⭐ FEATURED BUSINESS

Four years at the U.S. Naval Academy. A degree in quantitative economics. Not one class on taxes.

That is how Redlands native Andrew Samaniego tells it. “Most high schools do not teach you anything about your taxes,” he says. “They don't even teach you this in college.”

So life taught him instead. Andrew served as a Surface Warfare Officer, and his ship was one of the first to deploy when COVID hit. The crew spent a full year at sea without coming ashore. He met his wife at the Academy, and she is still serving. He is a California resident; she is originally from Hawaii, and for a stretch they lived in Maryland. Three states, one household, and a tax situation he calls “just crazy.”

“I lived the life,” Andrew says. “This one was personal for me, and I wanted to share that with the world.”

Today he is an Enrolled Agent, federally licensed to represent taxpayers before the IRS. And his new book, Hold the Line: The Military Family's Field Manual for Lowering Your Taxes and Defeating the IRS, is the result. He wrote it with Grant Vermeer, a fellow Naval Academy grad, San Diego real estate agent, and the face behind the YouTube channel Academy Insider.

A field manual, not a textbook

Andrew calls it a field manual on purpose. It is built to be used, not admired on a shelf, and the checklists are in the back “because I love checklists.” The first half focuses on paying less and is written for four kinds of military households: W-2 Warriors living on a military paycheck, real estate professionals, service members running a side hustle, and disabled veterans and their spouses.

That side hustle part surprises people. Drive Uber on weekends or sell real estate on your days off, and you are running a business, with the deductions that come with it. The second half is defense: what to do when an IRS notice lands on the counter, and how to deal with a tax bill without draining a lifetime of savings.

One thing most veterans get wrong

VA disability compensation is not taxable. But if you ever owe the IRS, Andrew explains, that money still counts as household income when the IRS decides what payment plan or settlement you qualify for. This detail can change the whole plan, and most families don't hear it until they are already in trouble.

Free, and built for busy people

You can download Hold the Line free at MilitaryTaxPro.com, or buy it on Amazon. Too busy to read a whole book? Click Tax Advisory on the site and build your free Tax Battle Plan. Answer about five minutes of questions, enter your name and email, and you get a 20- to 30-page plan with the book's strategies matched to your orders, your family, and your state.

“This is my gift for you, for serving,” Andrew says.

Watch the interview

RedlandsNow editor Carlos Samaniego sat down with Andrew on Tax Debt Live to talk through the book. Yes, same last name. Andrew is his son, and Carlos says so in the first two minutes, because, in his words, “this show runs on trust.” Watch the full interview on YouTube.

If you know a military family in Redlands, send this their way.

Get your free copy at MilitaryTaxPro.com →