10/02/2026
“But I didn’t take that money out of the business… so why do I owe tax on it?”
This is one of the most common questions I hear from business owners.
The answer comes down to an important distinction: business profit is not the same thing as money you take out of the business.
For example, let's say your business generates $150,000 of taxable profit, but you only distribute $75,000 to yourself.
You generally pay tax based on the $150,000 of taxable profit — not just the $75,000 you took out.
The same concept works in reverse: putting your own money into the business generally isn't taxable income, and taking money out isn't automatically a taxable event.
In simple terms: the IRS generally cares about the business's taxable profit, not how much cash you moved from the business to your personal account.
That's why a business can be profitable, have plenty of cash tied up in the business, and still have a tax bill.
If you don't know what your business's taxable income is going to look like before year-end, you may be setting yourself up for a tax-season surprise.
A little planning before December can go a long way toward knowing what that tax bill might look like.