Hello all and let me introduce myself. I am an Accountant and have been in private practice for over 30 years. I graduated from Arizona State University and have an MBA in Accounting and Management. Now with that being said, I, like many of you have found myself in awe from some of the post on the Home brewers Talk. Certainly you must have run accross some of the post from guys such as Kal from Canada and his electric brewery. Upon further investigation, we find this guy is an Electrical Engineer designing control panels, power source and supply and god knows what else on Major Corporation assembly lines and factory floors. Yet, from time to time, he sits down, answers some newbie questions and makes it understandable in plain old english. The guy's amazing, sharing with us, absolute tons of information without charge, without selling something (yes, he has one of the largest manufacturing/assembly plants that I have ever heard of dedicated to electric brewing, but basically says; if you don't want to buy anything, here's how you build it yourself.) Then we run accross a guy called Brickmann who makes probably one of the finest Brew Kettles available. Look a little closer into this guys closet and you find he also was an Electrical Engineer for Catapillar. I imagine he probably built some pretty sophisticated electronics that you might see on million dollar road machinery, but I think he left his job for a higher calling and that was to brew some really good beer. We all did. I've only been on the site for a couple of weeks now and I have already ran accross a few of you guys that border on down right genius. All of this for free. I started feeling guilty so I sent a few bucks as the price of admission, but no one asked. When I feel they aren't going to band me for my off center sense of humor, I will probably sign up for a lifetime membership (remember, no refunds for getting kicked off so ;-) So what do I bring to the table. Oh....years and years of expertise on fooling around with a government gone mad (anyone seen the latest 54,000 pages of IRS code?) and a few of those pages deal with tax stamps and federal excise taxes. Things we are not familiar with but you should be if you ever in your wildest daydream thought about selling some of this golden nector of the Gods called beer. Little things like a "Brewer's Notice" from the ATF and things like a brewers bond and how to go about getting one the easy way. Yep, you could contact a bond company, pay them about a hundred an fifty dollars per year and they will bond you out after you sign over your first born child. Or, you could simply have your bank purchase a Federal Bond for a Thousand dollars (auction is every Wednesday) open an account with the Federal Reserve and name the U.S. Government as your beneficiary of that bond. Not so difficult and besides, they will give you a couple of bucks each year interest and you will be please to know that you are supporting the multi trillion dollar debt of ours instead of China ;-) so with time, I will post a tutorial on how to apply for a Brewers License, (both Federal and State, 20 states have a special license for micro-breweries) and info on the tax advantages of brewing your own. I am sure you guys are sick and tired of being a target and paying tons of money in taxes. I will share with you how thousands are getting huge refunds simply because they are self employed and write off tons of stuff that plain old employee's can't. So, like so many others on this site, I plan to share years of experience, years of higher education (some learned from making stupid mistakes) and hopefully, my off centered sense of humor. So kick back, pop open a brew and welcome to a journey that can take us miles and miles before we rest. Thank you for allowing me on your site.
An Arizona Accountant
- Thread starter ralex999
- Start date
Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:
Welcome aboard.
I love writing things off on my taxes. I need to start a business, so I can start "entertaining clients" with golf and scotch.
I love writing things off on my taxes. I need to start a business, so I can start "entertaining clients" with golf and scotch.
Schnitzengiggle
Well-Known Member
Sweet! I will definitely keep an eye on your "ramblings" for some wisdom. Thanks for offering us a source of knowledge on what seems incredibly complicated.
they tell me there is a beer that takes over a year to ferment but then again, patience is a virtue, usually found only in women.....Thanks TXCurtis, I will try and keep my post shorter in the future...
- Joined
- May 9, 2009
- Messages
- 234
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After the subject line I thought the next line would be ...walks into a bar.
But welcome and I look forward to the tax info.
But welcome and I look forward to the tax info.
wolfstar
Well-Known Member
Thanks Wolfstar and yes, you are absolutely correct. Many hours went into this site and I signed up for the first level as a premium supporter. I plan to sign up within a month or so as a lifetime supporter. I also purchase from their advertisers, vendor members and follow recommendations from this site as to great places to buy. This site advances the home brewer in ways I did not understand until I started following it. I am a fan. Hope I can contribute as I make the transition from homebrewer to Micro-brewery Pub owner. I think in the back of most peoples mind, is the thought to take this hobby to the next level. I hope I can document my journey and others may avoid some of my mistakes and maybe capitalize on a few of the things that go right. I like to overkill things and this is my new hood system for my 55 gallon tanks.
