Tax Strategy & Planning

Most people
overpay tax
by accident.

Your biggest yearly expense is not rent or payroll. It is tax. I plan it before the deadline, not after, so high-income owners and real estate investors keep more of what they earn. Big 4 trained. 10+ years in real estate, private equity, and venture capital tax.

30 MIN · FREE · NO PITCH

KPMG · BDO
Big 4 trained
10+ Years
Tax depth
RE · PE · VC
My specialty
Proactive
Plan, not just file
$
Strategy applied
S-Corp + 401k · 2026
Tax Plan · Sample Client Modeled
$420k
Income
Owner
$31k
Tax Saved
Year 1
24%
Eff. Rate
Down 6pts
Where the Savings Came FromAnnual
S-Corp
Retire
RE Depr
QBI
MoveCodeSaved
S-Corp salary split§1361$11,800
Solo 401k§401$8,600
Cost seg + bonus§168(k)$9,200
Tax Temperature
Optimized
No April surprise

The Problem

Three reasons high earners quietly overpay.

None of these show up as a single big mistake. They leak money quietly, year after year, until you add it up and realize you funded the IRS far more than you had to.

01 · Reactive

Your CPA only files, never plans

Most CPAs see your numbers in March, after the year is closed and nothing can be changed. By then every real lever is gone. Tax is won in the planning, not the filing. If nobody is calling you in October, you are overpaying.

02 · Wrong Structure

The wrong entity and missed elections

Running real profit through a sole prop or single-member LLC can cost you five figures a year in self-employment tax alone. The right S-Corp election, retirement plan, and QBI position under §199A often pay for the whole engagement many times over.

03 · April Surprise

No quarterly visibility

Without quarterly planning, tax season is a guessing game. You either overpay and float the IRS an interest-free loan, or underpay and eat penalties under §6654. Either way you are flying blind on your single largest expense.

Who I Work With

Built for two kinds of people. Both pay too much.

PROFILE / 01
High Income

Owners & high earners

You clear $250k or more between W2, business, and investments. The standard advice stopped working for you a while ago. You want someone who actually moves the number.

  • Business owners and professionals: medical, legal, tech, services
  • Entity setup, S-Corp election, and reasonable comp done right
  • Retirement and QBI strategy that compounds every year
  • Equity comp, RSUs, and capital gains timing
YOU EARN WELL · YOU SHOULD KEEP MORE OF IT
PROFILE / 02
Real Estate

Real estate investors

Rentals, short-term rentals, syndications, flips. Real estate is the most tax-favored asset in the code, and most investors use a fraction of what is available to them.

  • Cost segregation and 100% bonus depreciation under §168(k)
  • Real estate professional status and the STR loophole
  • 1031 exchanges and gain deferral under §1031
  • Entity and partnership structure for multi-property portfolios
THE MOST TAX-FAVORED ASSET · USE ALL OF IT

What I Do

Four services. One job: lower the number.

Every engagement starts with a plan, not a tax return. We find the moves first, then we file to lock them in.

SVC / 01
Core

Proactive Tax Planning

The work that actually moves your tax bill. We model your year before it ends and build a written plan with dollar figures attached to every move.

  • Year-end projection so there are no surprises
  • Written strategy with the dollar impact of each move
  • Quarterly check-ins, not one rushed meeting in April
See the Strategy Playbook →
01
SVC / 02
Structure

Entity & S-Corp Strategy

The single highest-ROI decision for most profitable owners. We run the math on S-Corp election, set reasonable compensation, and stand it up clean.

  • S-Corp analysis with real self-employment tax savings
  • Reasonable comp set to survive scrutiny
  • Multi-entity and holding structures where they fit
Run the S-Corp Calculator →
02
SVC / 03
Real Estate

Real Estate Tax

Depreciation is the engine. Cost segregation plus 100% bonus depreciation can turn a profitable property into a paper loss that shelters other income.

  • Cost seg and bonus depreciation modeling
  • REPS and short-term rental material participation
  • 1031 exchange planning and partnership allocations
Estimate Your Depreciation →
03
SVC / 04
Personal CPA

Filing & Your Personal CPA

Business and personal returns filed clean, plus a CPA you can actually reach the other eleven months of the year. The plan only works if it gets executed.

  • Business and personal returns, multi-state if needed
  • Quarterly estimates calculated, no penalties
  • A direct line when a real decision comes up
Talk to Me →
04

The Strategy Playbook

Real moves. Real code sections. Real dollars.

A sample of what proactive planning actually looks like. Every one of these is legal, documented, and tied to a specific part of the tax code. Figures are illustrative and depend on your situation.

§1361 · S-Corp Election
Split salary and distributions

Pay yourself a reasonable salary, take the rest as distributions, and cut the 15.3% self-employment tax on the distribution portion. The bread and butter for profitable owners.

Often $8k to $20k+ saved per year
§168(k) · Bonus Depreciation
Cost seg a rental property

Break a building into components, then expense the short-life pieces immediately at 100% bonus, now permanent. A profitable rental can throw off a large paper loss in year one.

20% to 30% of building basis, year one
§401 · Retirement
Solo 401k and cash balance

Move pre-tax income into a Solo 401k, up to $72k in 2026, and pair it with a cash balance plan for high earners who want to shelter far more.

$72k+ deferred, taxed later or never
§469 · STR Loophole
Short-term rental material participation

A short-term rental you materially participate in is not automatically passive. Pair it with cost seg and the loss can offset your W2 or business income.

Shelter active income, legally
§199A · QBI
Protect the 20% deduction

The 20% pass-through deduction phases out for high earners and service businesses. Smart comp, retirement, and entity moves can keep you inside the threshold.

20% off qualified business income
§1031 & §1202
Defer and exclude gains

Defer real estate gains with a 1031 exchange, or exclude up to millions of startup gains under the QSBS rules in §1202. Timing and structure are everything.

Defer or exclude six figures+

Why It Pays For Itself

The fee is small. The number is not.

15.3%
Self-Employment Tax

On every dollar of profit in a sole prop. The right S-Corp election cuts that on the distribution portion. For a $200k profit that gap is real money.

Year 1
Depreciation Front-Loaded

Cost seg plus 100% bonus depreciation pulls decades of write-offs into the year you buy. A profitable rental becomes a paper loss that shelters other income.

Zero
April Surprises

Quarterly planning means you always know the number before it is too late to act. You stop floating the IRS and you stop eating penalties.

Tax is your biggest expense.
Treat it like one.

30 minutes. No pitch. Tell me your situation and I will tell you the first two or three moves I would make.

Book a Free Strategy Call
30 MIN · FREE · NO PITCH

About

Man Nguyen, CPA

Big 4 tax depth.
Operator instincts.
On your side.

I am Man Nguyen, CPA. I spent 10+ years at the highest levels of public accounting, across KPMG, BDO, and in-house at a venture capital fund. My work was real estate funds, private equity structures, venture capital, and high net worth clients. Complex multi-entity returns, fund waterfalls, S-Corp elections, partnership allocations, and IRS examinations. The kind of work most CPAs never touch in a full career.

I also build and run businesses. So I do not just know the code, I know how cash flow, margins, and risk actually feel from the operator seat. That combination is rare. Most planners are technicians who have never run anything. Most operators do not know the code. I sit in both chairs.

This side of my practice is simple: tax strategy for people who earn well and want to keep more of it. No bookkeeping packages, no upsells you did not ask for. Just sharp, proactive planning and a CPA who picks up the phone.

CPA, Active KPMG & BDO Alumni Real Estate · PE · VC High Net Worth Multi-Business Founder

Work Together

Let's find the moves before the deadline.

Tell me what your situation looks like. Income, business, real estate, equity comp, whatever you have going on. I will tell you the first few things I would look at. No jargon, no pressure.

Book a Free 30 Minute Call → man@man.cpa CALCTry the free calculators first

The content on this site is for general educational purposes only and is not tax, legal, or financial advice. Dollar figures are illustrative and depend on your specific facts. Tax law changes and outcomes vary. Nothing here creates a CPA-client relationship. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation before acting. Figures reflect 2026 federal tax parameters.