Real insights on cost segregation, R&D credits, and energy deductions, written for business owners and investors who want to keep more of what they earn.
Five underutilized strategies — 1031 exchanges, cost segregation, R&D credits, 179-D, and insurance planning — built to work together. Most investors only know one.
I was sitting in Starbucks, deep in a conversation with a colleague. Someone at the next table turned around. He had been listening for a while. He owned several businesses. By the time we were done, he was handing me his card. He had never heard of the R&D tax credit. His businesses had likely been qualifying for years.
A California battery manufacturer. Six engineers. A $3 million building they owned outright. Three years of R&D credits, sitting there unclaimed. The conversation came up at dinner. By the end of the night, everything had changed.
You did a 1031 exchange. That deferred your gain on the property you sold. Cost segregation accelerates depreciation on the property you just bought. These are two different strategies on two different properties — and most investors only do one.
You put in your numbers. The estimator gave you a figure. Here is every calculation behind that number, from qualified research expenses to the Alternative Simplified Credit method under Section 41.
A software company. Fourteen engineers. Two years of product development. Custom ML models. A proprietary recommendation engine. At tax time, their CPA filed the return. The R&D tax credit was not on it. Not because they didn't qualify. Because no one asked.
A client walks into your office. They own a $2 million commercial building. They have owned it for three years. You have filed accurate returns every year. They are overpaying by six figures. Every year.
When you renovate a commercial property, the tax code gives you two separate ways to take the cost back. Most owners claim neither — not because they do not qualify, but because they did not know to ask.
The closing table is not the finish line. It is the starting gun. Every dollar you paid at closing goes into your depreciable basis, and the decisions made in the first weeks determine what lands on your first tax return.
My CFP professor told me everyone gets three real opportunities to build genuine wealth. To capitalize on them you have to recognize the opportunity, be in a position to act, and have the courage to pull the trigger. Most property owners face that same test with cost segregation.
Most business owners assume their CPA is doing both jobs. They're not. The difference costs the average owner six figures over a decade. Here's what tax strategy actually looks like, and how to know which one you have.
Each strategy is powerful on its own. Stack all three and the numbers become something else entirely. Here is how cost segregation, R&D credits, and Section 179-D work together, and what they look like on a real business.
The Inflation Reduction Act tripled the 179-D energy efficiency deduction and made it permanent. If your building has had any lighting, HVAC, or envelope improvements, there's a real chance you're leaving significant money on the table.
Most commercial property owners are overpaying their taxes by tens of thousands of dollars every year. Not because of bad advice, but because of missing advice. Here is what cost segregation is, who qualifies, and how much you could realistically save.
Most property owners watched bonus depreciation quietly disappear over the last two years. It has now been restored to 100 percent. Here is twelve years of history, a visual timeline, and why the window you have right now matters.
Manufacturers, contractors, food producers, breweries, and dozens of other industries qualify for dollar-for-dollar R&D credits every year. Most have no idea. We break down the four-part test and who it actually catches.
We walk through a real cost segregation study on a five-unit apartment building in San Francisco. The property details, the component breakdown, and the exact tax savings generated in year one.
Federal tax incentives are opt-in. Nobody claims them on your behalf. These are the five questions every business owner and property investor should be asking before every tax filing.