Your tax bill worked out in the fall while there is still time to change it, not read off a return in April. Planning runs all year on current books, inside the same monthly fee as the bookkeeping and the returns. Starting at $750 per month.
It means deciding the tax bill before the year closes instead of discovering it after. Four decisions carry most of the weight for a contractor or service business, and each one has a deadline:
For many owners netting well into six figures, thousands a year, and the reason is self-employment tax. One example from a planning conversation we would have:
A Riverview landscaping company runs as a single-member LLC and is on track for $140,000 of profit in 2026. As it stands, the whole $140,000 is subject to self-employment tax at 15.3 percent, on top of income tax. If the owner elects S corporation status and pays herself a reasonable salary of $70,000, the other $70,000 comes out as a distribution and is not subject to that 15.3 percent. The gross saving is in the neighborhood of $10,000 before payroll costs and the extra return. The election is Form 2553, and to cover all of 2026 it has to be filed by March 16, 2026. Miss that date and the saving waits a year.
The salary number is the part the IRS looks at, and it is the part a planner earns their fee on. Too low invites a challenge. Too high gives the saving back.
Whichever year the deduction is worth more, and that depends on where your profit lands. A truck over 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight placed in service after January 19, 2025 qualifies for 100 percent bonus depreciation. In a strong year, taking the whole cost at once knocks the bill down hard. In a slow year, electing out and depreciating over five years saves the deduction for the years that need it. That choice is made on the return, and it cannot be undone later, which is why the conversation happens in November, not at filing.
By calculating them from the actual books each quarter instead of copying last year’s number. We close the month, project the year, set the payment, and tell you the amount and the date. Underpay and the IRS charges a penalty that runs like interest. Overpay and you have lent the government your working capital for free. A plan gets you between the two, and the amount is set aside before it is due, not found the week it is.
Nothing extra. It is inside the flat monthly fee, which starts at $750 per month and covers bookkeeping, planning, and both returns. The number is set in writing after the first call. Planning is what makes the return a formality instead of a reckoning. It is one part of the full accounting function we run for trade businesses.
No. Equipment timing, retirement contributions, and owner pay can still move in December. Entity changes wait for the next year, and the planning for that starts now.
Not always. Below a certain profit level the payroll costs eat the saving. We run the numbers for your business and tell you where the line is before recommending anything.
Florida has none for individuals, and most LLCs and S corporations pay none either. The taxes that do bite here are federal income and self-employment tax, sales tax on materials, and the tangible personal property return. Those are what the plan works on.
Every quarter at minimum, plus whenever a decision with a tax consequence comes up. Buying a truck, hiring a crew, adding a partner, all of those are a call before, not a note after.
Yes. The business and personal returns are planned together because for an owner they are one picture. Retirement contributions, health insurance, and home office all sit on that line.
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.
