High Net Worth CPA and Tax Planning Services

A high net worth CPA becomes essential when your tax situation involves multiple income sources, complex investments, real estate holdings, business ownership, international assets, estate planning needs, or annual tax bills over six figures. Standard tax preparers often miss strategic opportunities and risk areas that specialized CPAs catch. Working with a high net worth CPA also coordinates tax, estate, and investment planning across advisors.

The Alternative Minimum Tax is a parallel tax system designed to ensure high earners pay a minimum tax amount regardless of deductions and credits. AMT primarily affects individuals with significant itemized deductions, incentive stock option exercises, or specific types of income. Strategic planning around timing of income, deductions, and ISO exercises can significantly reduce or eliminate AMT exposure.

Common estate tax strategies include lifetime gifting using annual exclusion and lifetime exemption, irrevocable trusts (GRATs, ILITs, dynasty trusts), charitable planning, family limited partnerships, generation-skipping transfer planning, and valuation discounts on business interests. The right combination depends on your asset mix, family situation, state of residence, and current federal exemption levels.

Succession planning addresses how wealth, business interests, and family assets transfer to the next generation or other beneficiaries. It includes estate tax planning, business succession structures, trust design, gifting strategies, family governance, charitable legacy, and coordination across legal, tax, and investment advisors. Effective succession planning starts years before the transition.

Yes, if you hold foreign assets, receive foreign income, have residency considerations, own foreign businesses, or have family members abroad. International reporting requirements (FBAR, FATCA, Form 8938, Form 5471) carry significant penalties for non-filing. Strategic planning around treaty positions, foreign tax credits, controlled foreign corporations, and entity structures can reduce overall tax burden and ensure compliance.

Private investment funds (hedge funds, private equity, venture capital) typically pass through tax characteristics to investors via Schedule K-1. Investors face complex issues including phantom income, character of gains (capital vs. ordinary), multi-state nexus, AMT preferences, qualified dividend treatment, carried interest, and timing of recognition. A high net worth CPA navigates these complexities and coordinates with fund accountants for accurate reporting.

The basic exclusion is $15,000,000 per person for 2026, or effectively $30 million for a married couple, and it is indexed for inflation from 2027. The 2025 tax law removed the sunset that would have roughly halved it after 2025. The generation-skipping transfer exemption is also $15,000,000, and the annual gift exclusion is $19,000 per recipient. Some states impose their own estate or inheritance taxes at lower thresholds, so state residence still matters.

From 2026, itemizers can deduct charitable gifts only to the extent they exceed 0.5% of AGI, and taxpayers in the 37% bracket have their itemized deductions reduced by 2/37. Taxpayers who do not itemize can deduct up to $1,000 of cash gifts, or $2,000 on a joint return. For high net worth donors, bunching gifts into one year and giving appreciated securities are now worth modeling carefully.

The cap on deducting state and local taxes is $40,400 for 2026. It is reduced by 30% of modified AGI above $505,000, but never below $10,000, so above roughly $606,000 the cap is effectively $10,000. The higher cap runs through 2029 and returns to $10,000 after that. Owners of pass-through businesses may still be able to use a state pass-through entity tax election where their state offers one.