Proactive strategies that minimize your tax burden legally and sustainably. Attorneys help business owners and high-net-worth individuals keep more of what they earn.
What Is Tax Planning
Tax planning is the art of arranging your financial affairs to legally minimize tax liability before taxable events occur. Unlike tax preparation, which documents what already happened, planning shapes what will happen. The difference can be hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career.
For business owners and high-net-worth individuals, the tax code offers numerous legitimate strategies: entity structuring, retirement vehicles, timing of income and deductions, investment positioning, and wealth transfer techniques. Most people leave these opportunities on the table simply because they don't know they exist or assume they're only for the ultra-wealthy.
Tax planning integrates with your broader legal and financial picture. Entity structure affects liability protection. Retirement planning connects to estate planning. Real estate strategy influences cash flow. The role of the attorney is ensuring these pieces work together toward your goals.
Why It Matters
Strategic tax planning can reduce your effective tax rate by 5-15 percentage points. Over a career, that's the difference between comfortable and exceptional wealth.
Every dollar saved in taxes is a dollar that compounds in your portfolio. Tax-efficient investing and retirement strategies accelerate wealth accumulation.
Proper entity structuring provides liability protection while optimizing tax treatment. The wrong structure can cost you in both taxes and exposure.
Business sales, real estate transactions, and investment exits require advance planning. Last-minute tax moves are limited; proactive planning preserves options.
Estate and gift taxes can consume 40%+ of wealth transfers. Strategic planning ensures more of your legacy reaches your intended beneficiaries.
Aggressive tax strategies invite scrutiny. The focus is on legitimate, well-documented approaches that withstand examination while delivering meaningful savings.
Planning Strategies
From entity structuring for growing businesses to estate tax planning for generational wealth, attorneys tailor strategies to your specific situation and goals.
The right business entity can significantly impact your tax burden. Attorneys help business owners evaluate and restructure entities (LLCs, S-Corps, C-Corps, and partnerships) to optimize for self-employment taxes, pass-through income, and future exit strategies. Proper structuring can reduce your effective tax rate while maintaining liability protection.
For business owners, how you pay yourself matters as much as how much you earn. Attorneys advise on reasonable compensation, dividend strategies, retirement plan contributions, and timing of income recognition to minimize taxes while staying compliant. Strategic compensation planning can defer or reduce significant tax liability.
Whether you're selling a business, real estate, or investment assets, attorneys help structure transactions to minimize capital gains exposure. This includes installment sales, opportunity zone investments, charitable remainder trusts, and like-kind exchanges. Proper planning before a liquidity event can preserve substantial wealth.
High-net-worth individuals face estate taxes that can erode generational wealth. Attorneys implement strategies including annual gifting programs, grantor trusts, family limited partnerships, and charitable vehicles to transfer wealth tax-efficiently. Proactive planning ensures more of your legacy reaches your intended beneficiaries.
Beyond standard 401(k)s, sophisticated retirement strategies can dramatically accelerate wealth building while reducing current taxes. Attorneys advise on defined benefit plans, cash balance plans, non-qualified deferred compensation, and Roth conversion strategies tailored to your income level and retirement timeline.
Real estate offers unique tax advantages when structured correctly. Attorneys advise on 1031 exchanges, cost segregation studies, real estate professional status, and opportunity zone investments. Whether you're an investor or developer, proper tax planning maximizes returns and defers recognition of gains.
The Process
Effective tax planning requires understanding your complete financial picture, developing customized strategies, and coordinating implementation across your advisory team.
Your attorney reviews your current tax returns, income sources, asset holdings, and financial goals to understand your complete picture. This foundational analysis identifies immediate opportunities and long-term planning needs.
60-90 minutesBased on your situation, your attorney develops a customized tax strategy addressing entity structure, income timing, investment positioning, and wealth transfer. Projected savings are quantified and implementation requirements.
1-2 weeksTax planning works best when coordinated with your CPA, financial advisor, and other professionals. Your attorney collaborates with your team to ensure strategies are implemented correctly and everyone is aligned.
OngoingThe legal documentation is handled for entity restructuring, trust creation, agreement drafting, and other structural changes. Each implementation step is timed for optimal tax treatment.
2-4 weeksTax laws change constantly. Annual reviews are conducted to adjust strategies, capture new opportunities, and ensure your plan remains optimized as your circumstances and the tax code evolve.
AnnuallyFrequently Asked Questions
Tax preparation is backward-looking, completing returns for income already earned. Tax planning is forward-looking, structuring your affairs to legally minimize future taxes. The focus is on planning: entity structuring, income timing, investment positioning, and wealth transfer strategies. You'll still need a CPA for return preparation, and attorneys coordinate closely with your tax preparer to ensure strategies are implemented correctly.
The most common strategy is restructuring from a sole proprietorship or LLC to an S-Corporation. As an S-Corp, you pay yourself a reasonable salary (subject to payroll taxes) and take remaining profits as distributions (not subject to self-employment tax). For many business owners earning $100K+, this can save $10,000-$30,000 annually. The key is setting 'reasonable compensation,' and your attorney helps determine the right balance.
QOZ investments allow you to defer and potentially reduce capital gains from any source (stocks, real estate, business sales). You have 180 days from realizing a gain to invest in a qualified fund. If held 10+ years, appreciation in the QOZ investment is tax-free. This strategy works best for significant gains where you're comfortable with a long-term, illiquid real estate or business investment in designated zones.
Yes, several strategies apply. A Charitable Remainder Unitrust (CRUT) allows you to transfer appreciated crypto, have the trust sell it tax-free, and receive income over time while claiming a charitable deduction. Opportunity zone investments can defer crypto gains. Timing sales across tax years, harvesting losses, and strategic gifting to family members in lower brackets can also reduce exposure. Consulting is recommended with both legal and tax advisors before any crypto liquidity event.
A defined benefit plan is a retirement plan that allows significantly higher contributions than a 401(k), often $200,000+ annually for older, high-income business owners. It's ideal for professionals or business owners over 45 with consistent high income ($300K+) who want to accelerate retirement savings and deductions. The trade-off is complexity and annual contribution requirements. Attorneys help evaluate if this fits your situation.
Several strategies reduce gift and estate taxes: annual exclusion gifts ($18,000 per recipient in 2024), paying education or medical expenses directly, grantor retained annuity trusts (GRATs), intentionally defective grantor trusts (IDGTs), and family limited partnerships. The best approach depends on your wealth level, family dynamics, and how much control you want to retain. Attorneys design customized wealth transfer plans as part of comprehensive estate planning.
Roth conversions make sense when you expect future tax rates to be higher than current rates, whether due to personal income growth or anticipated tax law changes. Low-income years (early retirement, sabbatical, business downturns) are ideal conversion windows. Attorneys help model conversion strategies, including partial conversions over multiple years to manage bracket exposure. The goal is paying taxes at the lowest possible rate.
Attorneys handle the legal structure: entity formation, trust drafting, contract review, and legal documentation. CPAs handle the numbers: tax return preparation, projections, and compliance filings. Effective tax planning requires both. Attorneys work collaboratively with your CPA, providing the legal framework while they ensure proper reporting. If you don't have a CPA, attorneys can recommend qualified professionals in the network.
Client Platform
Access your planning documents, track deadlines, and coordinate with your attorney through the secure client platform.
Learn about the Client PlatformEntity documents, trust agreements, and planning memos organized and accessible anytime.
Coordinate with your attorney on tax planning decisions and strategy adjustments.
Never miss election deadlines, contribution windows, or annual review dates.
Meet with your attorney to discuss strategies and review planning opportunities.
Scheduled reviews ensure your plan adapts to changing laws and circumstances.
Bank-level encryption protects sensitive financial and tax information.
Related Services
Coordinate tax planning with your overall estate plan to protect assets and transfer wealth efficiently.
Learn moreCRUTs, donor-advised funds, and other charitable vehicles that provide tax benefits while supporting causes you care about.
Learn moreEntity selection and structuring that balances liability protection with optimal tax treatment.
Learn moreSchedule a consultation to discuss your situation and explore strategies that could reduce your tax burden.
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