If You’re Frustrated by Your Tax Bill, You’re Not Alone

For business owners and high-net-worth investors, tax season often feels like watching money disappear into thin air. You’ve built significant wealth, made strategic investments, and taken calculated risks—so why does it seem like the IRS is your biggest business partner?

The reality is, if you’re only thinking about taxes when you’re filing them, you’re already too late. The ultra-wealthy don’t just accept tax liabilities; they plan ahead to help reduce them.  The good news? It’s not too late to change your trajectory for 2025.

At Finley Davis Private Wealth, we work with business owners, investors, and high-net-worth families to craft forward-thinking tax strategies that can help you keep more of what you earn—because every dollar saved is a dollar that can be reinvested in your business, your portfolio, or your legacy.

Proactive vs. Reactive Tax Planning: The Cost of Waiting

Many high-net-worth individuals fall into the trap of reactive tax planning—where they only engage with their CPA at tax time, scrambling for last-minute deductions. But true tax efficiency requires proactive planning.

Reactive: Reviewing past financials with an accountant at tax time, realizing missed opportunities, and writing a larger-than-necessary check to the IRS.

Proactive: Structuring investments, income, and business entities year-round to legally minimize taxes.

Example: A business owner earning $5M annually waits until April to ask their CPA about deductions. By then, it’s too late to take advantage of tax strategies like accelerated depreciation, optimizing salary distributions, or tax-advantaged charitable giving. Had they planned proactively, they could have structured income and investments more efficiently—which could have significantly lowered their tax burden before year-end.

Tax Strategies That High-Net-Worth Individuals Should Consider for 2025

Here are some of the top strategies our team at Finley Davis Private Wealth implements alongside trusted tax advisors to optimize tax liability before it’s too late:

1. Optimizing How and When Income Is Taxed

For ultra-high-net-worth individuals, tax efficiency is not about avoiding higher brackets—it’s about structuring income to minimize unnecessary tax exposure and maximize after-tax wealth accumulation.

Key strategies include:

· Reallocating taxable income into lower-tax structures like C-Corps or trusts.

· Deferring compensation to future years for better timing on tax liability.

· Prioritizing capital gains over ordinary income for lower tax rates.

· Using advanced estate planning vehicles to shift taxable income outside of the estate.

Example: Instead of taking a $5M salary, a business owner restructures earnings through a combination of deferred compensation, capital gains, and tax-efficient distributions, potentially reducing their immediate tax liability while preserving more wealth for future use.

2. Maximize Tax-Advantaged Investment Strategies

Where you invest matters. Certain strategies allow for tax-free or tax-deferred growth.

• Opportunity Zone Funds: Defer and reduce capital gains taxes by investing in designated economic development areas.
• Municipal Bonds: Earn tax-free interest income at the federal (and sometimes state) level.
• Roth IRA Conversions: Pay taxes now at lower rates to secure tax-free growth for the future.

3. Use Business Expenses and Depreciation Wisely

If you own a business, bonus depreciation and Section 179 deductions allow you to write off large purchases rather than depreciating them over time.

Example: Instead of spreading deductions over five years, a company can write off a major equipment purchase in the same year, which can reduce taxable income significantly.

4. Optimize Retirement Contributions & Executive Compensation Plans

Retirement contributions are more than just a future asset—they’re a powerful tax planning tool.

• Cash Balance Pension Plans: Allows business owners and executives to contribute significantly beyond 401(k) limits, helping reduce taxable income while accumulating retirement wealth.
• Deferred Compensation Plans: Helps high earners defer taxable income into lower-income retirement years.

Example: A private business owner earning $12M annually establishes a Cash Balance Pension Plan, allowing them to defer $500K+ per year in pre-tax contributions. This would not only help reduce their immediate taxable income but also accelerate tax-advantaged retirement savings. Over 10 years, this strategy can help shift $5M+ into a tax-efficient retirement structure, lowering their effective tax rate while ensuring long-term wealth preservation.

5. Charitable Giving with a Tax-Efficient Approach

If philanthropy is part of your financial strategy, structured giving can help maximize impact while reducing your tax bill.

• Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs): Contribute now, claim an immediate deduction, and decide later where the money goes.
• Charitable Remainder Trusts (CRTs): Convert appreciated assets into an income stream while reducing estate and capital gains taxes.
• Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): If over 70½, donate directly from your IRA to avoid taxable distributions.

The More You Save, The More You Keep—Let’s Plan Now for 2025

High-net-worth investors and business owners don’t just pay taxes—they plan around them. If your financial team isn’t actively looking for ways to help lower your tax burden, restructure your investments, and align your wealth strategies, you could be leaving money on the table.

At Finley Davis Private Wealth, we partner with your trusted tax advisors—or bring in our own— to develop tax strategies that help you retain more of your wealth while staying fully compliant.

The tax strategies you put in place today will determine how much you owe—or keep—next April.

Let’s help 2025 tax season look a lot different.

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Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Personnel of Risk Bridge Advisors, LLC (“RiskBridge”) prepared this material. The views expressed herein do not constitute research, investment advice, or trade recommendations. RiskBridge may, from time to time, participate or invest in transactions with issuers of securities that participate in the markets referred to herein, perform services for or solicit business from such issuers, and/or have a position or effect transactions in the securities or derivatives thereof.

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