A straight answer before the decision, from the person who will sign your return, not a hotline reading a script. Adding a partner, buying the building, an IRS letter on the counter: call first, act second. Included in the monthly fee, starting at $750 per month.
Any decision that changes who owns what, who gets paid how, or what the business buys. For a trade or service business the usual list is short, and every one of them has a tax answer that is cheaper before than after:
Almost everything about how the business files and pays you, so the structure question comes first. One example:
An electrical contractor running a single-member LLC wants to bring in a partner at 40 percent. Two roads. As a partnership, the business files Form 1065, each owner gets a Schedule K-1, and the owners take guaranteed payments instead of salaries, all subject to self-employment tax. As an S corporation, the business files Form 1120-S, both owners go on payroll with reasonable salaries, and profit above salary comes out as distributions free of self-employment tax, but the distributions must follow ownership exactly, 60 and 40, no exceptions. The right answer depends on how much profit there is, whether the partner is putting in cash or sweat, and what happens if one of them leaves. That conversation takes an hour and saves years of unwinding.
Send it to us the day it arrives and do not call the number on it yet. Most letters to trade businesses are one of a handful of types, and each has a response window. A CP2000 says the IRS matched a 1099 that is not on your return and gives you 30 days to agree or explain. A payroll notice usually means a deposit was late or a Form 941 does not tie to the W-2s. We read the letter, tell you in plain English what it means and what it would cost, and write the response. Most are resolved on paper without anyone visiting an office. Tax preparation handles the return that follows if one has to be amended.
Often yes, but not in the operating company. The usual structure is a separate LLC that owns the real estate and leases it to the business, so a lawsuit against the contractor does not reach the building and the rent becomes a deductible expense to the business and income to the owner. Depreciation on the building runs 39 years, but a cost segregation study can pull a large share into the first years. Property tax, insurance, and the loan terms all belong in the same conversation.
For clients, nothing beyond the flat monthly fee, which starts at $750 per month and covers bookkeeping, planning, and the returns. A question is a call, not an invoice. If you are not a client yet, the free 15-minute call is where it starts. Consulting is one part of the full accounting function we run for trade businesses.
Greg Neilsen. Consulting questions go to the person who reviews and signs the returns, not to a call center.
Routine questions on the next scheduled call. A letter with a deadline or a deal with a closing date jumps the line. Tell us the date and we work to it.
Yes, and it saves time. On a purchase or a partnership, the tax structure has to agree with the operating agreement and the loan, so one conversation with everyone beats three that contradict each other.
We prepare the response, organize the records, and handle the correspondence. If a matter needs representation before the IRS, we tell you exactly who should sit at that table and what it will cost before it starts.
The free 15-minute call is open to anyone. Beyond that, consulting is delivered inside the monthly engagement, because an answer built on your actual books is worth far more than one built on a phone description.
One free 15-minute call with Greg. Bring your questions. Leave knowing what Zero Tax would handle for your business and what it would cost.
Book a free 15-minute callNo pressure, no obligation. Just clarity.
