Case study · actual engagement, anonymized

A $1,208,131 tax bill. One stacked strategy cut it by $780,938.

Business owner, Mountain West, approximately $3.7M of income, four operating entities. Conventional tax breaks were already largely phased out, so the strategy had to be modeled across multiple layers.

$780,938
Year-one tax savings
39.2% → 11.5%
Effective tax rate
$1.81
Deductions per $1 of cash
Dec 31
Hard planning deadline
01 / 03

The three layers

Layer 1: Entity / Corporate Structure

The first layer addressed how the business itself was organized. Compensation and plan design were restructured across all four operating entities, including QBI planning and a qualified-plan strategy sized to the owner's income across the group. This layer was the smallest of the three in dollar terms, but it set the foundation the later layers were modeled against.

Layer 2: Real Estate / The Property Layer

The second layer did the most work. A cost segregation study was run on buildings the client already owned, unlocking deductions that had been sitting on the table for years. That was paired with a new, cash-flowing acquisition structured to capture first-year depreciation. Together, this layer reduced the projected liability by more than the other two layers combined.

Layer 3: Energy / Securities Allocation

The third layer moved outside real estate entirely. A regulated, securities-based energy strategy was placed through licensed representatives and sized against the client's active income, closing the remaining gap before the year-end deadline.

Layer 1 · Entity
Corporate Structure
Before$1,208,131
After$1,175,131
Tax saved
$33,0003%
  • Compensation and plan design restructured across four entities, including QBI and qualified-plan planning.

$80K deductions · $80K cash · $33K tax saved

Layer 2 · Real Estate
The Property Layer
Before$1,175,131
After$615,131
Tax saved
$560,00048%
  • Cost segregation on buildings already owned, plus a cash-flowing acquisition and first-year depreciation.

$1.345M deductions · $455K cash · $560K tax saved

Layer 3 · Energy
Securities Allocation
Before$615,131
After$427,193
Tax saved
$187,93831%
  • A regulated securities-based energy strategy, placed through licensed representatives and modeled against active income.

$450K deductions · $500K cash · $187K tax saved

Running liability, layer by layer$1,208,131$1,175,131$615,131$427,193

Not one trick. A sequence.

A sequence of eligible strategies, each modeled against the client's facts and coordinated before the year-end deadline.

Case-study details are anonymized. Results do not guarantee future outcomes.

Start with the numbers

The first review is free. We will look at your current situation, identify the areas worth modeling, and tell you whether there appears to be a meaningful planning opportunity.

Request your free review