Someone earning exactly what you earn is paying far less tax. Legally.
The difference isn't luck, and it isn't loopholes. It's a written plan built before December 31. We work with business owners and high-income professionals paying $100,000 or more in tax each year.
*Reflects one actual client engagement. It is not a typical result. Individual outcomes depend on your facts, eligibility, implementation, and current tax law, and are not guaranteed.
Any one may so arrange his affairs that his taxes shall be as low as possible; he is not bound to choose that pattern which will best pay the Treasury; there is not even a patriotic duty to increase one’s taxes.
The strategies most high earners have never had reviewed.
These are real, established tax strategies, not loopholes. Most people qualify for a handful of them and have never been walked through a single one. Here is a sample of what we review against your facts.
- Entity restructuring. The structure that fit at $150K of profit is usually wrong at $500K. This is often the largest single fix.
- Retirement plan design. Cash balance and profit-sharing plans that can shelter six figures a year, not the default 401(k).
- Reasonable compensation & QBI. The salary number that quietly controls both your payroll tax and your 20% deduction under IRC 199A.
- Family management company. Legitimately shifting income to a lower bracket inside the family.
- Tax credits. Dollar-for-dollar reductions, not deductions. R&D credits for improving products, processes, or software, plus credits for hiring, retirement plan startup costs, childcare benefits, and paid leave. Most owners qualify for more than they claim.
- Equity & RSU timing. The withholding gap that becomes a surprise six-figure April bill, planned before it happens.
- ISO / AMT sequencing. Exercising in measured amounts up to your crossover point instead of by accident.
- Charitable bunching & donor-advised funds. Concentrating deductions into your highest-rate year.
- Backdoor & mega-backdoor Roth. The tax-free channels most high earners are eligible for and never use.
- Tax-advantaged investments. Oil and gas working interests, equipment and software leasing, opportunity zone funds, renewable energy credits, and more. Structured so a large deduction lands in the same year as the income it offsets.
- Cost segregation. Accelerating depreciation into the years it is worth the most.
- Real Estate Professional Status (REPS). Under IRC 469(c)(7), when one spouse qualifying can shelter the other's W-2 income.
- Short-term rental strategy. Turning material participation into losses that offset active income.
- 1031 exchanges & installment sales. Deferring gain instead of stacking it into one punishing year.
- Primary residence exclusion planning. Timing a sale around the two-year rule and documenting improvements that raise your basis, so more of the gain stays excluded.
You will not know which of these apply until someone looks. That is the entire point of the strategy session, and why the review starts with your actual return, not a questionnaire.
See If You're OverpayingTax preparation reports what already happened. Tax planning shapes what happens next.
Most high earners have a preparer. Very few have a plan. And here is the hard part: by the time your return is being prepared, the year is over and almost every opportunity to change the number is already gone. Preparation records the past. Only planning changes it.
Looking backward
Necessary, but historical. A preparer's job is to report the year accurately after it ends.
- Records decisions that were already made
- Starts after December 31, when options are closed
- Communication happens once a year, in filing season
- The question asked: "What happened?"
Looking forward
Proactive and decision-focused. A planner's job is to put strategies in place while they can still count.
- Reviews entity structure, retirement design, income timing, and deductions before year-end
- Produces a written roadmap with estimated impact
- Communication happens throughout the year, before decisions are final
- The question asked: "What should happen next?"
You have probably earned more than these clients. You may be overpaying more, too.
Both came to us successful, busy, and already working with a CPA. Neither thought they had a problem until we opened their prior returns. If either situation sounds familiar, yours is worth a look.
- Established Real Estate Professional Status (REPS)
- Accelerated depreciation via cost segregation
- Put existing passive losses to work against active income
- Built a charitable giving strategy into the plan
IT Executive and Real Estate Professional · $1.1M Income
- Bonus depreciation expensing
- Strategic tax-advantaged investment
- Family management company
- Maximized the SALT deduction
Medical Practice Owner · $780K Income
The strategies were different because the people were different. That is the point. The only way to know what is sitting in your return is to have someone look.
Results shown are from actual client engagements and are shared with permission. They reflect each client's specific facts, eligibility, and implementation. They are not typical results and are not a prediction or guarantee of your outcome.
What clients say about working with Pocket CPA
Reviews reflect individual client experiences and are not typical results. Outcomes vary based on each client's facts and circumstances.
We turn people away, in both directions.
Because a proper plan takes 15 to 20 hours of review, we can only take so many clients at once. That only works if the fit is right, so read both lists honestly. If you are on the left, you are very likely leaving money on the table and we should talk. If you are on the right, we will tell you so and save us both the call.
Tax planning is built for you if you are:
- A business owner with growing profit and a structure that hasn't been reviewed in years
- A high-income W-2 professional: physician, attorney, executive, tech professional
- An executive with equity compensation: RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, ESPP
- A real estate investor or someone building a portfolio
- Paying $100,000 or more in combined federal and state tax each year
- Someone who wants proactive guidance and year-round communication, not just a filed return
We are probably not the right firm if you are:
- Looking for the cheapest available tax preparer
- A simple W-2 taxpayer with no planning needs. You'd be paying for advice you don't need
- Only looking for last-minute filing help with no interest in planning
- Unwilling to provide documents or implement recommendations. A plan that sits in a drawer saves nothing
If that's you, no hard feelings. A straightforward preparer will serve you well, and we'll tell you so honestly on the discovery call.
A deliberate process, from first call to filed return and beyond.
No pressure, no surprise fees, no mystery. We do the heavy lifting, working from documents you already have. You approve the plan. Here is exactly what happens.
Discovery Call
We determine whether we're a good fit for each other. We'll talk through your income, business structure, current CPA relationship, tax pain points, and goals. If we're not the right firm, we'll say so and point you in a better direction.
Tax Strategy Session
We review your facts, starting with your prior year return, which we check for missed opportunities and overlooked deductions. From there we identify the planning opportunities ahead, walk through the strategies that may apply with an estimated impact for each, and determine the right engagement level for your situation.
Onboarding
Engagement letter signed, secure portal access provided, documents requested. You're onboarded into the planning process with a clear checklist, and nothing lands in your inbox unencrypted.
Tax Plan Development
We review your returns, income, business and entity structure, deductions, retirement options, compensation, investments, real estate, and other planning areas, then build a customized tax planning roadmap with priorities, deadlines, and estimated impact.
Implementation & Ongoing Advisory
A plan only works if it's executed. We help coordinate implementation, monitor deadlines, and provide year-round advisory support where applicable, so decisions get tax input before they're final, not after.
Tax Preparation & Quarterly Estimates
The strategy and the return come from the same desk. We prepare your federal and state returns with the plan already built in, and we calculate quarterly estimates throughout the year, so nothing gets lost in translation and April holds no surprises.
Asset Protection & Wealth Growth Coordination
As your plan matures, we help coordinate the bigger picture: entity and asset protection structures, plus tax efficient wealth building decisions, working alongside your attorney and financial advisor so protection, growth, and tax strategy move together instead of in silos.
Ready to see what a plan would look like for your facts?
A few short questions when you book · every booking reviewed personally by a CPA
What you actually receive
Not a conversation you try to remember afterward. A written plan: every strategy that applies to your facts, sized in dollars, with the deadline attached and the order to do them in. Yours to keep, and to hand to your attorney or advisor if you want a second opinion.
The expensive part is not the planning. It is the year you go without it.
Most people never run this math, so let's run it in the open.
If your household earns $500,000, you are likely writing $150,000 to $200,000 in combined tax this year. At $1 million, closer to $350,000. That money is already leaving. The only real question is whether all of it had to.
Planning does not make that number disappear. What it does is make sure every dollar you are legally entitled to keep actually stays with you, instead of leaving by default because nobody looked.
An overpayment is not a one-time event. If your structure quietly costs you $40,000 a year and no one looks at it for five years, that is $200,000 that never made it into anything you own. It repeats until someone stops it.
Pricing depends on complexity: the number of entities, the states you operate in, real estate holdings, and equity compensation.
You will get an exact figure in writing after the strategy session, once we understand your situation. Nothing is charged before you have seen it and agreed to it.
If planning is not worth it for your facts, we will tell you that instead, and there is no engagement.
Whether this makes sense for you depends on what you are paying now. If your tax bill is well into six figures, the math usually works comfortably. If it is not, we will say so on the call rather than sell you something you do not need.
See If You're OverpayingFrequently asked questions
Tax planning is the proactive review of your income, entity structure, retirement design, investments, and deductions before the year ends, to identify legal strategies that may reduce what you owe. The deliverable is a written, customized roadmap: what to do, by when, and what each item is estimated to be worth based on your facts.
Preparation reports what already happened; it starts after December 31, when most options are closed. Planning happens while decisions can still be made. Both matter, but only one of them can change your outcome. Most of our clients want both under one roof, and we provide that.
Business owners with growing profit, high-income W-2 professionals, executives with equity compensation, real estate investors, and households whose financial life has become more complex than their current CPA relationship. The common thread: you want proactive guidance and real communication, not just a filed return.
The clearest signal is what you actually pay. Planning engagements are typically the best fit for people paying $100,000 or more in combined federal and state tax each year, which usually starts around $300,000 of household income. That said, complexity matters as much as size. A business owner at $350,000 with the wrong structure often has more at stake than a simple W-2 earner at $600,000.
Yes. We work with clients nationwide. Federal planning applies everywhere, meetings are held virtually, and documents move through a secure portal. State-specific issues, including multi-state income and state pass-through entity elections, are part of the planning review.
It depends entirely on your facts. Across clients, we've identified over $3.5 million in potential savings in the past 12 months. Some engagements uncover substantial opportunities, others confirm a situation is already well-optimized (which has value of its own). The strategy session exists to give you an honest, specific estimate for your situation before you commit to anything.
By complexity, not by a fixed menu. The number of entities, the states you operate in, real estate holdings, equity compensation, and whether you want a one-time written plan or year-round advisory all affect it. You will receive an exact figure in writing after the strategy session, before you commit to anything. If planning is not worth it for your situation, we will tell you that instead.
No, and you should be cautious of anyone who guarantees savings before reviewing your return. Outcomes depend on your facts, eligibility, correct implementation, and tax law that can change. What we do promise: a careful review, honest numbers, and a clear recommendation either way.
It's a focused 15 to 20 minute conversation, and no documents are needed. We'll cover your income, business structure, current CPA relationship, tax pain points, and goals, and we'll both decide whether it makes sense to move to a strategy session. If we're not the right fit, we'll tell you directly.
We review your facts in detail, identify the planning opportunities that may apply, and walk through possible strategies with an estimated impact for each. By the end, you'll know what's on the table, roughly what it may be worth, and what the right engagement level looks like, with no obligation to proceed.
Yes. Pocket CPA provides tax preparation alongside planning. Many clients prefer having the plan built and the return filed by the same team. It means the person implementing the strategy is the same person who designed it, and nothing gets lost in translation.
We can. Some clients keep their current preparer and engage us for planning; we'll coordinate so the plan is implemented correctly on the return. Others move preparation to us over time. Either arrangement works. The plan is yours.
Before year-end. Most strategies must be in place by December 31, and several have earlier deadlines (entity elections, retirement plan setup, certain payroll changes). A few, like some retirement contributions, extend into the filing season. Practically: the best time to start is now, whatever the month, because implementation takes time.
Typically your last one to two years of tax returns, current business financials if you own a business, and a picture of this year's income to date. Nothing is needed for the discovery call. Once engaged, you'll receive a personalized document checklist and secure portal access, and no sensitive documents move over email.
If your income has grown and your tax strategy hasn't, you are almost certainly overpaying. Let's find out by how much.
- A few short questions when you book, so the session is useful from the first minute
- Every booking is reviewed personally by a CPA before we meet
- The strategy session sizes your opportunity before you commit a dollar
- Your written plan is delivered within 30 days of the strategy session
- The first call is a mutual-fit conversation, not a sales pitch
- Confidential, and no obligation at any stage
Not ready for a call? Start with the free guide: 50 tax strategies to review before year-end.
50 Tax Strategies High-Income Business Owners and Professionals Should Review Before Year-End
- 50 strategies in plain English, covering entity structure, retirement design, deductions and timing, real estate, investments and equity compensation, charitable giving, and family planning
- Updated for 2026 law, including the new SALT cap, permanent 100% bonus depreciation, and current contribution limits
- "Who it's for" on every strategy, so you can shortlist what may actually apply to your situation
- A year-end review framework. Bring your shortlist to your CPA, or to us
Get the free guide
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We’ll email the guide immediately, plus occasional planning notes during the year. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Your information is confidential and never sold. By submitting, you agree Pocket CPA may contact you about your inquiry.