Business owners
Entity choice, reasonable compensation, retirement structure and how the business and the owner's return fit together, the decisions that move the number most and are usually made once and never revisited.
Service
Tax Strategy & Compliance
Planning from a firm that has examined returns from the inside, for business owners, individuals and property investors. Positions are documented as they are taken, so the file is already built if it is ever questioned.
Who this is for
High earners with several income sources
W-2 alongside 1099, business income, investments and rentals, where the interactions matter more than any single line.
Individuals and families with something changing
A liquidity event, equity compensation, an inheritance, a move between states, or a year that simply does not look like the last one.
Property investors
Depreciation, passive activity rules and material participation, where the difference between two treatments is substantial.
Military families
Legal residence against duty station, a spouse earning across state lines, and moves that change the answer midyear.
Anyone who has had a letter
Correspondence, examination or a position that needs reviewing before it is defended.
Scope
What is included
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Across the year planning
Strategy reviewed through the year, not assembled in April when the options have already closed.
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Federal and state filing
Returns prepared and reviewed by a CPA, with the reasoning explained rather than just the result.
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Entity and structure review
Whether the current structure still fits what the business and the portfolio have become.
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Documentation as standard
Support assembled at the time a position is taken, in the form an examiner would expect to see.
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Quarterly estimates
Calculated and scheduled, so there is no cash surprise at the deadline.
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Examination support
If a return is questioned, it is defended by the people who prepared it.
Process
How it works
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Consultation
A complimentary 30 minutes to understand the position and establish whether we are the right firm for it.
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Review
Prior returns and current structure examined, with anything that looks exposed flagged early.
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Plan
The strategy for the year set out in writing, with the reasoning and the documentation each position will need.
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Execute
Filings prepared, estimates scheduled, and the plan revisited as circumstances change.
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Defend
If the return is examined, the file is already complete.
In depth
Cost segregation studies
A cost segregation study reclassifies parts of a property into shorter depreciation lives, accelerating deductions into the years you own the asset rather than spreading them across decades. It is engineering based work, and it is only worth doing where the property and the tax position actually support it, which is the first thing we establish.
- Qualification assessed before any work is commissioned
- Engineering based methodology, not a rule of thumb allocation
- IRS compliant reporting, documented to survive examination
- Interaction with passive activity rules modelled before you commit
- Associate membership of the ASCSP
In depth
Real Estate Professional Status
REPS can change how rental losses are treated, but the qualification is tested on hours and on documentation, and it is one of the positions most likely to be examined. The work is in establishing whether you genuinely qualify, then keeping evidence that holds up.
- Qualification tested honestly before the position is taken
- Hour tracking structured to the standard an examiner applies
- Qualifying versus investor hours distinguished properly
- Material participation assessed per property and in aggregate
- Contemporaneous records, not a log reconstructed afterwards
Engagement
How fees work
Tax work is quoted after the consultation, once the actual position is clear. Two clients with the same headline income can be very different engagements, and the difference is usually invisible until someone has looked at the prior returns.
Book a consultation No charge, and no obligation.
What determines the fee
- Number of entities and states involved
- Complexity of the real estate position
- Whether planning is included alongside the filing
- Condition of the prior years
- Cost segregation studies, scoped per property
Questions
Before you get in touch.
Does a former IRS agent actually change the outcome?
It changes what the file looks like. Knowing which positions attract attention, and what support an examiner expects to see, means documentation is assembled when the position is taken rather than assembled in a hurry if it is questioned.
Is cost segregation worth it on my property?
Sometimes not. It depends on the property type, the basis, how long you intend to hold it, and whether you can actually use the deductions given your passive activity position. We assess that before recommending a study, and we will tell you when it does not pay.
Can you help if I have already had a letter from the IRS?
Yes. Bring it to the consultation. What matters first is what the letter actually is, a great deal of correspondence is routine and resolvable without escalation.
Also from Trustber
The other service lines.
Tax Filing & Preparation
Returns prepared and filed properly, individual, business and multistate, by a firm that has examined them from the other side.
Accounting & Bookkeeping
Clean books, accurate journal entries and statements you can act on, not a shoebox reconciled in April.
Fractional CFO & Business Advisory
Forecasting, cash flow discipline and the financial judgement a growing business cannot yet afford full time.
Talk to us about https://trustber.com/wp-content/themes/trustber-ledger.
A complimentary thirty minute consultation to understand your position and whether we are the right firm for it.
No obligation. No sales script.