Tax Strategy
Proactive tax planning to minimize liability through entity structure, timing, deductions, and retirement strategies for both businesses and individuals.
What This Involves
Tax strategy is what happens before you file. It means looking at where you stand financially and making decisions throughout the year that reduce what you owe when the return is due. This applies to business owners and individuals alike. The goal is to pay what you legally owe and not a dollar more.
We look at entity structure, income timing, deduction planning, retirement contributions, and how all of those pieces interact with each other. For business owners in the Tampa Bay area running S-Corps, LLCs, or partnerships, these decisions often overlap with personal taxes in ways that require someone who understands both sides. That is exactly what we do.
Business Tax Planning
Business Tax Planning
We evaluate your entity structure to make sure it still makes sense for your revenue and situation. We review how you pay yourself, how you handle equipment purchases, and whether you are taking advantage of deductions available to your industry. Contractors, medical practices, real estate investors, and service businesses all have different opportunities and we tailor the plan accordingly.
Personal Tax Planning
Personal Tax Planning
For individuals, we look at total income from all sources and build a plan around retirement contributions, capital gains timing, estimated payments, and available credits. If you own a business, your personal and business taxes are deeply connected. We make sure both sides are working together instead of creating surprises in April.
Why It Matters
Most people think about taxes once a year when the return is due. By that point, the year is already closed and the numbers are set. There is very little a CPA can do in March to change what happened the previous twelve months. Tax strategy is about making the moves while there is still time to affect the outcome.
Small business owners especially tend to leave money on the table. They stay in the wrong entity structure for years. They miss depreciation opportunities. They don’t plan estimated payments well enough and get hit with penalties. Or they mix personal and business finances in ways that eliminate deductions they were otherwise entitled to. These are problems that planning solves.
Entity Structure Mistakes
Entity Structure Mistakes
Operating as a sole proprietor when you should be an S-Corp can cost you thousands in self-employment tax every year. On the other hand, an S-Corp creates compliance obligations that don’t make sense below certain revenue levels. The right structure depends on your specific situation and it can change as your business grows. What worked three years ago might not be the best fit today.
Missed Deductions and Credits
Missed Deductions and Credits
Business owners in the trades, real estate, and professional services regularly miss deductions related to vehicles, equipment, home offices, and retirement plans. Individuals miss education credits, health savings account benefits, and charitable contribution strategies. These are not aggressive positions. They are legitimate tax benefits that simply require someone paying attention before the year ends.
What You Walk Away With
You get a clear plan for reducing your tax liability that is built around your actual numbers and your actual situation. Not generic advice from a blog post, but a specific set of actions tied to deadlines and dollar amounts. We tell you what to do, when to do it, and what it saves you.
This also means fewer surprises at filing time. When your tax return is prepared, whether by us or someone else, the numbers should already make sense to you because you planned for them. Over time, the savings from consistent tax planning compound significantly. A few thousand dollars saved each year adds up to real money over the life of a business.
A Plan You Can Follow
A Plan You Can Follow
We break the strategy into steps you can actually execute. Retirement contributions by a certain date. Equipment purchases before year-end if the numbers support it. Adjustments to estimated payments so you are not overpaying or underpaying. Everything is written down and reviewed as circumstances change throughout the year.
Coordination Across Services
Coordination Across Services
Tax strategy works best when it connects to your bookkeeping, your business tax return, and your personal return. Because we handle all of those services under one roof, nothing falls through the cracks. Your books inform the strategy. The strategy shapes how we prepare the returns. It all fits together instead of living in separate silos with different providers who don’t talk to each other.
Tampa Bay's Small Business CPA Firm
First Step:
A Short Conversation
Tell us about your business and where you need support. We'll walk through your situation, answer your questions, and give you a clear quote.
