In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday shares an April Fools’ Day joke about taxes being cancelled before reminding listeners that the April 15th tax deadline is real and requires action: either filing or getting an extension.

Transcript:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

And I’ve got something hot off the lines. They have passed the law that says no one has to file taxes this year. That’s right, no one. And I also have a bridge in Arizona for sale and a few other things—if you really want to believe that.

April Fools! That’s right. I am just teasing. I don’t want anyone to come back and say, ‘Hey, Dr. Friday says I don’t need to file taxes.’ That is a joke, but today is April Fools’ Day.

But in reality, you only have a few more days left before tax day, April 15th. So, make sure that you have either filed an extension or filed your taxes.

And if you have questions or need help, give us a call: 615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday emphasizes the need for self-employed individuals to meticulously track business mileage (at 67 cents per mile) using logs or apps and document trip purposes to withstand IRS scrutiny.

Transcript:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

If you are a self-employed individual and you use your vehicle for work, remember: 67 cents per mile. That’s only good if you’re tracking the miles. Looking up and telling your tax person, ‘Well, I think I put about 20,000 miles on my car,’ is never going to stand up in any kind of scrutiny.

You need to have something like Mileage IQ, some sort of paper book that you keep in the car. You need to have a purpose. Why did you go to this location? I went for tax preparation. Why was it this, and why was that? Who did you meet? What was the purpose?

You need that information because if you ever get audited, I will tell you, that will be one of the top things they audit.

615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday stresses that making estimated tax payments is mandatory to avoid penalties, warning against trying to out-earn the IRS penalty rates by holding onto the funds.

Transcript:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Making estimated tax payments, people, are not a choice. Sure, you can choose not to do it, but there is a penalty. Who wants to pay the IRS more money just because you have to hold on to it? You better be earning 6 to 8 percent, or you’re going to be paying more in penalties than you’re earning on the money.

I’ve had more than one person say, ‘I can do better than the IRS,’ but the IRS is the one penalizing you. Take the money out of the bank, pay the IRS so that the money in your bank is your money. Keeping the IRS out of your bank is so much easier than having to deal with penalties and interest.

Need help understanding that? Give us a call at 615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday advises against delaying tax filing even if you owe money, emphasizing that filing on time prevents additional penalties and interest; payment plans can be set up later.

Transcript:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

We are winding down on tax season. So, if you are deciding maybe you don’t want to file your tax because you just found out that maybe you owe $20,000, or $5,000, or $2,000—it doesn’t make a difference depending on your own budget, but it’s a lot of money. And you’re thinking, ‘Well, if I don’t file the taxes, the IRS won’t know; therefore, I’m going to be able to stretch this out a little longer.’

And I can’t say that’s not true. But the fact is: file your taxes on time, then figure out how you’re going to make a payment plan. Pushing it down the line is only going to add more penalties, more interest, possibly failure-to-file penalties.

If you need help, 615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

In this one-minute moment, Dr. Friday discusses the upcoming 2025 change where merchant fee income over $600 will require business tax reporting, urging online sellers to track costs now.

Transcript:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Okay, so if you’re a person that is working and selling small things—maybe on eBay or one of those types of sites—and you have merchant fees, remember: 2025, it will be going to $600, what they threatened to do back in 2022. They’re finally implementing that.

It is important to understand that if your merchant fees are over $600 for the entire year, you’re going to start having to report this as a business. So, think now about cost of goods, expenses. You can’t always show losses. So, what are you in business for?

615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

This episode dives into the various types of trusts available for estate planning. Dr. Friday reviews A.B. trusts, living trusts, insurance trusts, charitable remainder trusts, and even disability trusts to help you plan for the future.

Transcript – Edited for Readability:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Let’s talk a little bit about trust, different types of trust. You have a typical, you know, A.B. Trust, living trust, an insurance trust, a charitable remainder trust. All these are great. There’s also a disability trust. One of my nieces is on the spectrum. And we’ve set one up probably almost 10 years ago, in which many of us have also set up a life insurance policy. So if something happens to us, it will go into the trust. And then that way, she will always have money even when we’re not here. Think about things like that. Sometimes it’s a better way of setting it up than putting cold cash and hoping that it will grow. You need help with that again. Talk to a good estate attorney, but you can call or go to drfriday.com.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

In this episode, Dr. Friday discusses how transferring assets to your grandchildren can trigger generation-skipping tax (GST) and explains why setting up trusts through your children is the smart move to avoid a steep 40% tax.

Transcript – Edited for Readability:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Something to talk about. Transferring to your grandchildren may be a subject of generation skipping tax. We do have GST tax, and that is 40%. So if you decide to skip a generation and you say, hey, I really want to leave everything to my grandchildren, even though your children are still alive, the government says, wait, you’re trying to spread it out further. So we’re going to tax you on that if you do certain things. Your best bet is to set it in trust, put it to your children, keep the trust to have certain regulations so the grandchildren can still inherit. There are ways, but talk to a good estate attorney.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

Dr. Friday clarifies that while most inherited life insurance proceeds are tax-free, cashing in a whole life policy can result in taxable gains due to accumulated growth.

Transcript – Formatted for readability:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

I was asked a question last week about life insurance: Is it always tax-free? And the answer is no. It’s not always tax-free. One of the main things to consider with life insurance is that if you cash in your own policy—particularly whole life—sometimes people reach a point where they no longer need it. If you do cash it in, the gain on the amount paid is taxable income because it’s considered growth, much like investing in a stock or savings bond. So, keep in mind that if you inherit a policy or receive life insurance proceeds after someone passes away, 99% of the time, that money is tax-free.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

Dr. Friday explains the rules for gift taxes in 2024, including the $18,000 annual exclusion and the $13 million lifetime limit, clarifying who is responsible for taxes.

Transcript – Formatted for readability:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Gifting friends and/or family—$18,000 in 2024 is the annual exclusion. Anything over that, you need to file a gift tax return. But remember, lifetime gifting is $13 million, so you have a little wiggle room to understand how much to give. You do not have to give it to a family member; you can give it to someone on the street—it doesn’t make a difference. The person giving the money is responsible for any taxes that could be due, while the person receiving the money will not pay taxes. Important to understand.

If you need help understanding how to file a gift tax return or any of that, call 615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.

Dr. Friday breaks down estate tax thresholds under the latest law and offers planning tips using trusts and gifting to avoid a steep 40% tax rate.

Transcript – Formatted for readability:

G’day, I’m Dr. Friday, president of Dr. Friday’s Tax and Financial Firm. To get more info, go to www.drfriday.com. This is a one-minute moment.

Estate tax. Most of us are not going to really worry about estate tax because, under the newest tax law, the exemption is $13,610 for an individual and $27,220 for a married couple. That’s quite a bit to exceed. And then if you do exceed that, the tax would be 40%, which is pretty steep when you think about it. So, making sure you have a good tax plan by setting up a trust—an A, B trust if you happen to have a large estate—and considering gifting money away is advisable. I mean, I’m sure anyone with a good tax planner will help figure out a charity trust and all those—they’ll put more money in your hot pocket. You need help; call 615-367-0819.

You can catch the Dr. Friday Call-In Show live every Saturday afternoon from 2 to 3 p.m. right here on 99.7 WTN.