Silvia Castruita

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From taxes to triumph: Empowering the community with American Express

Silvia Castruita’s business model began with an act of family advocacy. More than 30 years ago, as a young newlywed and student, she was thrust into the world of tax preparation when her mother, a factory worker who had moved her children from Mexico to Dallas and was still struggling with the local language, was shocked to learn she owed several hundred in taxes – an insurmountable amount for her at the time.

“My mother was devastated,” Castruita recalls. “She worked in a factory, making minimum wage. When she went to get her tax return done, she was told she owed over $200, which was like $2 million to her.” Castruita, who had no formal tax training, was determined to help. “I went to the post office, got the instruction booklet for the tax return, and read it. I was able to see a series of simple mistakes.” Castruita’s mother, nervous and uneducated in such matters, asked her to address the issue with a local tax professional.

Castruita’s visit to the tax office was disappointing, and a turning point. “The way I felt treated was not nice,” she remembers. “When I finally spoke to the person in charge, she looked down at me and said, ‘What makes you think you can correct us on our work? We know very well what we’re doing.’ I stood up, took the instruction booklet out of my purse, and started reading the corrections.” It took some pushing, and a few tense words, for the manager to relent and finally lend support, Castruita says. The experience highlighted the lack of sympathetic, Spanish-speaking tax services in her community.

What began as a personal mission soon evolved into a full-time endeavor, with word spreading about Castruita’s expertise. Encouraged by her husband, she pursued licensing to offer professional tax services, founding TaxSolutionS in 1991 to translate and demystify accounting and tax preparation for Dallas’s Hispanic population, one of the largest Hispanic communities in the United States.

“I was so upset back then,” Castruita recalls. “But now I am thankful they were so horrible to me because it inspired me to do something meaningful.” Today, her groundbreaking business thrives, thanks to Castruita’s resolve and persistence – and to the suite of business products from American Express that help her manage her cash flow and business finances.

Tools of the trade

Over the quarter century she’s been an Amex Member, Castruita has always relied on American Express^® Business Cards¹ for support. She currently uses the Blue Business Cash^™ Card. In time, though, she has broadened her arsenal to include bespoke solutions tailored to her small business needs, including an American Express^® Business Checking² account, an American Express^® Business Line of Credit³, and American Express Business Blueprint^™4. She says these tools have been instrumental in helping her run her business.

She discovered her Amex bank account through an email. “Hearing about the banking opportunity from Amex was surprising to me,” she says. “I was like, ‘Wait a minute – they’re not just a credit card company.”

Castruita was especially impressed by the ease-of-use of her online American Express^® Business Checking account. “It’s easy to understand, and, once I was approved, I could start using it right away,” she reports. “Transferring money to and from the account is also very simple.”

Castruita says her American Express^® Business Line of Credit, which offers her flexible access to an assigned amount of business funding, helps give her the support she needs to fund new projects – a game-changer for certain small renovations. “We are planning on redoing the parking lot in our building,” she explains by way of example, “and I wanted to draw a loan on the line of credit as a short-term vehicle to help pay for that.”

A single spot to manage cash flow

Best of all, Castruita can monitor such developments from one digital location, something she claims has significantly eased cash flow management.

With the comprehensive American Express Business Blueprint^™ experience, businesses can view select Amex business products – from Cards to a Business Checking account and a Business Line of Credit – and linked external business bank and card accounts on the Business Blueprint dashboard. “Running a business, your most precious resource is time,” she says. “So, I need things to be easy, quick, and safe.”

Castruita’s journey, from helping her mother with her taxes to running a flourishing consultancy business, speaks to her community spirit. But she hopes to stay available for client needs large and small, just as American Express has helped her along the way. “Amex is always on call,” she says. “Even when I just need to talk to somebody to understand something about a product. It’s always been like that, and I’m grateful.”

Story Footnotes

¹Individual Card application and approval required.

² We are currently accepting applications from eligible U.S. businesses. Not all applicants will be approved for a Business Checking account. To learn more about Business Checking, including eligibility, visit https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/business/checking/

³American Express® Business Line of Credit offers access to a commercial line of credit ranging from $2,000 to $250,000; however, you may be eligible for a larger line of credit based on our evaluation of your business. Each draw on the line of credit will result in either a separate installment loan or a single repayment loan. All loans are subject to credit approval and are secured by business assets. Every loan requires a personal guarantee. For single repayment loans, we charge a total loan fee that ranges from 0.95%-1.80% of the amount you borrow for 1-month loans, 1.90%-3.75% for 2-month loans, and 2.85%-6.05% for 3-month loans. Single repayment loans incur a loan fee at origination and the principal and total loan fee are due and payable at loan maturity. There are no required monthly repayments for a single repayment loan. Repaying a single repayment loan early will not reduce the loan fee we charge you. For installment loans, we charge a total loan fee that ranges from 3-9% of the amount you borrow for 6-month loans, 6-18% for 12-month loans, 9-27% for 18-month loans, and 12-18% for 24-month loans. Installment loans incur a portion of the total loan fee for each month you have an outstanding balance.  If you repay the total of the principal of an installment loan early, you will not be required to pay loan fees that have not posted for subsequent months. For each loan that you take, you will see the applicable loan fee before you take the loan. Once you take the loan, the loan fees that apply to that loan do not change.  We reserve the right to change the loan fees that we offer you for new loans at any time.  American Express reserves the right to offer promotions to reduce or waive loan fees from time to time. Not all customers will be eligible for the lowest loan fee. Not all loan term lengths are available to all customers. Eligibility is based on creditworthiness and other factors. Not all industries are eligible for American Express® Business Line of Credit. Pricing and line of credit decisions are based on the overall financial profile of you and your business, including history with American Express and other financial institutions, credit history, and other factors.  Lines of credit are subject to periodic review and may change or be suspended, accompanied with or without an account closure. Late fees may be assessed. Loans are issued by American Express National Bank. 

Single repayment loans may become available to eligible new and existing Business Line of Credit customers at different times.  

⁴ American Express Business Blueprint™ is the small business digital experience that allows a customer to view on one digital dashboard summary account information for the following American Express small business products: American Express® Business Cards, American Express® Business Line of Credit, and American Express® Business Checking. The customer can also choose to link their third-party issued business bank accounts and business credit cards to Business Blueprint. Not all third party accounts or cards can be connected to Business Blueprint. Business Blueprint allows the customer to view data insights and track their business cash flow and expenses by viewing reports that American Express prepares using the customer’s linked account information. Business Blueprint provides a 30-day bank account balance projection, using the daily balances from the customer’s linked bank accounts from the last 90 days. To be used in the account balance projection, the customer’s bank account must have at least 90 days of data available. While the cash flow management service from Business Blueprint is currently free, each of the business products from American Express that are visible in Business Blueprint has its own fees, eligibility criteria, application process and approval requirements. The Business Blueprint service (including any data insights provided to the customer) does not constitute legal, tax, financial or accounting advice, and is not a substitute for obtaining competent personalized advice from a licensed professional. You should seek professional advice before making any decision that could affect the financial health of your business. American Express makes no representations as to the accuracy, completeness or timeliness of the reports, projections, data or account information that are available to the customer from Business Blueprint.

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