Wealth & Finance International - January 2017

Wealth & Finance International 20 Wealth Preservation Tax Studies n winning the Family Office of the Year 2016 accolade, I cherish the award. To be awarded such an honour from such a prestigious organisation vindicates my vision as to how we are approaching real estate with our family office community and peers. ETS serves as the engineering tax firm for the Gonzalez Family Office and other family offices globally, assisting to generate tax efficiencies for real estate, private equity, and venture capital in order to preserve family wealth. ETS recognises that each Family Office has unique clients with sophisti- cated real estate engineering tax needs including: Cost segregation Families can greatly accelerate the depreciation of their real estate investments to preserve wealth. ETS prepares an engineering-based tax study that carves out certain qualifying portions of your building into 5 and 15-year life spans that are normally buried in 39 or 27.5 (residen- tial) year categories. ETS offers a premium cost segregation analysis in which we incorporate principles of construction tax planning and abandonments per the final 263(a) repair regulations. 263(a) Tangible property regulations The final IRS regulations relating to tangible property were issued in September of 2013 and provide for additional write-offs for most taxpayers. ETS can assist in creating required capitalisation policies and identifying expenses for repairs and maintenance, which can reduce your tax liability and improve cash flow. First, ETS will identify which asset costs are not properly classified, then reclassify them as deduct- ible repairs defined by I.R.C. §162 and §263(a). Deductible repairs may include “incidental repairs” that help to maintain efficient operating conditions but do not necessarily prolong the life and material value or adapt the property to a new or different use. Expenses incurred or paid for incidental repairs and maintenance are not considered capital expenditures and may be reclassified to accelerate deductions in the current year. Disposition of assets When you undertake demolition, or renovate investment property and tear out old lighting, HVAC units and other building parts, these assets are abandoned. As such, their book value can be treated as a business deduction. Tangible personal property within a structure can be written off when a building is demolished or remodelled. (Value must have been identified prior to the demolition and it must not have been pur- chased with the intent to demolish.) Additional services include: Historic Tax Credit, New Market Tax Credit, and Energy Management Opportunities and challenges in 2017 and beyond Opportunities and challenges in 2017 and beyond will be based on the tax reform upon us from the new Presidency. In terms of the family office, we will be challenged with successful succession planning and the challenges that come from bringing in the new generation of family into the collective businesses. Company: Engineered Tax Services Name: Julio Gonzalez Email: [email protected] Web Address: www.engineeredtaxservices.com Address: 303 Evernia Street, STE 300, West Palm Beach, FL 33401 Telephone: + 1 561 253 6640 Engineered Tax Services (ETS), winner of Family Office of the Year 2016, is an engineering tax boutique firm that provides significant wealth preservation tax studies through cost segregation, energy tax incentives, research and development tax credits, and other real estate tax strategies. O 1701WF11