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Proactive tax planning

Plan the year, not just the return.

VM Tax Consulting builds forward-looking tax strategies for business owners, high-income earners, investors, and families — and prepares the returns that carry them out — so the savings are designed into your decisions before December 31, not discovered in April.

Book a free consultation See what we plan for
VM Tax Consulting
Founder-led
Vince Mongio
CPA · EA · CIA · CFE · MACC
The deliverable
A written plan with each strategy's projected tax effect in dollars — and the returns, prepared in-house
The cadence
Quarterly check-ins across the year, not a single call in December
The team
Coordinated with your attorney, financial advisor, and bookkeeper

Services

Planning built around how you earn.

Every engagement starts with the same two questions: where is the income coming from this year, and what is about to change? The strategies follow from the answers.

Business owners & entrepreneurs

Closely held companies, professional practices, and founders.

  • Entity selection and restructuring — LLC, S corporation, C corporation, and when it is time to change
  • Owner compensation, distributions, and the §199A qualified business income deduction
  • Retirement plan design: Solo 401(k), SEP, cash balance, and defined benefit plans
  • Exit and sale planning, including qualified small business stock (§1202) and tax-free reorganizations
  • Multi-entity structures and holding companies

High-income earners & investors

Executives, physicians, attorneys, and tech professionals with equity compensation, concentrated stock, and multi-year income.

  • Multi-year income and bracket management
  • Capital gain timing, loss harvesting, and concentrated-position strategies
  • Equity compensation: RSUs, ISOs, NSOs, and §83(b) elections
  • Charitable planning with appreciated stock and donor-advised funds
  • Coordination with estate, gift, and trust planning

Active trader? Trader tax status and the §475 election →

Real estate investors

Long-term rentals, short-term rentals, syndications, and development.

  • Cost segregation studies and bonus depreciation, including short-term rentals
  • §1031 exchanges and gain deferral on dispositions
  • Passive activity rules, material participation, and real estate professional status
  • Entity structuring for holdings and partnerships
  • Planning around syndication and partnership K-1s

Read: the short-term rental tax strategy, explained properly →

Individuals & families

High earners, dual-income households, and major life changes.

  • Withholding and estimated-payment planning — no surprises in April
  • Retirement strategy: 401(k), IRA, backdoor Roth, and Roth conversions
  • Education funding and 529 plans
  • Planning around life events — marriage, a new home, a new child, a relocation
  • State residency planning for moves between states

Tax preparation

We prepare the returns, too.

The same team that builds the plan prepares the return, so every strategy actually lands on the filing — nothing gets lost in a handoff to a separate preparer.

Preparation is included for planning clients and available on its own for returns with real complexity. If you already have a preparer you like, we coordinate with them instead.

  • Individual returns (Form 1040) with equity compensation, trading activity, rentals, K-1s, and multi-state filings
  • Business returns: S corporations (1120-S), partnerships (1065), C corporations (1120), and single-member LLCs
  • Trader and real estate returns, including §475 mark-to-market reporting and cost segregation depreciation
  • Prior-year review and amended returns when something was missed
  • Extensions and estimated payments managed as part of the planning calendar

For active traders

Trader tax status, from a CPA who trades.

Day traders and options traders are taxed under rules written for investors. Trader tax status, the §475(f) mark-to-market election, wash sales, and Section 1256 contracts each change the answer — and most of the decisions carry deadlines that arrive before the year is half over. We plan for traders because our founder is one.

“I trade SPX and SPY options in my own account, so I have lived the questions traders bring us: why a 1099-B shows wash-sale adjustments that have nothing to do with what you actually made, why SPX and SPY options fall under different tax rules, and why the §475 election has to be decided in April — before you know what kind of year it will be.”

Vince Mongio, CPA, EAFounder · active options trader

Likely a fit if you

  • Trade most days the market is open, with holding periods measured in days, not months
  • Have a 1099-B that runs to dozens of pages, or a wash-sale number you cannot explain
  • Want trading income to fund a retirement plan and cover deductible health insurance
  • Are weighing the §475 election, a trading entity, or a move to Florida
Book a free consultation

Bring last year's 1099-B. You will know on the first call whether trader status is realistic.

New traders

Starting this year? The learning-year loss does not have to become a $3,000-a-year carryforward.

Most first years are learning years, and most new traders find out in April that the capital loss limit traps everything above $3,000 for years. With the right setup from the first trade, a learning-year loss can instead be an ordinary loss that offsets wages and other income in the same year. The catch is that every piece has to be in place before the loss is booked.

1

Qualify from the first trade

Trader tax status is earned by the trading, not by paperwork: most market days, holding periods in days rather than months, real hours, and the intent to make a living at it. It can apply to part of a year, so someone who starts in June can qualify from June — if the log of trades, hours, and holding periods supports it.

2

Elect §475 through a new entity

An individual's §475 election for this year had to be filed by April 15, which is usually before a new trader starts. A new LLC taxed as a partnership or an S corporation is a new taxpayer and can elect within 75 days of formation, so every trade inside the entity is mark-to-market from day one.

3

Deduct the loss this year, not over decades

With trader status and the election in place, a first-year loss is ordinary: it flows through to your return and offsets W-2 wages and other income in the same year, with no $3,000 cap. A loss larger than your other income becomes a net operating loss carried forward — not a capital loss waiting on future gains.

Timing is the whole game. Losses already booked in a personal account before the entity exists stay capital, and an entity does not create trader status on its own — the trading has to qualify. If the window for this year has passed, the fallback is an individual §475 election for next year, filed by April 15. Courses and coaching paid for before you begin may be treated as start-up costs once the trading business is underway.

For real estate investors & professionals

Paper losses are only worth something if you can use them.

Cost segregation and bonus depreciation can create large losses on paper. Whether those losses offset your wages, your business income, or nothing at all this year depends on real estate professional status, the short-term rental rules, and how the properties are held — decisions made before closing, not at filing time.

Most real estate returns get the depreciation right and the passive-loss rules wrong. The deduction was taken; it just could not be used. The planning is about making sure it can — this year, against the income you actually have.

Likely a fit if you

  • Own or are buying rentals — long-term, short-term, or through syndications
  • Have W-2 or business income you want real estate losses to offset
  • Are considering a cost segregation study, a §1031 exchange, or a sale this year
  • Could meet the real estate professional or short-term rental participation tests with the right records
Book a free consultation

Bring the closing statement and last year's return. You will know on the first call whether the losses can be used.

Read: the short-term rental tax strategy, explained properly →

The planning year

A calendar, not a deadline.

Tax savings are locked in during the year, one quarter at a time. This is what a planning relationship with VM Tax Consulting looks like across twelve months.

Q1 · Jan – Mar

Wrap-up and setup

Prepare and file the prior year's returns, fund retirement accounts before the filing deadline, and set this year's estimated payments on real numbers instead of last year's.

Q2 · Apr – Jun

Mid-year projection

Compare actual income to the plan. Adjust withholding, estimates, and owner compensation while there is still time to change the result.

Q3 · Jul – Sep

Structure and transactions

Review entity choice and retirement plan design, and plan anything on the horizon — a sale, a purchase, a new venture — before it closes.

Q4 · Oct – Dec

Year-end moves

Time income and deductions, harvest gains and losses, complete charitable gifts, and place assets in service — all before December 31.

Federal estimated payments fall due on April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15. The plan is reviewed before each one, so every payment reflects the year you are actually having.

How it works

Three steps from first call to a working plan.

1

Discovery

A review of your last two returns, this year's numbers, and what is ahead. You will know from the first conversation whether planning is likely to pay for itself.

2

Written strategy

A plan that lists each recommended strategy, what it requires from you, and its projected tax effect in dollars — so decisions are made with numbers, not guesses.

3

Implementation and check-ins

We coordinate with your bookkeeper, attorney, and financial advisor, then check in each quarter so the plan keeps pace with your year.

Vince Mongio, CPA, founder of VM Tax Consulting

About

Vince Mongio, CPA

Founder, VM Tax Consulting

Vince is a Certified Public Accountant and IRS Enrolled Agent with a Master of Accountancy, and holds additional credentials in internal audit and fraud examination. His practice has centered on complex tax work — corporate reorganizations, qualified small business stock, partnership and SPV structures, real estate cost segregation, and international compliance — for closely held businesses, investors, and their families.

VM Tax Consulting is the planning and preparation side of that experience: a principal-led practice where every engagement is handled by Vince personally, from the first review of your returns to the year-end call and the filing itself. Based in Miami and working with clients nationwide.

CPACertified Public Accountant
EAEnrolled Agent, licensed before the IRS
CIACertified Internal Auditor
CFECertified Fraud Examiner
MACCMaster of Accountancy

Questions

Before you book.

How is tax planning different from tax preparation?

Preparation reports what already happened. Planning changes what will happen. We do both: we work with you during the year, while entity choices, compensation, purchases, sales, and timing can still be adjusted, and then prepare the return so the strategy actually shows up on the filing. If you already have a preparer you like, we coordinate with them instead.

Can you just prepare my return?

Yes. We prepare individual and business returns with or without a planning engagement. The fit is best when the return has some complexity to it — a business, rentals, trading activity, equity compensation, K-1s, or more than one state. For a return that is just a W-2 and a standard deduction, we will say so and point you somewhere less expensive.

Who is a good fit for a planning engagement?

Business owners, high-income earners, investors, active traders, real estate owners, and families whose tax situation has some complexity to it. Planning tends to pay for itself when there is meaningful income, a business, investment activity, or a major transaction on the horizon.

What does an engagement cost?

Fees are quoted up front after the initial consultation, based on the scope and complexity of your situation. You will know the cost before any work begins, and the written plan shows the projected savings alongside it.

Do you work with clients outside Florida?

Yes. Engagements are handled virtually with clients across the United States, and Miami-area clients are welcome to meet in person.

What should I have ready for the first consultation?

Your most recent tax return, a rough picture of this year's income, and anything you already know is coming — a sale, a new entity, a property, a move. If you have last year's return handy, that is enough to start.

Get started

Book a free 30-minute consultation.

A focused conversation about where you are, what is changing this year, and whether a planning engagement — or simply a well-prepared return — makes sense for you. Pick any open time on the calendar.

What happens on the call

  1. 1
    You describe your situation.Your income picture, what changed this year, and what you want to happen next. About ten minutes.
  2. 2
    You get a first read.Which strategies likely apply to you, which do not, and roughly what they could be worth.
  3. 3
    You leave with a clear answer.Whether planning would pay for itself, what an engagement costs, and what happens next. No pressure either way, and no fee for the call.
  • Who you'll meet: Vince Mongio, CPA, EA, CIA, CFE, MACC. The founder takes every call and reviews every plan personally.
  • What to bring: Nothing beyond your most recent return, if you have it handy.
  • Where: By video or phone. Based in Miami, working with clients nationwide.

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