myBurbank Talks
myBurbank Talks
SPECIAL: Financial Resilience and Recovery After LA County Fires with Layla Kashani of CBIS Datatax
What if your personal accountant could offer more than just tax advice, becoming a vital ally in navigating life's financial twists and turns? In this episode, I sit down with Layla Kashani from CBIS Data Tax to uncover the hidden benefits of having a dedicated financial guide. Layla shares why a personal touch can make all the difference, especially when faced with major life events or preparing for retirement. With many accounting firms closing their books to new clients, finding a trusted partner who knows your financial history is more important than ever.
We also explore the unique financial landscape following the recent wildfires in LA County. The IRS and California have declared the area a disaster zone, unlocking significant tax relief measures for residents. From managing insurance claims and FEMA aid to navigating the complexities of crowdfunding platforms like GoFundMe, Layla and I discuss the practical steps you can take to manage the financial aftermath of such devastating events. Plus, discover how CBIS Data Tax is giving back by offering free tax filing services to those affected by the fires.
Finally, we turn our attention to the dual nature of human responses to disasters: the scams and the generosity. While looting and fraudulent FEMA claims can be disheartening, the outpouring of support from organizations like the Red Cross showcases the community's resilience. We emphasize the importance of vigilance in protecting yourself from scams, as well as tracking charitable contributions for potential tax benefits. This episode is a call to unite as a community, strengthening bonds and seizing opportunities for disaster recovery and future resilience.
From deep in the Burbank Media District. It's time for another edition of my Burbank Talks, presented by the staff of my Burbank. Now let's see what's on today's agenda as we join our program. Hello Burbank, greg Schubert here with you once again, and it's 2025 and we're back in the podcast studio. So kind of an interesting subject today. Probably not a really happy subject, but a very important subject today because, with the recent wildfires we've had and the problems, there are so many side things that go on besides just the rebuilding and all those things. One aspect is financial, which means accountants and things like that, and taxes, and whether you live in the burn area or not, in LA County we have a lot of things now going on. So we brought our friends at CBIS Data Tax in who, once again, in all disclosure, they are also the MyBurbank accountants, and you know why? Because they're the best. We want to bring in the owner, layla Cascini, and she's going to talk about some things, about what's going on. So, layla, it's good to see you once again.
Speaker 2:Yeah, thanks so much for having us back on the show and we feel pretty proud. We're your first podcast of 2025. Thank you.
Speaker 1:Yeah, we got a little busy and we've been changing some formats around, so I think it's going to work out pretty well. So let's go back once again and let's just talk about CBIS, data Tax. Give us a little bit of the history. You've been in Burbank for a long time. You just celebrated 20 years, I think 25. 25 years, yes, and so give us a little background on everything. 25 years, and so give us a little background on everything.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so CBIS Data Tax was actually my tax accountant. It was my father's tax accountant back in the day we're talking well for him probably starting in the 80s to the 90s. It's existed in Los Angeles since 1981, moved to the Burbank location where we are right now on Hollywood Way in 1998. Or Hollywood Way in Alameda, that's correct, that's right 201 North Hollywood Way. So what happened was this last summer we realized we've been in the same spot for at least 25 years, so we decided to mark the occasion. So 25 years of continuous operation. I am a new owner, but I used to be a client, so I feel like I already knew them. I went and got my master's in finance and accounting and so it just worked out to be able to take it over and continue the legacy.
Speaker 1:So that's great, and you know the reason we came to you. We've heard great things and we're very happy with what everything going on for us. Thank you very much.
Speaker 2:Yes, no problem. We're happy to have you, no problem.
Speaker 1:We're happy to have you. Well, let's kind of get into some of the general stuff here. So why having an accountant? Why is that different than having an online service? Your TurboTax and all those things you see and I'm sure on Super Bowl Sunday we're going to see a thousand ads for all the electronic things and we'll do your taxes for free and all this stuff Explain the difference to people, why they actually really need a physical accounting person and a place and somebody who can actually deal with you personally.
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, that's an excellent question and, yes, you could try to do it yourself. Right, and the IRS even offers some services for free for certain individuals that can't afford, for example, someone. The difference is that if you sit down and you're not a finance person, you're not a tax bookkeeping, you don't understand all these nuances. And each year, by the way the tax laws change, you're going to be dealing with a lot of pretty complicated stuff that a simplified I don't want to say. Our competitors, like TurboTax and so forth. They might be qualified in there, but they're not going to be asking the same questions year after year because they're not following you.
Speaker 2:You're just walking into a pop-up tax office and saying here are my papers, here are my receipts, here's my 1099s, w-2s, and they're going to do your taxes for you, but they're not going to know things like next year you want to buy a house, or last year you had a kid that was in school, that's not in school this year, and maybe you forgot to take a deduction last year.
Speaker 2:You're not going to know those legacy things. And that's why I think find an accountant that you love, that you can talk to, and that's somebody that's going to give you independent advice year over year, help you strategize and even prepare you in retirement years as well, because they'll know where you started from. So that's my push for you don't have to come to us. We'd love to have you, and we are open for taking new clients. By the way, many firms are not, and that's mainly because they're on their way to retire. Retiring accountants are not taking on new work. They're trying to get rid of clients, and so it's rare to find an established firm, an office that has a physical location, that is taking new business. So just keep that in mind as well when you go around looking for an accountant.
Speaker 1:Oh, interesting. Well, I know Frank does our work for us and I know Frank's going to be there. He's going to be there 12 months of the year. You go to a you know one of these places. You go to a physical location and they probably have hired two thirds of their staff, and just for tax season. And now you know it's two months later. You know I've got to. What do you mean? It doesn't work here anymore. You don't know who I am, you don't know what's going on. So there's a lot of advantage to having a accounting firm and and cost-wise it's pretty similar, isn't?
Speaker 2:it. I would say that we're talking okay, I'll give some quotes for us we are very competitive in our pricing. But let's say it's $300, on the high, you know, for an individual coming in with basic taxes, and then we're talking $800 for an uncomplicated business. This is not a lot of money Now, of course it sounds like a lot, but if you're getting a refund and it's coming out of that, you might say if I do it myself or if I go to them, maybe they charge 250 or 200. It's possible. Then what happens is you'll get that IRS letter that questions something, you don't even know what, and three months later or six months later, you don't have anyone to go back to and say what did you do on my tax form, that I got this letter so I can respond to them, and so now you're they're probably going to charge you again, and so we stand behind our work so that if we do something and you get a letter later on in the year, we're there to help you answer it. That's included in our services.
Speaker 1:Well, not only that, but you can probably find more things that give you more deductions and get you more money back in the long run too, because this is your one and only business. You're not just not moonlighting.
Speaker 2:Yes, I do find that the most people say the reason they don't have an accountant and they just use these services. Usually they say I just have one job. I just you know I'm one. I'm an Uber driver, that's all I do. And all I have to do is ask them a couple of questions Like do you have a cell phone? Do they deduct that? Do you take internet? Do you ever work from home? Have they ever considered that? And they look at me like well, I didn't even know I could do that. And I said that's the point. Like, whereas a professional accountant that's that's savvy on the laws every year uh, can help you with those type of things, even if you just have a one job, one income type situation. So there's plenty we can offer and help you with.
Speaker 2:It says, one day you're going to do a side business and maybe your YouTube channel suddenly becomes a big gain and now we wish that's right, and so we're there to help you plan for that, so that you can profit from that new venture without paying all the taxes.
Speaker 1:Well, as we kicked off the show, we said it's 2025. And guess what? It's a new year, in the tax year too. So what are some new rules and regulations for 2025 that maybe people don't know about or that you're looking to, you know key in on or that type of thing that you know it can really help people, and without giving too many trade secrets, because we still want to come to you and stuff but what are some of the rules and differences now in 2025 compared to last year?
Speaker 2:Well in 2025, generally for all taxpayers. They've changed some of the deduction amounts and, of course, the income levels and tax for each income level has changed. It changes every year, so it's always good to know about that. They've changed some rules on the retirement distributions, too that we need to keep in mind. It's kicked in probably in the last month of December, so hopefully you guys knew about it, took advantage of it, but those are also shifting, so there's some areas that are going to change. Some will benefit you and some deductions that you used to have will disappear, so it's good to know.
Speaker 2:Again. Find an accountant that can offset. Look at last year's and say, look, I had this gain last year but the rules changed, so I don't get that this year. But maybe there's something else you do qualify for. Most importantly for LA County is this fire that's happening. I know you said in the beginning of the show we would have a not so happy topic. The disaster that's happened in the Palisades and Eaton and other areas of LA County has created a window of opportunity on the financial losses. I know that sounds a very strange way to say. There is one upside to this disaster and I can speak personally I have a family member who lost their home, so it's hitting very close.
Speaker 2:However, we know that when the IRS and California said we are going to declare LA County a disaster area, that triggers some very interesting financial opportunity for everyone in LA County, even if you didn't suffer a loss.
Speaker 1:So people here in Burbank can have now. So there's some opportunities for them tax-wise, even though there's no fire that happened in Burbank. But people in Burbank can benefit from some of the declarations and stuff, especially in LA County.
Speaker 2:Exactly. I'll say first off the bat CBIS Data Tax is offering free tax filings for fire victims. So if you lost your home or lost a business, you can come in and talk to us. We'll do your taxes for free. That is an offer we're offering just to support the community at large. So if you know anyone out there that was impacted maybe not yourself, but someone else please send them to us If they're interested. We will do that for them.
Speaker 1:Let me ask you this we're kind of running the topic here, we're kind of bouncing around a little bit. So you've lost your house, you've lost your business and, of course, your business, all your records, all your tax records, all your receipts, all your computer, everything was. How do you go about, you know, recreating and helping people through that, because you know they're probably just hitting their head against the wall right now. They don't know where to turn or what to do. So how do you? How do you start and how do you start recreating all that?
Speaker 2:Well and that also OK for somebody who actually did lose their receipts in business. First of all, the IRS will get you your previous tax transcripts so you can get previous records that were already filed with the IRS. And you can go on the irsgov website and find that there's a phone number when you. It's actually a phone number called the IRS Disaster Hotline and I can give it out here it's 1-866-562-5227. So the IRS Disaster Hotline can answer a lot of those questions. When you say I lost this, I lost that. You're a business, you got to hand out W-2s to your employees, or 1099s, all of that. They can help assist you. And, by the way, since we're on it, everyone in LA County can now postpone all their filings for individual and business taxes until October 15th. That's like just you don't have to have lost your home or business to benefit from that.
Speaker 1:Let's say it was a pandemic that one year we got to a six month extension.
Speaker 2:Yes, the pandemic did it. There was a flood, there was a flood zone also in LA County and San Diego that they also offered an extension. But it's not just the filing. This is what's so interesting. This is why I said there's a financial gain here, or a potential financial offset, we'll call it.
Speaker 2:If you owe taxes, you also don't have to pay that until October 15th. So you could even go to your accountant and file or do your. However, you file and wait to pay until October 15th. If you're in LA County, you profit from that or you benefit from that. I mean, I should say, if you, even if you haven't lost anything in the fires. What that could mean is, if you owe money, if every year you're writing a check on April 15th, you now don't have to write that check till October 15th and there will not be any penalties or interest charged. I mean that's a huge advantage if you could do something else with that money in the meantime and just save up again until October. If you pay estimated taxes every quarter, those are also delayed until October 15th. So if you owed something in December and you still haven't paid it, you get that grace period no penalty, no interest all the way to October 15th.
Speaker 2:There's a number of other things that have been delayed, but it is quite interesting for people that maybe they didn't quite have the money saved up or they have something else they wanted to spend that money on. Well, now you can't, so you can wait. One more interesting thing is let's say you don't live in LA County, you're outside the county, but your tax firm, like CVIS Data Tax, is within that zone. You can also qualify for that delayed filing and the delayed payments. That is extremely interesting. It means if you live in Vermont but you use us for your tax services, you can call the IRS and say my tax preparer is in the impacted zone and you will also qualify for that. So it's a very interesting thing that it's also nationwide potential, but you got to find your tax firm inside the LA County area. So that's the pitch for CBIS data tax. We can help you with that. We can advise you how to get that benefit.
Speaker 1:Hear that, vermont, we found your tax accounts right here. Now you're going to be dealing with a lot of insurance money, a lot of FEMA money and everything else going on. I was told. I've been watching reports like everybody else, and they were saying that if you start a GoFundMe page and FEMA finds out about it, they will deduct the amount you get on GoFundMe from the FEMA payment they give you and things like that. So accounting-wise, is the GoFundMe page a good idea? I mean, is that more of a taxable thing or is FEMA not taxable? Or am I asking questions that are probably a little more complicated right now?
Speaker 2:No, they're all very good questions. I almost find it unconscionable that if somebody has money, however they get it, suddenly the government, federal funds, are not paying out, and so forth. But this is another. This is my opinion on that stance. But basically it's true. What they're saying is if you had an insurance policy that, say, covers your property for $50,000 and you collected that $50,000, then FEMA is not going to pay you. You know anything more, unless you come and say, but I lost a hundred thousand dollars worth of stuff, then they might consider that fifty thousand. But if they find out you had a GoFundMe that got you that extra fifty thousand another, well, we're done here. You've been made whole, and it's almost like penalizing people's generosity to help people in these situations. So the government just says we're not going to pay it. But I have an opinion on that. But that is the. That is the truth. The insurance and FEMA payouts will sort of cancel each other out. So you can't double dip is what they're trying to say.
Speaker 1:Well, that's it. Yeah, I mean, I understand they want to make you whole again, but you know your life's been turned upside down. It's not like you're trying to make a. You know, let's have a fire and have a profit off of that. You know, I don't think people are thinking trying to make a profit. I think they're just trying to get their lives back on track.
Speaker 2:You know, and face, it's a lot of things that you know kind of make sense, like that well, on that topic I I can offer something on the tax side that might help some of these fire loss victims. And it's good advice for somebody who hasn't lost anything, but to prepare just in case. So let's say you had grandmother's ring okay, and it's worth 50 grand. Let's say it's. Or you know even more Well, you didn't get.
Speaker 2:When you inherited that ring you probably didn't get it appraised, you just got it from grandma on her deathbed. I mean, it's now part of your collection and you lost it in the fire. Well, the insurance company most likely is not going to pay you out on that ring. They might do a blanket policy. Well, everything in the house is worth $100,000. That's all you get. But when you come back and say, but I had this one ring and it was worth that to me, they're going to say too bad, because you had a blanket policy. You didn't tell me you had this additional item.
Speaker 2:So I can say for you right now the insurance will not pay you that, however, you come into our offices we can explain a way for you to get the tax loss of that inherited item through your taxes. Now you'll say to me but I don't earn $50,000 a year to take a tax loss of $50,000. You've got 20 years to take that loss. You can keep putting it. You can take $5,000 every year for 10 years, if you like, until we get it.
Speaker 2:We can find a way for you to take the loss of that ring. You'll get the money. It just might take some time. So it's a very interesting ruling the way they treat inherited items that are lost in a disaster. So anybody out there that thinks my insurance isn't going to pay for all that great stuff I had all my life took me 50 years to create this life. Gone in a day, talk to your accountant or come in and talk to us, because we might be able to find a way for you to recover it at least the financial value of it over the next few years.
Speaker 1:You recommend that people videotape, maybe inside their house, things like that. Yeah, not videotape. Welcome to the 80s. A cell phone now is a camera and they can do video on every cell phone. So should they go around room to room and just video their house, and maybe they have expensive objects to go ahead, and is that good enough for documentation? Just a video compared to oh, here's a receipt, here's this, here's that. I mean, is that a good system to have?
Speaker 2:Yeah, well, yes, because, uh, it's, it's obviously a receipt is golden, because if you bought something, you have a receipt for it, if it survived the fire or if you have a credit card statement somewhere, that's going to be the value. But these items that you don't like paintings or a vase, or you know your furnishings maybe you just had some beautiful, like jewelry as I said, those things are not going to have receipts necessarily if they were gifts or given to you or inherited or passed down over generations. I'm sure most of Altadena is a generational type community. Those people, if they're 70 years old and they lost everything, they're not going to have receipts. Right, they were hoping to hand that down to their grandchildren and so videotaping or if you have any photographs of it, that's obviously very helpful.
Speaker 2:If you, if you don't have them from the fire, take some now. If you've, if you still have your hub, take photos. Put them somewhere where they're safe. Obviously, if it's on a phone or a hard drive and that burns, that's or it gets destroyed. So put them somewhere safe and don't put them in a safety deposit box, because we have learned that the safety deposit boxes in the banks burned up. They're only capable yeah, the Bank of America.
Speaker 1:I saw Bank of America open flames, yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the only their. Their vaults are meant to withstand fire at 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and these fires were at 1780 plus Fahrenheit. So anything inside those boxes it turned to ash if it was paper and melted into a pool of puddle of metal if it was silver or gold. So even when they can get to those boxes, you're not going to have any. You know it's just gonna be a mess. And you're not insured, by the way, with a safety deposit box. So that's another thing to know. You have to carry your own insurance. The bank doesn't even know what you put in there.
Speaker 1:That's the advantage of the safety deposit box.
Speaker 2:No one knows what's in those boxes, so I wouldn't put them in there because we know they're not fire safe. So put them in different locations, maybe at different friends, families, houses, put it on a hard drive somewhere, or you can put them in the cloud. You know, if you trust the cloud, put them up there. Those photographs, by the way, they're not necessarily a guarantee of appraisal value and that's why we come in again, because I can. In our firm at CBIS Data Techs we can find jewelry appraisers that are certified in the area in LA that can look at a photograph and say you know that ring, if it was this carat and this would have this value, and they will document that. They'll say we didn't feel it, but we believe it would have been worth this much and that's good enough for the IRS.
Speaker 1:Okay, what if somebody comes to you and you know, and let's face it, these are very distraught people. Right now, even weeks later, there's probably people just are sitting at a corner somewhere saying I just don't know what to do. If somebody comes into you and they really haven't received help, they haven't filled out, are you able to steer them in the right directions? Okay, here's where you need to go with FEMA, here's where you need to go with FEMA, here's where you need to go with an insurance. Do you help steer people to get them in the right direction? Because right now they're probably just lost and there's no experiences whatsoever for them. So what can you do if somebody is just really starting off? Can you help guide them through the process, besides being, of course, their accountant?
Speaker 2:Yes, well, obviously we are of expertise on the tax side, but because we also have a community that are impacted we and myself directly, even the family we can help you because we have lawyer contacts that can help guide you on the legal side. They can advise you on how to approach your insurance company, the FEMA and these disaster relief. Obviously we have connections into the IRS disaster hotlines and so forth that we have enrolled agents that can go and get in there. We can definitely advise you. We're not a one-shot all for this disaster, sadly, but it's a great start because first we can at least talk through your financial options. How do we make you whole again? You're retired, you're not working anymore, for example? How do we at least get that's the important thing you know is to get whole again.
Speaker 2:Right, we can even put some of these financial losses into your estate, so that at least your next generation has some benefit, even if you're not working anymore now. So there's all these things we can talk through that might give a small peace of mind on top of this horrific tragedy that's happened.
Speaker 1:What about scams out there? And I think there's I can't there's people who already had their. You know, they went to get a FEMA help and they said oh no, somebody's already applied for your house and you got to prove who you are. And they said well, why did they have to prove who they were first? You know, I mean. So I mean people take advantage of everything they take. It's sad when you see how cruel people can be compared to how generous people can be. Also.
Speaker 2:Yeah, the scams and the theft has already begun. I mean, I'll even speak in my personal family. They've gone out to the ashes. They found a safe but it looked that it had already been busted open. So they're not sure if anything was ever in it. It could have. Maybe didn't survive the fire, they're not sure, but it did look like it had been opened and nothing was inside.
Speaker 2:So it's already started. We know about these looters, we've heard about it. The police are trying. Now you get escorted to your properties. But the scams online are big.
Speaker 2:The offers to buy properties. In my family they've also been offered to buy their land, and at very, very low value. So that's happening. It has been deemed illegal in California to make offers below market value. At this moment, like this is one of these disaster moments where they enact these policies.
Speaker 2:But who's to stop someone who really desperately needs money to just accept an offer like that? So there is some risk out there. People are weak and you really have to pay attention. Risk out there. People are weak and you really have to pay attention. Definitely, research any offer you get, talk to other people, see, did they get the same offer? Like, did you get that email, did you get that phone call? And just don't keep it to yourself. And even if you fell victim to something like you did actually hand money over to someone and then nothing happened please don't hide that, don't be ashamed of it, because if you don't voice it, then we can't find out and stop it and help the community and the enforcement agencies to track that down. So and there is some protection. By the way, you can even bring that back to your taxes as a loss. So if you did get scammed, there is a way to put that on your taxes.
Speaker 1:You didn't know that.
Speaker 2:Yes.
Speaker 1:Okay, so that's the worst side of people. Let's talk about the good side of people. The Red Cross, all these organizations have made millions and millions of dollars. You know that's coming from people who are donating money, donating items, donating all these things. So when they're donating, should they be keeping track of what they're donating, Because that would be a write-off in itself, wouldn't it? I don't think people are looking for if I do this, I'll get a nice write-off for my tax. I don't think that was the reason they did it. But now that they have done it or continue to do it, what are the advantages to that for their tax base?
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely, items, goods as well as cash, right, so you're donating money, but maybe also donating goods to these types of services. There's a value to that. So keep track. We can deduct that on your taxes. Some items, we can just blanket it, like you give a bunch of clothes or something like that. You don't really know the value. Well, we can help you value. Well, let's see how much we can say it was without raising any flags, you know, to make it all within legal bounds. But, yes, definitely keep track of that. Choose your favorite organization. We won't necessarily have a preference, but one thing I do suggest is, if you thought it was going to go for the fires here in LA, make sure you tag it that way, because sometimes these Red Cross organizations I'm not going to fault them it's happened in the past where people thought they were giving the money for their local community and it ended up.
Speaker 1:In North Carolina.
Speaker 2:Or overseas. You know, sometimes it goes somewhere else.
Speaker 1:I mean, it's not that they're using it for a good purpose, but they're not using the purpose you intended.
Speaker 2:You intend. So you can tag your donation. So be sure, if that's important to you, be sure to do that.
Speaker 1:It won't make any difference on the wow, so much going on here, so much you know, and it's going to be such a long process. So, as time goes on and now people start the rebuilding process and things like that, what is it they should be, you know, keeping track of and all that type of thing.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so rebuilding, they've said in LA County, they're trying to bypass a lot of the bureaucracy.
Speaker 1:Good luck with that.
Speaker 2:Right and yeah, I can say they initially seem to make it seem going very quickly, but in reality it's. Obviously we know reality is not going to be as fast as what they say, but they are trying to clear the way to make it faster. But here's what I would suggest If you have a street or a community, you might have more power if you all come together and come to some kind of agreements. Maybe you can share the debris, clear off costs together. Or when you try to find a contractor believe me, there are not 19,000 contractors to do 19,000 different structures You're going to have to pool. So if you have a home owners, or if you have a street where you're friendly with your neighbors, that's the best way to get in. And even the homes that didn't get destroyed, this is also an opportunity for you to maybe enhance or upgrade.
Speaker 2:Try to get some kind of disaster loan out of this from the federal government which says look, everybody else is going to build brand new, I'm going to be in the oldest house on the block. There are some options for you as well, but you got to get together with your neighbors. I think there's more power by street or by community, by neighborhood than individual. We all kind of tend to go in a disaster to ourselves and protect our families and our pets and our needs. But you got to step out and say, well, if I come together with everyone in my area, I'll be stronger when I go out and ask for the help I need, or to get my streets cleaned up faster or get the power put back on or the water re hooked up, cause all of that infrastructure has to happen before you can even put the first foundation down.
Speaker 1:Plus, where are they living right now? Are they in a hotel? Are they in a Airbnb? Are they you know? That's another thing too. I mean, those are all costs that you have to figure into it also, right.
Speaker 2:Yes, please keep track of all those receipts. That's all part of your loss. Some insurances will cover that. It's like your cost of living in a hotel or getting a rental car, but not all. And if you don't have insurance, you're just paying out of pocket. Keep track of everything. If you're buying coffee or diapers for your kids, all that expense and, by the way, there are some immediate disaster loans. I think you can get $770 immediately from FEMA without much and this could be the question of what you're saying. There's fraud. People have already applied and gotten that. The first cash money that's coming out is very easy to get but unfortunately it blocks when you show up with legitimate. But I would definitely keep track of all your expenses when you're living out of your home elsewhere.
Speaker 1:So let's localize this a little more back to Burbank. Have you seen anybody, have you heard much about what's going on in Burbank? As far as any of this you know, or even our air quality went bad and you know, and there was ashes that came into people's residences. If they need to clean that stuff up and all that, or maybe put a filtration system in their house, I mean, is that stuff that is to be worked on and covered into this? Is that stuff that is to be worked on and covered into this?
Speaker 2:Well, there are some offers for things like a generator, a little backup generator. There are a lot of services out there that existed before the fire, that I'm sure a lot of people in Burbank didn't know that existed. You can have them come in and check your energy tightness of your home, change your light bulbs, change your shower heads, for example. There's things you can take advantage of just to make your home a little bit more energy efficient or more just better. And while you're at it, get the fire department out to have a look. Are my trees too close to my house? I know they're busy, but there are opportunities. This is the time to get them top of mind to say, is that tree too close to the house, or different kind of bushes, or maybe you were thinking of changing some landscaping? Now bring in that fire thoughts or whatever. Or protect your home. And also earthquakes I don't want to say don't forget about earthquakes.
Speaker 2:Oh yes, yeah. So you don't want to put a lot of stone in building and then an earthquake has then cracked. It's the sort of advantage disadvantage of a concrete home can crack more easily in a light tremor, whereas you know it'll be protected in a fire. So you want to talk to some people about that and I think the community is starting to do talks on this through the Burbank Chamber of Commerce and through the Burbank City of Burbank. They're starting to offer some of those. I believe you're having the mayor on, so we have the mayor on later this week.
Speaker 2:Yeah, so they probably will have some of these Q&A sessions where people can go and say what can we do to improve our community? I was going to add one thing, though, that I think some Burbank businesses probably have been impacted. Maybe they have employees that live in these areas that have been displaced, or maybe they provided services to businesses that have been displaced right. So Burbank community has been impacted. It's like we're not in a bubble here. We don't only work for each other, we work for the entire city and area. Even just the traveling corridors to these areas have blocked some of our businesses. They're not coming here because maybe they had to pass through that. So I think a lot of businesses, if they take a loss, that's also something to consider. If you show your January, february, march first quarter income is lower than normal, it could be that. Or if you don't have employees that can come to work and you have to offset it with overtime with other people, all of that can be attributed to this disaster. Sorry to be always the maker.
Speaker 1:No, no, that's what we need to know. In fact, I would say maybe even child care, because when the school shut down and everything else and you had to worry about it. That's another aspect. There's so many aspects of this from different things you don't think about, but they do it. The child care you had to provide while your schools were closed, that's a direct result of these fires, right?
Speaker 2:That's exactly right. So I'm not saying like get a notebook and start writing everything down, but if you come in and talk to us or any other tax accountant that you choose, they should be asking you those questions, and even if you don't have exacts, we can ballpark it, we can estimate it. I mean, the IRS understands that people don't have every receipt of everything in this situation, and so there's plenty that we can try to help you do.
Speaker 1:Well, I think we're going to wrap this up, but I think it was very important to talk about these things Once again. Probably not the first thing in your mind was your taxes and all these things and deductions, but it's something that you need to start thinking of down the line. So hopefully this podcast is going to help people and give them some direction. You know, and like I recommend CBS Data Tax. I mean, I think you guys are fantastic. We've been with you for a while now, very happy with you, know the service and the communication. So you know, and whatever accounting firm you get, you know I think you need the most important thing with accounting you have to trust. You're talking about your financial records, your financial worth and everything else, and you have to trust your accountant and, let's face it, your accountant's probably going to know things about you. You have to trust them with the information too. There's probably some things you know in your life that you don't want people really to know, but your accountant needs to know.
Speaker 2:Oh, we do, we get that.
Speaker 2:We have, uh, husbands asking us stuff the wives don't know about, and we have children that start things that they don't want their parents to know, and um, but all legal though all legal, but just things that, like they want to make decisions in their life and want to know the impact, and so that's what we're here for to get that independent view, um, and and you know objective, and so you can make the informed decisions okay leila, I can't tell you how much I appreciate you coming by the studio and talking with us.
Speaker 1:I think this has been very valuable and I really do hope it helps people and we'll put information in our description and everything else how to get a hold of you guys. If you're looking for an accountant, I really recommend these guys. I think they're very important, I think they're very trustworthy and you know what They've been around. They're not going to be gone next year. They've been 25 years here in Burbank, so that says been around. They're not going to be gone next year. They've been 25 years here in Burbank, so that's a lot in itself. Anyway, once again, thank you for coming by today.
Speaker 2:Thank you, appreciate it Always. Love coming here.
Speaker 1:We love having you and the rest of you in Burbank. Thank you very much for watching or listening. Make sure you hit the old like button, as they say, and think about a channel membership. That really helps us financially and we would appreciate that we have our merch store now. So all those little plugs we like to give at the end of a video and if you're listening to your car right now, thank you very much. We hope you are driving safely. Keep two hands on the wheel and that's it for another edition at my Brewing Talks and we will talk to you next time.