Navigating Tax Challenges for Entrepreneurs

Steven Leahy (00:00)
record keeping should I do? What kind of, you know, these types of things that I talk about a lot. And I think we mentioned a little bit, you and I, before we went on here, I talked about ⁓ artificial intelligence, right? That’s a big buzzword and people are like, everybody’s talking about artificial intelligence. But you know who has artificial intelligence? The IRS, right? So they’re using it very…

So I always tell people, right, 95 % of all tax returns are filed electronically, right? And then we talk about 1099s and everything is tracked through a 1099. And so artificial intelligence can compare these things

Quentin Edmonds (02:11)
Hello everyone, welcome to the Investor Fuel podcast. I’m so excited today to be joined by somebody who I know you’re gonna find very, very valuable ⁓ information from. I have my friend today, Mr. Steven Leahy, and I said that name right, that last name right, right, Mr. Leahy. And listen, he specialized in tech, well,

Steven Leahy (02:33)
Yes, sir. Yes, sir.

Quentin Edmonds (02:38)
Let me backtrack because he told me to watch the words that I say. But he’s going to tell you how to avoid getting in trouble when it comes to tax laws. This is what he can offer you is some tax advice. So I’m so excited to hear him talk about this space because let’s be honest, if you’re here, you’re an entrepreneur, you already know. This is a sensitive subject for us all.

And so I am excited to have Mr. Steven Lane here today. How are you feeling?

Steven Leahy (03:11)
I’m just great. so happy to join you here today and share some information with people.

Quentin Edmonds (03:16)
Absolutely, absolutely. Listen, I know our listeners is going to get some great wealth out of this conversation. And so I’m trying to tee you up, man. I want to dive in. Of course, people may not be familiar with you and what you do. So give me, do us a favor. Just let us know what is your main focus these days. And I don’t know if you want to tell them, know, where you operate out of, know, the city and state, that’s up to you, but I’m sure they would like to know that too.

Steven Leahy (03:42)
Well, I help ⁓ companies, business professionals who are having tax problems generally. ⁓ But because I help so many people for such a long time now with tax problems, I try to help them avoid them too. Because I know what the potholes are, what the obstacles are, and so I try to help people avoid those obstacles too. Now, sometimes people try to avoid them too late.

Right. I think we could talk about prevention, prevention, prevention, ⁓ but it kind of goes over your head until you’re facing the IRS. Right. And as a real, as an investor or any entrepreneur, right. A big part of your business is taxes, right. They’re your partners. You might not like it, but that’s the way it is. Right. They probably are your biggest ⁓ expense, right. Taxes. And so if I can address those taxes, first avoid them from coming after me.

which is always, even if I didn’t do anything wrong, right, I’m guilty until proven innocent in front of the IRS. And so even if I’ve done everything right, it’s still gonna cost me some money to fight the IRS. Even though if I come out and I say, hey, you don’t owe anything, that doesn’t happen very often where they’re coming after you and you come out and say, know what? You don’t owe us, we owe you. Doesn’t happen very often, but it does happen. So again, I’m helping people.

who are facing IRS problems and don’t know where to go. And so I help them solve the problem.

Quentin Edmonds (05:15)
Yeah.

Now I love it, man. I love it. One of the things that caught my attention when we was talking is that, you try to help people and you just said it, you try to get them to take action before there’s a problem. Right. Like before you get in trouble, let’s take action first. Now, I don’t know if you want to talk about it, but I do know you were talking about maybe, you know,

Of course, everything’s in the space. I think you told me something about a subscription plan and I’m not sure if you want to talk about that or not, but I think that was a great ⁓ avenue that you took or, you know, something that you offered. And I think that would be great to talk about.

Steven Leahy (06:43)
One of the great things about the internet and these podcasts like this and other things, right, is that we can share information with people and it’s available. So you have to, where do I go to get that information? And I could search YouTube and all this, but, who can I trust to give me the right information? Cause a lot of people are out there, but you can’t trust everybody. And many people are, giving bad information. So we set up a website. It’s called fightbacknow.com because we fight back against the IRS, right? And ⁓ we offer a membership.

for $47 a month that you can come in, you get information. I provide guides and resources and a community of people just like you who have many of them have overcome these IRS problems. So we try to, you don’t always need an attorney. Oftentimes what you need is information. And so I try to share that information on that site.

Quentin Edmonds (07:37)
I love it. I heard you right. That was fat fight back now.com.

Steven Leahy (07:42)
That’s correct. Fight back now. ⁓

Quentin Edmonds (07:44)
right

back now. I love it. I love it.

Steven Leahy (07:47)
That was always my tagline. so I went out and got the URL. Fight back now. ⁓

Let me mention, I am in Chicago. tax problems are across the nation so I can help anybody throughout the nation. ⁓ Yeah, you know, we do. Obviously I have a law firm also and the law firm helps one to one. But this, this open tax is a helps people, ⁓ you know, one to many share this information. So I try to get it out there and the IRS is always changing. There’s always big changes with the IRS. And so I need, you need to keep up with it. Also.

What kind of structure should I have for my business? What kind of

record keeping should I do? What kind of, you know, these types of things that I talk about a lot. And I think we mentioned a little bit, you and I, before we went on here, I talked about ⁓ artificial intelligence, right? That’s a big buzzword and people are like, everybody’s talking about artificial intelligence. But you know who has artificial intelligence? The IRS, right? So they’re using it very…

So I always tell people, right, 95 % of all tax returns are filed electronically, right? And then we talk about 1099s and everything is tracked through a 1099. And so artificial intelligence can compare these things

quickly and come after you like in a month or two where it used to take the IRS years to come after you. I’ve seen them now boil that down to just a couple of months and they’re on you. And sometimes their information is wrong. So then what do I do?

Right, so this is kind of what to watch out for, because artificial intelligence is out there, it’s not going away. And so what can I do to avoid these problems? And so one of the things is use it yourself. And that’s in record keeping. You can use artificial intelligence in record keeping. These new ⁓ systems out there, they know who your vendors are. Because you’re using the same vendors, you have a lot of the same expenses.

and ⁓ your bank account is connected, your credit cards can be connected, and it can help you with so much. so record keeping is like the key now, I think. If anybody takes something away from this podcast, it should be, I should have a good record keeping system.

Quentin Edmonds (10:11)
Absolutely, no, I absolutely love it. you know what you do, you talked about it. Things always change within the IRS. You got to stay on top of it and you as a professional, you got to stay on top of it. So let me know like what is it about the systems that you have in place to keep things running smoothly on your end so that you can stay up on top of everything? Like how does that work for you? How do you keep things running smoothly? Stand on top of the ever changing IRS laws?

Steven Leahy (11:14)
Well, it helps that I’m kind of geekish in the sense that I like this stuff, right? So I’m on top of it. I mean, I’m reading anything about the IRS. I’m reading about taxes. I have a son who just got his master’s in tax law. So even at home, this is what we talk about for fun, right? So anything that’s changing, I’m up on it because I’m interested in it.

You know, just like you might be in whatever your business is, right? You’re interested in it. so that you don’t have, someone doesn’t have to tell you, hey, what’s new? You know what’s new because that’s what your interest lies. And that’s just for me too. And you might think it’s funny that I like taxes, but I do.

Quentin Edmonds (11:57)
No, I don’t think it’s funny at all. I I think this is why, you know, I got to watch the words that I say. But I think this can I say prolific or proficient? Can I say this is why you’re proficient? And what you do because

Steven Leahy (12:10)
I just want to tell everybody that as an attorney you can’t be a specialist and you can’t be an expert and so that’s why you’re being careful with what you say because I can get in if I say, I specialize in this that or the other thing attorneys can’t specialize. I but I focus my focus is on helping people who are in business for themselves ⁓ obtain the American dream. That’s my goal. I want to help you obtain the American dream. That’s why you’re doing what you’re doing.

And that’s why I do what I do. And that’s where I get so much feedback from my clients and that I’m trying to help them do that because the IRS is often the one that’s standing in the way of your American dream. So I want you to overcome that.

Quentin Edmonds (12:52)
Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Now listen, what we try to do here, we try to because, you know, everybody’s coming from a different lens. Everybody have different background, investors, of course, tax law. But one thing we have in common is as we try to build businesses that everything doesn’t always go smooth. Right. There’s moments when things kind of get real. So do you mind telling me about a time maybe you had to pivot fast, you kind of had to think on your toes?

Maybe things didn’t go the way you wanted them to go. You mind sharing any stories like that?

Steven Leahy (13:24)
Well, I’ve been in business myself for many years. So things, as any business owner knows, things never go the way you think they’re going to go. And so you’re always trying to pivot and change. I didn’t always practice in the IRS field. But I evolved into that. As business owners, we evolve. Why? Because we’re learning all the time. So there’s things you know now you didn’t know five years ago.

Right. And so you got to incorporate that in your business. You can’t be stuck in one model, right? Because your model may have been wrong or just mistaken or just old, right? And it’s and things have overcome it. So we always are trying to change, you know, how we reach people, how we how we address things. Right. That’s just the nature of being in business. Always be flexible and willing to change ⁓ as I get older.

that becomes more difficult. But I still do it, know, I always try to change.

Quentin Edmonds (14:26)
No, I understand. And thank you so much for your honesty and your perspective on that. And I love the fact how you say, you know, you’re a nerd, like most of us, it benefits us to be curious, right? When you, when you are curious, you’re constantly asking questions. You’re constantly going out looking for research, especially when you got something that’s passionate and close to your heart, something that kind of motivates you or something that makes you money, or even something that’s a service that you want to provide for people, you know, fulfilling a need.

kind of keeps you curious, keeps you passionate, keeps you motivated with learning, keeps you motivated with making sure you’re giving the people the best information possible. And I know you said at the top of show, educating people, giving people information is kind of, to me, sound like at the heart of what you do. So yeah, especially with the fight fat now.com. yeah.

Steven Leahy (15:16)
Well, absolutely and again this what you become passionate about right because I get because and I always tell people right if you’re good at what you do if You like helping the people are doing what you’re doing. No matter what you’re doing, right? You’re helping somebody in the end, Whether if I’m a real estate investor, right? I’m buying real estate I might be flipping it and making it not a nice home for somebody or whatever that is, right? You’re you’re helping other people and that’s really what it’s all about right and so you get passionate about helping other people and that

And so it’s your duty because you’re good at it. It’s your duty to do the best you can, right? And don’t let the IRS stop you from doing your duty, which is helping people achieve whatever you’re helping them achieve. And so that’s where the education comes in. And all of us are in that, right? We’re all educating others about how our little piece of the world works.

Quentin Edmonds (16:51)
Absolutely. Now love that. I love that. Thank you so much for that. So let me ask you this. You’re giving us a ton of wealth, a wealth of knowledge. I want to know what’s next for you. What’s the real kind of goal for yourself and your business these days? Are you looking to solve a problem? Well, at least you definitely looking to solve problems, but just more what’s the next goal for you and your company?

Steven Leahy (17:11)
Well, my goal actually, I’m really working on fightbacknow.com to help more people at a lower price point. I’m an attorney, I’ve been around for a long time. I help people. I’m not seeking a lot of new clients. I have clients, right? But I think everybody can’t hire someone like me myself. But again, I think oftentimes you just need information.

And that’s what my goal is to get as many people in our membership group as we can. Some people will need the one-on-one service, and that’s great, and I’d be happy to provide that for them. But most people just need information. And so if I can feed that niche in helping entrepreneurs, real estate investors, business owners, I help a lot of real tours. ⁓

Quentin Edmonds (18:28)
I love it. I love it. That’s big man. That’s that’s big. You got so many different things in place, so I’m going to. I must save this. I don’t know if I can call it a phrase or not, but you let me know if it means anything to you, right? So when I say 1099 reporting, does that mean anything to you at all?

Steven Leahy (18:45)
That’s really been the focus for my last couple of months. Actually, for about a year now, I’ve done a lot of ⁓ continuing education for tax professionals and attorneys where I talk about 1099s, the different types of 1099s. And I don’t know if you know this, but there’s more than 20 types of 1099s. And this is what the IRS is doing, again, with AI to track us all. I just wrote a book called 1099 Reporting, a Professional’s Guide, right? Where I go through a lot of what I’m talking about here.

AI, what they are, how these forms work, why the IRS is using them, and how they’re using them. And why you, what now that that’s a professional guide for more tax people, but why everybody should be involved in that. You have to be, you have to know that you’re being tracked. And so you have to be able to react to that, because they’re going to come after you. Right? If they get a 1099, it doesn’t have to be right. Right. ⁓ They call this the CP 2000.

which is when you get a notice from the IRS and they say, here, this is what you said on your tax return, but this is what we found on a 1099. Tell us why we’re wrong or pay the tax. So now the onus is on you to address it, right? So that’s just the way the IRS works. If they get something wrong, you have to prove that they’re wrong. They’re not gonna say that they’re wrong. And so that puts the onus on you. So more and more of our interactions with the IRS is not just in April.

Not just ⁓ in March when our tax returns are due, but all year long, you’re gonna be facing IRS notices and IRS ⁓ inquiries. And so how do I address those? So that’s why I’m really focused on 1099s.

Quentin Edmonds (20:27)
love it. Absolutely. love it, man. I love it. So let me ask you this, know, definitely in this community, we’re definitely about relationship building, networking. So when it comes to like building relationships and growing your network, like has that made a big difference for you?

Steven Leahy (20:46)
100%. Again, it’s all about relationships, right? That’s what all of this is about. And community, We all share, especially all of us that are trying to run our own business, because I’m in there with you, right? I’m not some guy who’s working for some big law firm who’s telling me how I should do things, right? I have my own business, always did. And in my whole family, when I was growing up, my grandmother was a dog groomer. My dad owned a janitorial company.

We’re always been in business for ourselves. And so I’m just like you, and I’m trying to build this community to share this information. But relationships is what it’s all about. Absolutely.

Quentin Edmonds (21:28)
Relationships to everything in this space. Like that’s that’s what it’s all about. Absolutely. You are so right, man. I appreciate you saying that. That’s one of my tag lines that I love to say is that relationships is.

Steven Leahy (21:39)
And now you and I have a relationship.

Quentin Edmonds (21:42)
That’s how the ecosystem works. That’s it works. Absolutely correct. Well listen, before we wrap up, if someone wanted to reach out to you, connect with you, maybe collaborate, learn more about never fight back now and how to fight back, like how can, what’s the best way to get in contact with you?

Steven Leahy (21:47)
the movie.

you

can go to fightbacknow.com and sign up. I have a daily email that I send out about taxes and running your own business and things. That’s free. So if you go to fightbacknow.com, you sign up for my daily email. Again, that’s free. Or if you have a question, you have a concern, you want to ⁓ match notes, happy to do so, give me a call. My phone number is 312-664-6649. I’m going to give it to you one more time because I know that… Take out a pencil.

Here it goes 312-664-6649 and call me. I’m always happy to talk to people I got to tell them at the desk that I asked you to call because maybe they won’t put you through otherwise I’m an important guy, you know

Quentin Edmonds (22:46)
Yes, Yes, Yes, ⁓ Mr. Mr. Steven Lee, ⁓ I appreciate you, sir. I appreciate your time, your story, your perspective. I appreciate you doing things the right way. Build a subscription model like trying to make sure that people can get their taxes done, that they can solve the problem before there is a problem. Let me see if I can quote you. Take action.

before there’s a problem. I appreciate what you’re doing and trying to make sure that people are set up the right way. really do.

Steven Leahy (23:19)
Well, I appreciate your opportunity to share my story ⁓ with your audience and ⁓ again, love to help them. Like you just said, take action before there’s a problem. Too many people don’t. So if you’re facing a problem, it’s not the end. That’s when I really shine, helping people get out of the problem.

Quentin Edmonds (23:40)
I love it, man. That’s a good sign off right there. Listen, if you’re tuning in, please make sure that you subscribe. I know you found value in this, right? We didn’t give you another resource that you can go to and be able to get what you need taken care of, especially when it comes to your taxes. So please continue to tune in. We got more operators coming, more people coming, just like my friend, Mr. Steven Leahy, who’s doing business the right way. so until the next time, we’ll see you later.