A Properly Advised Client Should Pay No More Than 10% in Total Taxes

It is admittedly a little cliché to say that two things are certain: death and taxes. But I would like to add to that list: The wealthy will be condemned for not paying enough taxes. You can count on it.

Politicians campaign on slogans like “No tax cuts for the rich.”

You are constantly told that there are two Americas—the privileged one you are lucky enough to enjoy, and the one of grinding hardships. Politicians and the public alike, wealthy and poor, say it is time for the rich to pay their fair share.

The premise underlying these cries, which is seldom made explicit, is that the rich did not achieve their wealth through hard work. They got lucky. They won life’s lottery. They are not representatives of the American Dream—they are greedy robber barons who nefariously cheated honest, industrious Americans out of what they deserve.

Consider this fact. According to the Internal Revenue Service’s latest available tax data, the upper half of wealth holders pay a whopping 96.7 percent of taxes while those in the bottom half pay only 3.3% of taxes. The top 25 percent pay 84.86 percent. And shockingly, the top 1 percent pays 36.89 percent of taxes.

That puts things in perspective, doesn’t it? While the rich are chided for not paying a “fair share,” they are in fact carrying the bulk of the nation’s tax burden on their shoulders. Income tax is a unique risk in that conventional view says you should not try to avoid; unlike other risks, popular opinion says you should actively work to increase it!

There are many tax deductions available to clients but their CPA may only be familiar with 20 to 30. They tend to have their ‘pet’ deductions and give many others short shrift.  We actively work to help our clients pay the absolute minimum taxes they are legally allowed to pay.

Click Here for a short list of deductions we use to our client's benefit.