How would you save money on Taxes as an influencer?

Social media influencers are notorious for having complex businesses and multiple streams of income. Common streams of income for social media managers that I see are:

✅ Affiliate agreements where the influencer receives a percentage of sales made from their affiliate link(s)

✅ Brand deals where the influencer is paid a lump-sum to promote the brand

✅ Monthly recurring memberships where the influencer teaches other the skills they need to be a successful influencer

✅ Book deals or self-publishing income from books they have written

✅ Speaking engagements

✅ Merch

As you can see, making money as an influencer is a lot more complicated than people think. Once successful, it’s not unusual for a social media influencer to be making multiple seven figures of revenue. While this is great, there is one thing that is looming over everyones head: taxes.

Not to worry! With a strategic tax planner, a social media influencer can minimize taxes while also enjoying a lot of lifestyle perks. Here’s how I would approach setting up a tax plan for a multi-seven figure influencer:

1. Analyze the business structure. At multiple seven figures, most influencers will be an S Corp status if they are US Citizens. If they are not – boy will my firm save them a lot of money! If the business is an existing S Corporation, we will analyze their owner payroll. Many firms are very conservative with the W-2 income for the S Corp owner. Our firm makes sure that we have analyzed the owner’s W-2 alongside their particular goals and circumstances so that they are not overpaying employment taxes.
2. Make sure that the legal entity is set up correctly. Now, we are not attorneys – but we do work with amazing firms that can handle any necessary legal document cleanup. We want to make sure that the business is set up with the correct documentation which can include language around a chosen Board of Directors or Advisors, as well as regular meetings. These will allow us to deploy lifestyle tax write-offs through travel more easily than if these things are not lined out by the business.
3. Analyze the accounting records to check for errors. Believe it or not, I have seen many multiple-7 figure firms think that they were not profitable, when really they just had accounting errors that were hiding multiple six figures of income. This isn’t always the case – but we are thorough.
4. Learn about the owners family: any children under 18? A spouse? Other types of income? We want to be able to shift income around the family to lower that tax burden.
5. Find out if the owner is interested in real estate investing. We can do a lot of really cool things with real estate – but it only works if the owner is really excited about this.
6. Stay in the loop. While my firm can handle outsourced bookkeeping and CFO Advisory needs, many times we are engaged only for tax strategy and tax prep. If this is the case, we work hand-in-hand with the internal accounting team to make sure that changes in the business are reflected and updated in the strategies. Team work does really make the dream work!

My approach is very holistic, and unlike most tax strategists I work cohesively with your financial advisor, attorneys, and others who provide services that touch your financials. I truly believe team work makes the dream work.

Managing your tax liability as a multiple seven figure influencer is not something that is recommended. If you feel like you are in need of tax strategy, reach out for a complimentary discovery call by filling out the questionnaire at www.myabundantia.com/contact and booking a quick discussion.