Summary of What This Blog Covers:
- Tax-Saving Retirement Contributions for Business Owners
Learn how maximizing contributions to a 401(k), IRA, Solo 401(k), or SEP IRA can significantly lower your taxable income in 2025. This section explains contribution limits, deadlines, and how a licensed CPA or tax advisor in Austin can help you choose the right plan for your business entity whether you’re self-employed or managing an S-Corp payroll. - Smart Year-End Spending to Minimize Taxable Income
Discover how prepaying qualified business expenses like software, rent, marketing, or insurance can help reduce your tax liability if you’re a cash-basis filer. With guidance from a certified public accountant near you, learn what’s deductible now and how to plan those expenditures without audit risk. - How Cost Segregation Can Supercharge Real Estate Tax Deductions
This section dives into how high-income entrepreneurs can accelerate depreciation on real estate through cost segregation. You’ll learn how it works, who it benefits, and how to combine it with bonus depreciation for powerful tax advantages especially useful if you’re preparing for a 1031 exchange or offsetting capital gains tax. - Why Year-End Tax Reviews Matter More Than You Think
High earners have complex tax needs. This part of the blog outlines key deductions, entity reviews, QBI optimization, and multi-state tax compliance strategies that are best addressed before year-end. With support from Insogna CPA’s team of tax accountants, chartered public accountants, and enrolled agents, you’ll learn how a proactive planning session can unlock deductions most tax preparers overlook.
Because Scaling a Business Shouldn’t Mean Scaling a Tax Bill
Let’s set the record straight: if you’re running a successful business and still treating tax season like an annual fire drill, it’s time to graduate from the survival phase.
You’ve leveled up. You’re earning real revenue. Your business is thriving. But if you’re still doing reactive tax prep with a generic “tax preparer near you” and not locking in real, IRS-compliant strategies before December 31, you’re leaving serious money on the table.
We see this all the time at Insogna CPA, a leading CPA firm in Austin, Texas, where we work with founders, consultants, high-earning service pros, and growth-stage companies to create smart, forward-thinking tax plans that protect profits and fuel scale.
Let’s walk through four high-impact tax moves you can still make before the end of the year to dramatically reduce your taxes, optimize your earnings, and build a more sustainable financial foundation heading into 2026.
1. Max Out Retirement Contributions Because You Deserve a Rich Future Too
If you’re not maxing out your retirement contributions as a business owner or high-income earner, you’re basically handing the IRS free money.
Here’s why it matters: Retirement contributions reduce your taxable income, which means you owe less in federal income tax today while investing in your future.
Your Options for 2025:
- Traditional 401(k): Contribute up to $23,000, or $30,500 if you’re age 50 or older
- Traditional IRA: Stash up to $7,000 (or $8,000 for 50+)
- Solo 401(k) (for the self-employed): Up to $69,000 in total contributions, depending on your income and age
- SEP IRA: Contribute up to 25% of compensation, capped at $69,000
These contributions are tax-deferred, meaning they lower your taxable income for 2025 and don’t count as income on your IRS Form 1040 until you withdraw them in retirement, hopefully in a lower tax bracket.
Now here’s the kicker: most of these contributions need to be made before the end of the calendar year (or soon after, depending on the plan). Don’t wait until March to find out you could’ve saved thousands.
Working with a certified public accountant near you or a tax advisor in Austin like Insogna CPA ensures your contribution strategy is aligned with your income and business entity. We can even run custom projections using your payroll or draws to ensure every dollar works in your favor.
2. Prepay Expenses Because Strategic Spending Can Save You a Fortune
Let’s be honest: there’s a big difference between spending to grow your business and spending to beat the tax man. Fortunately, sometimes, they overlap.
If your business is on the cash basis for accounting (which many small businesses are), you can deduct expenses when they’re paid, not when the service is delivered. That opens the door for strategic prepayments before year-end to shrink your 2025 tax liability.
Smart Prepayment Ideas:
- Pay for annual software renewals now
- Prepay insurance premiums
- Secure vendor contracts or consulting retainers
- Buy office supplies, equipment, or even prepay your lease
- Invest in advertising, branding, or coaching
This can be especially effective if you had a strong year and expect a leaner Q1 or just want to optimize your business tax return before April.
Not sure what qualifies? Our team of licensed CPAs and Austin tax accountants can help you build a customized list of prepayable expenses that meet IRS criteria and protect you from audit risk.
And yes, we’ll handle the accounting side too from QuickBooks setup to general ledger adjustments because services accounting should make your life easier, not more confusing.
3. Don’t Let Your Real Estate Depreciate Slowly: Use Cost Segregation
You’ve heard us say this before, and we’ll say it again: if you own real estate and you’re not using cost segregation, you’re missing one of the biggest tax breaks in the game.
Here’s how it works: standard depreciation lets you deduct rental or commercial property value over 27.5 or 39 years. But with cost segregation, you can break that property into components (carpets, lighting, HVAC systems, landscaping) and depreciate them much faster, over 5, 7, or 15 years.
The Result?
- Bigger deductions in your early years of ownership
- Reduced taxable income and immediate cash flow benefits
- Strategic use of bonus depreciation (still 60% in 2025)
This is especially powerful for:
- Investors with high pass-through income
- Entrepreneurs with active rental portfolios
- Founders looking to offset gains from a liquidity event or sale
And if you’re planning a 1031 exchange, we help you optimize cost seg timing and capital gains tax management to preserve your wealth.
Our team at Insogna CPA, one of the most trusted Austin accounting firms, partners with engineering-based cost seg specialists to run detailed studies and integrate them into your 1040 tax form, W2, or 1099 filings.
4. Book a Tax Planning Review Because Missed Deductions Cost More Than Advice
You might think you’ve got everything covered. But let’s face it: high earners often have more complexity, more deductions, and more potential pitfalls than most realize.
That’s why a year-end tax planning session isn’t optional, it’s essential.
What We Review:
- Your entity structure (LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp)—are you set up to minimize self-employment tax?
- The Qualified Business Income (QBI) deduction—are you optimizing up to 20% off your net pass-through income?
- Your home office setup—have you documented square footage, utility usage, and other key details?
- Business vehicle usage—are you using mileage or actuals correctly?
- Estimated quarterly taxes—are you under- or overpaying?
- Multi-state operations—do you have tax nexus or state filing requirements you’re missing?
This is where we shine as a full-service Austin accounting service. Whether you’re a solo entrepreneur with one W2 employee or a founder with a remote team and multiple LLCs, our team of tax accountants, chartered public accountants, and enrolled agents can help you create a game plan to finish strong.
Bonus Move: International and Multi-State Exposure? Let’s Get Compliant
If you’ve expanded your business into other states or opened international accounts, you may have exposure you don’t even realize.
We regularly help clients:
- Navigate multi-state sales tax compliance
- Meet FBAR filing requirements for international bank accounts or investments
- Classify non-resident alien income properly
- Coordinate with tax professionals near you for cross-border entity planning
This kind of complexity deserves a proactive, experienced team, not just a tax preparer near you who’s learning on your dime.
Why Entrepreneurs Choose Insogna CPA for Year-End Tax Planning
Our clients come to us because they’re tired of overpaying, missing opportunities, and feeling in the dark about their taxes.
They stay because we offer:
- Strategic guidance from certified CPAs, chartered professional accountants, and tax advisors in Austin
- Deep experience with high-net-worth entrepreneurs, real estate investors, and service-based business owners
- Seamless coordination of QuickBooks, payroll, 1099 NEC, 1099K, and entity compliance
- True partnership, not just form filing
And if you’re still searching for a “CPA near me,” “tax places near me,” or the right tax consultant near you, we’d love to be your last search.
Let’s Build Your Year-End Tax Strategy Before It’s Too Late
Tax season is for filing. Now is for planning.
If you want to reduce your taxes, maximize your deductions, and start the new year with confidence and clarity, you need a CPA who’s thinking ahead. Someone who understands where you’re going and can get you there with fewer tax surprises.
Book your tax planning session with Insogna CPA today.
Let’s finish the year strong and make sure every smart move you’ve made in 2025 gets the tax strategy it deserves. Because you didn’t build this business to overpay in taxes. You built it to grow. And that’s exactly what we’re here to help you do. One smart move at a time. One tax strategy at a time. All year long...