The Wealth Elevator Podcast: Real Estate, Taxes, Investing · Lane Kawaoka, PE

Advanced Tax Strategies for Business Owners | Home Office Deductions, Augusta Rule, and More

·1 hr 6 min·4 clips

Patrick says the Augusta Rule lets business owners rent their house for 14 days without claiming the income.

The episode begins with a familiar Wealth Elevator setup and a nod toward the show’s community and masterclass offer. It then pivots into taxes. The opening stretch looks at potential tax changes that have moved through the House and are in final revision through the Senate. The discussion stays selective and does not try to chase every item in the bill. It focuses on the parts that matter to listeners who can actually use the planning. Tips and wage-specific changes are set aside quickly. The show then talks through the extension of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. That includes the income tax rates and brackets being indexed for inflation. The framing is blunt and practical, with a strong sense that the clock is already running. After that setup, the episode gets into the second half promise and stays there. Home office deductions come first. Then the Augusta rule. Then paying children through payroll. Solo 401ks follow. Captive insurance is saved for the business-owner segment. The conversation does not treat these as abstract concepts. It treats them like tools that need to be understood, documented, and used correctly. A long exchange with a guest pulls the focus toward CPA review and tax return checking. The speaker describes situations where income got counted twice and nobody caught it. The fix was not glamorous. It meant going back, comparing books, and amending prior returns. The point is not just that mistakes happen. The point is that tax work is often too complex for a quick once-over. The episode makes a case for a second set of eyes from someone who understands the moving parts. It also points out that the industry is stretched thin and that overwhelmed CPAs can create bad outcomes for clients. A construction analogy drives the point home: if the concrete is already cured, you cannot inspect the pour after the fact. The same logic applies to tax planning. Some errors can be corrected later, but some opportunities disappear once the year closes. QBI gets used as the example. A six-figure deduction can mean meaningful tax savings, but only if the move is made on time. The tone stays conversational and a little rough around the edges, which fits the show. It sounds like operators comparing notes rather than sitting through a lecture. The conversation keeps returning to the same idea: control what you can control, then act before the deadline. The ending also comes back to the show’s resources and community links, keeping the service layer close to the tax content without letting it take over. The overall shape is a practical tax briefing with enough operator texture to feel lived in.

As heard by us

A practical year-end tax checklist for owners with a hard deadline before December 31.

It starts with tax-policy changes, then gets practical in a hurry. The useful part is the year-end planning: home office deductions, the Augusta rule, paying kids on payroll, solo 401ks, and captive insurance.

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Why you'd press play

If you own a business and want cleaner tax moves before year-end, press play.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

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