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Ordinary Income Planning

Ordinary income is the hardest tax to plan around: a 37% top federal rate, limited deferral options, and few exclusions. The strategies that work are investment-driven, and they carry real economic risk that has to be evaluated honestly, not waved away.

W-2 wages, restricted stock unit (RSU) vesting, bonus income, and most business income are taxed at ordinary rates as earned. There is no equivalent of a step-up or a long-term rate. What the Code does offer is a set of investment-linked deductions and credits: accelerated depreciation, intangible drilling costs, and transferable clean-energy credits.

Every one of these is an investment first and a tax position second. We evaluate the underlying asset the way we evaluate any deal: sponsor quality, downside risk, liquidity, and recapture exposure. If the investment does not stand on its own economics, the deduction does not save it.

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