Tax Planning & Preparation
It’s Not Only What You Earn, It’s What You Get To Keep
Our experts can support you in navigating the complexities of the US tax code and probates. We provide guidance on current and prospective tax regulations to assist you through life decisions that have tax implications.
Tax Advisory Services
- Maximizing tax-deductible retirement contributions
- Planning for tax-free income in retirement
- Using lower-income years (“gap years”) between working and taking RMD distributions
- Tax-loss harvesting to minimize taxable income
- Selling an investment property tax-efficiently
- Diversifying concentrated stock portfolios tax-efficiently
- Maximizing tax benefits of charitable donations
- Strategies to tax-efficiently pass estate to heirs
BakerAvenue’s Enrolled Agents
The Enrolled Agent license is the highest tax credential awarded by the IRS. Our experts have obtained this elite certification, and bring with them experience from the Big 4 accounting firms, law firms, and banking. They are committed to ensuring that the advice you receive is timely and tailored to your circumstances.
Our Tax-Aware Approach
Lower Rates:
- Fully utilize lower rates for capital gains vs. ordinary income
- Know when and how to avoid net investment income
- Hold stocks for qualified dividends that are taxed at preferential rates
- Employ tax-loss harvesting to match realized gains and losses
Apply Deductions:
- Apply deductions to pension plans and retirement accounts
- Implement rollover and conversion strategies for tax-free income
- Use gap years to recognize gains and convert to Roth IRA
- Donate using qualifying charitable distributions from IRAs to satisfy RMD requirements
- Utilize triple-exempt bond investments for tax-free income in retirement
Transfer Taxes:
- Monitor impact of transfer taxes (estate and gift) on current estate value
- Fully use current exemption amounts through lifetime gifting strategies
- Review legislative developments as they affect your estate
- Consider use of specialized trusts to remove assets from taxable estates, favor selected charities, and pass wealth to heirs
Diversify:
- Understand charitable giving solutions to defer taxes on stock diversification strategy
- Implement tax-loss harvesting strategy to offset gains on income tax returns
- If stock positions include significant incentive stock options, estimate alternative minimum tax (AMT) exposure when exercising options and use the taxes through AMT credit off-set
Tax Planning FAQs
Tax-aware investing means every portfolio decision, from asset selection to rebalancing to loss harvesting, is evaluated through a tax lens before execution. Standard investment management typically optimizes for pre-tax returns; tax-aware investing targets after-tax wealth accumulation. BakerAvenue's in-house Enrolled Agents work directly alongside investment advisors, enabling real-time coordination between portfolio strategy and tax planning, which is a structural advantage most advisory firms do not have.
An Enrolled Agent (EA) holds the highest tax credential awarded by the IRS, authorizing the holder to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters. BakerAvenue employs Enrolled Agents with backgrounds at Big 4 accounting firms, law firms, and financial institutions. By embedding this level of tax expertise in-house, rather than referring clients to outside CPAs, BakerAvenue integrates tax strategy directly into investment and estate planning decisions.
BakerAvenue employs a range of capital gains reduction strategies for high net-worth clients, including tax-loss harvesting, qualified opportunity zone (QOZ) deferral and potential exclusion, charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) to convert appreciated assets into a tax-deferred income stream, and donor-advised funds (DAFs) for immediate charitable deductions. The optimal combination depends on each client's profile, asset type, holding period, and charitable objectives.
A Roth conversion involves transferring funds from a traditional IRA or 401(k) into a Roth IRA, paying income tax on the converted amount now in exchange for tax-free growth and tax-free distributions in retirement. For high-net-worth individuals, the optimal window for Roth conversions is often a 'gap year' — a period between retirement and Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) when taxable income is temporarily lower. BakerAvenue models multi-year Roth conversion schedules designed to minimize lifetime tax liability across ordinary income, capital gains, and estate tax dimensions.
A business sale or liquidity event compresses what is normally a multi-year tax planning horizon into a single transaction. BakerAvenue advises clients on pre-transaction strategies including installment sales, Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exclusions under Section 1202, charitable trust structures, and entity structuring to reduce ordinary income and capital gains exposure. Planning ideally begins months before a transaction closes, as many strategies lose effectiveness once a deal is signed or funded.
Tax preparation is the filing of past-year returns; tax planning is the forward-looking strategy to structure decisions in ways that reduce future tax liability. BakerAvenue provides both services in-house. The firm's Enrolled Agents prepare annual returns for clients and simultaneously integrate those findings into the broader wealth management plan, identifying opportunities for the current and future tax years based on each client's evolving financial picture.
Plan With Confidence.
Live With Clarity.
Transforming your wealth into the life and legacy you envision.
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