From Europe to Florida, CFO-turned-entrepreneur Karyna Moroz shares strategies to keep companies compliant and growing
Taxation remains one of the toughest barriers to growth for small and medium-sized companies in the U.S. In 2025 alone, Americans are expected to spend over 7 billion hours complying with IRS regulations, a massive amount of time that could otherwise be devoted to business growth or relaxation. Moreover, companies will spend an additional $148 billion on software, tax preparers, and related expenses, pushing the total cost of tax compliance beyond $536 billion, which equates to nearly 1.8% of the nation’s GDP.
The burden on small businesses is especially pronounced. According to a 2025 survey by the National Small Business Association, most owners dedicate more than 20 hours each year to federal tax compliance, even with professional assistance. Additionally, 90% of these entrepreneurs report that taxes heavily impact their day-to-day operations.
While these challenges have long existed, what truly matters is how businesses respond. Some adopt a reactive approach, trying to keep up with tax requirements as issues arise. In contrast, others consult specialists like Karyna Moroz, who closely track and practically apply regulatory changes. With over a decade of accounting experience across Europe and the U.S., Moroz has served as CFO and finance director for companies in Lithuania, Denmark, and Sweden. Today, she leads her own firm, Tax Advice & Accounting LLC, based in Tampa, Florida. Alongside her hands-on work, she maintains up-to-date expertise through certifications in QuickBooks, bookkeeping, and federal taxation, and participates in advanced courses such as “Taxation for Business in the USA (S Corp, C Corp, Partnership, Trust)”, that allows to improve accuracy and efficiency in preparing and reviewing returns, leading to fewer errors and audits, build strong and qualified knowledge to advise clients on optimal tax strategies and entity structures, enhancing value and credibility; support compliance with continuing education requirements (CPE) and demonstrates commitment to professional development.
The Main Bottlenecks and How They Play Out in Practice
Although the webinar did not present new issues to Karyna Moroz, it reinforced the significance of recurring challenges she confronts daily. Motivated by this, she outlines the areas where businesses frequently falter and offers practical strategies for overcoming them.
1. Choosing the proper structure
One of the primary decisions for any new business is selecting the appropriate legal structure. Among the standard options are S Corporations and C Corporations. Smaller businesses often favor S Corps because profits are passed directly to owners’ personal tax returns, thereby sidestepping double taxation. However, this advantage comes with ownership restrictions, limiting who can hold shares and the number of owners permitted. Conversely, C Corps allow unlimited and even foreign shareholders, making them more attractive to investors. That said, C Corps pay corporate tax themselves, and owners face additional dividend taxation.
At her Tampa-based firm, Moroz frequently advises clients who are uncertain which structure best aligns with their growth ambitions. For instance, some entrepreneurs contemplate moving from sole proprietorships to S Corporations to lessen self-employment taxes. She guides them through filing Form 2553, the election form that tells the IRS a business wants to switch from being taxed as a regular entity to being taxed as an S Corporation, which can reduce self-employment taxes for owners. She also makes sure they understand the IRS’s “reasonable compensation” requirements that come with S Corp status.
2. Reporting obligations and deadlines
Tax filing requirements in the U.S. are anything but uniform. Different business types, such as partnerships, standard corporations, and S Corporations, are assigned distinct forms. Partnerships file Form 1065, essentially a return that reports the partnership’s income and passes it through to the partners’ own returns. C Corporations file Form 1120, the standard corporate income tax return. S Corporations use Form 1120-S, an informational return that shifts profits and losses directly to owners’ personal returns.
“Each form has strict deadlines tied to the business type, not just the general April 15 deadline that individuals know,” explains Karyna. “Missing or filing late doesn’t just mean extra paperwork: the IRS automatically issues penalties that grow with every month of delay. For partnerships, for example, the fine can be $210 per partner per month, a figure that quickly becomes painful for companies with multiple owners,” she adds.
To avoid this, Moroz builds tracking spreadsheets for clients using helpful tools for clients like VL Cargo Express LLC, Palmcraft Cabinets LLC, and Hidemont LLC and others, Florida-based companies, which cover income sources, deductions, credits, and estimated payments as all these companies have different requrements and deadlines. This systematic tracking enabled the company to consistently meet filing deadlines, thereby minimizing penalties and interest charges.
3. Expense documentation
A frequent cause of headaches during IRS audits is inadequate record-keeping. According to Karyna, “the problem isn’t usually that expenses themselves are invalid; travel, supplies, or home office costs may all be deductible, but that business owners fail to keep the kind of proof the IRS requires. A receipt without a clear business purpose, a credit card charge that mixes personal and company spending, or mileage logged months after the fact can all trigger questions.”
Tax auditors look beyond mere numbers; they seek consistency and verifiable evidence. If expenses cannot be substantiated as business-related, deductions may be denied, leading to unexpected tax bills plus penalties. For small firms, this can mean losing thousands of dollars simply because of disorganized paperwork.
When she joined Jan Madsen AB in Sweden, a mid-sized Swedish company (the mother company of Enuda AB), preparing for an audit could take more than three weeks. After she implemented standardized documentation, it took just three days. She now applies the same system for American clients, digitizing records to align with IRS substantiation rules and save thousands in potential penalties.
4. Multi-state and cross-border rules
Businesses operating across multiple states or with owners and employees residing in different jurisdictions face additional complexities due to “nexus” rules. Nexus refers to a taxable connection a business has with a state, triggered by factors such as maintaining an office, having a warehouse, employing remote workers, or achieving a certain sales threshold. Many entrepreneurs underestimate these rules until confronted with unexpected filing obligations.
As part-time CFO at Enuda AB, a Scandinavian engineering and consulting company with projects around the world (Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Switzerland, Australia), she managed financial planning across the different taxation rules. That experience now helps her U.S. clients understand when nexus rules pull them into unexpected multi-state obligations.
Tax rules may seem like barriers, but Karyna frames them as levers for efficiency. Choosing the right structure, documenting expenses thoroughly, and preparing for audits in advance free up time and resources for growth.
Looking ahead, compliance will continue to grow more complex as regulations evolve and companies expand across multiple jurisdictions.
As Karyna Moroz concludes, “Taxes will always be part of business, but how we prepare for them decides whether they hold us back or move us forward.” For small companies, that preparation can mean the difference between resilience and closure.
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