps and the UBT tax for regular LLCs, NYC makes it particularly difficult to pay less taxes on your business income.

There are certainly things that can be done, and many of the regular, traditional strategies (such as pre-tax contributions, HSAs, etc.) still apply but you are generally more constrained than in other places.

Note: This is general educational content and not tax, financial, or legal advice. Please consult with your accountant for your specific situation.

Putting real estate in an S-Corp is like the Mafia. Easy to get in, very difficult to get out.This is general educationa...
03/06/2026

Putting real estate in an S-Corp is like the Mafia. Easy to get in, very difficult to get out.

This is general educational content, and not tax or legal advice. Consult with a tax professional for your specific situation.

03/02/2026

If the IRS already know how much we owe, then why do we have to do the math? 😤😒

If you have an S-Corp and use your personal car for business, this is how you should be deducting your car expenses. You...
02/26/2026

If you have an S-Corp and use your personal car for business, this is how you should be deducting your car expenses.

Your business can then reimburse you for your expenses each quarter.

02/24/2026

Can ChatGPT do your accounting?

If AI has access to clean, structured data, it can do a solid job categorizing straightforward transactions that it has seen before.

But the real work usually is in the “last 10%” (aka edge cases and new / unique situations).

That is where context matters and where we usually need to confirm with the biz owner or carry out niche research + make a judgement call and document it.

11/04/2025

It’s usually not lack of talent or effort. Most businesses fail because owners run out of cash (often due to debt / lease obligations or surprise tax bills from the IRS).

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