Tax Strategy

Ready to Get Ahead of Your Taxes? Let's Plan.

Evaluate your current entity structure for tax optimization opportunities
Plan for business exits, sales, and succession with tax efficiency
Manage multi-state tax obligations and residency planning
Identify legal strategies that go beyond what compliance accounting offers

Proactive tax strategy saves more than reactive tax defense. Schedule a consultation to discuss optimization opportunities for your business or personal situation.

Saved in taxes across all client matters

$ 1 B+

Typical reduction in effective tax rate

0 –40%

Tax strategy engagements completed

0 +

Years focused exclusively on tax law

0 +

Strategic Tax Planning Creates Measurable, Permanent Savings

Most business owners and high-net-worth individuals are paying more tax than they need to — not because their CPA is doing anything wrong, but because compliance-focused accounting doesn’t include proactive strategy. Tax planning with a legal perspective identifies structural opportunities that accounting alone misses.

Whether you’re looking to optimize your business entity structure, plan for an exit or sale, manage multi-state tax obligations, or simply ensure you’re not leaving money on the table, a strategic conversation is the first step.

Business Tax Strategy

Business tax strategy starts with entity structure and flows through every operational decision — compensation design, retirement plan selection, asset placement, and transaction timing. The legal form of your business determines the ceiling on what’s possible, and most businesses are operating under structures that were chosen for convenience rather than tax efficiency.

Entity Optimization

Business Tax Optimization

Entity selection and restructuring, compensation planning, retirement plan design, and operational tax strategies for businesses at every stage of growth.

Transactions

Exit Planning & Corporate Transactions

Pre-sale tax structuring, M&A tax planning, stock vs. asset sale analysis, installment sales, and Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exclusion strategies.

Advisory

Tax Advisory & Opinion Letters

Formal tax opinions, transaction advisory, and position documentation for complex tax positions that require legal authority and defensibility.

Cannabis

Cannabis Tax Strategy

IRC §280E planning, entity structuring for cannabis operators, state licensing compliance, and cost-of-goods-sold optimization within federal constraints.

Individual & High-Net-Worth Tax Strategy

Individual tax strategy addresses income timing, investment placement, residency planning, and estate-level wealth transfer. For high-net-worth individuals, the interaction between income tax, capital gains, estate tax, and state tax creates planning opportunities that compound over time — but only if they’re implemented before the triggering event.

Individual Planning

Individual Tax Optimization

Income timing strategies, investment tax planning, charitable giving structures, and retirement distribution optimization for high-income individuals and families.

Multi-State

Residency & Multi-State Tax

Domicile planning, residency audits, multi-state income allocation, and state tax minimization for individuals and businesses operating across state lines.

International

International Tax Services

Cross-border tax planning, FBAR and FATCA compliance, foreign tax credit optimization, and treaty-based planning for U.S. persons with international assets.

Digital Assets

Cryptocurrency Tax Strategy

Tax-efficient digital asset management, cost basis optimization, DeFi and staking income planning, and exchange reporting compliance strategies.

What to Expect When You Work With Us

You’ll speak with someone who understands tax law. Not a receptionist or a call center. You’ll be speaking with a trained member of our intake team who can meaningfully assess your situation.

We’ll evaluate your options — honestly. We’ll discuss your situation, explain what’s at stake, and outline the realistic paths forward. If we’re not the right fit, we’ll tell you that.

There is no obligation to engage our firm. The consultation is free and completely confidential. No engagement fees until we’ve discussed your situation and mutually agreed on a path forward.

Additional Strategy Areas

Beyond core business and individual planning, we advise on specialized tax strategy matters that require deep subject-matter expertise and legal structuring capabilities.

Real Estate Tax Strategy

1031 exchanges, cost segregation, opportunity zones, real estate professional status, and entity structuring for real estate investors and developers.

High-Net-Worth Strategy

Comprehensive wealth planning integrating income tax, estate tax, trust structures, and charitable strategies for ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families.

Complex Tax Preparation

Strategy-integrated return preparation for clients with multi-entity structures, international holdings, and complex investment portfolios.

Divorce & Tax

Tax-efficient property settlement structuring, alimony and support planning, innocent spouse considerations, and post-divorce entity restructuring.

From Our Practice

$1B+

In tax savings across all client matters since 2013. That number includes proactive tax strategy implementations, entity restructurings, exit planning engagements, and multi-state optimization — in addition to our tax defense results.

What makes the difference: We’re a tax law firm, not an accounting firm. Legal strategy, attorney-client privilege, and the ability to structure transactions with defensibility built in — that’s what separates tax planning from tax compliance.

Representative Results

What Our Clients Achieve

38% → 21%

Effective tax rate reduced through entity restructuring and compensation redesign for a multi-entity business owner

$2.8M Saved

Capital gains tax eliminated on business exit through QSBS exclusion and installment sale structuring

$1.4M Avoided

State income tax liability eliminated through residency planning and domicile change documentation

Sam Brotman

Owner & Managing Attorney · J.D., LL.M. Taxation, MBA

Sam founded Brotman Law in 2013 with a singular focus on tax controversy and tax strategy. He leads the firm’s IRS audit defense and criminal tax practice, and personally oversees every client engagement from initial consultation through resolution.

Not Sure Where to Start?

(619) 378-3138

Want to learn more first? See our transparent pricing or browse our free tax guides.

Common Questions

Tax Strategy FAQs

What's the difference between tax planning and tax preparation?

Tax preparation looks backward — it reports what happened last year. Tax planning looks forward — it structures decisions to minimize tax before they happen. The savings from proactive planning typically dwarf anything that can be done after the fact.

When should I start thinking about tax strategy?

The best time is before major transactions — a business sale, real estate acquisition, entity restructuring, or relocation. But there are strategies available at any point.

Do I need a tax attorney or will my CPA suffice?

CPAs are excellent at compliance and accounting. Tax attorneys bring legal strategy, privilege protection, and the ability to structure transactions that CPAs cannot.

How much can strategic tax planning actually save?

It depends on your situation, but we routinely identify savings of 15-40% on effective tax rates through entity optimization, timing strategies, and legal structures.

Tax Strategy Guides & Services

Deep-dive resources on the planning strategies we use most for business owners, investors, and high-net-worth individuals:

How to pay yourself as a business owner

salary vs. distributions and reasonable compensation.

S-corp vs. LLC: which saves more tax

entity vs. election, and the California math.

QSBS and the Section 1202 exclusion

excluding startup gains from federal tax.

Cost segregation studies

front-loading depreciation on real estate.

Bonus depreciation in 2026

100% expensing and what the One Big Beautiful Bill changes.

1031 exchange tax planning

deferring capital gains on investment property.

California capital gains tax

why there is no preferential rate, and how to plan around it.

California exit tax

what is proposed, and what the FTB actually does to departing residents.

Leaving California to reduce taxes

the residency rules and the FTB audit checklist.

Tax advisory & opinion letters

proactive planning and documented positions.

As Featured In & Recognized By

Forbes Business Council

Get Started Today

Book Your Free 15-Minute Call

Schedule a brief call with our team to discuss your tax strategy. We’ll evaluate your current situation and identify optimization opportunities — confidentially and without obligation.

or call us directly

We respond within one business day. Most calls returned same day. Everything you share is completely confidential, protected by attorney-client privilege.