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Last week I met with a business owner who made just over $240,000 in profit.
He felt good about it.
Until we walked through his S-Corp setup.
He wasn’t reimbursing his home office.
He missed the PTET election.
He wasn’t using a Solo 401(k).
His health insurance wasn’t structured properly.
He bought equipment at the wrong time.
None of this was illegal.
None of it was reckless.
It was just… reactive.
And reactive tax strategy quietly costs people thousands.
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Here’s the uncomfortable truth:
Most S-Corp owners are leaving money on the table. Not because they’re careless. Not because they’re dumb.
Because no one showed them what was possible before the year ended.
And once December 31 hits… your options shrink fast.
So let’s fix that.
Here are 5 S-Corp strategies I see business owners either miss entirely… or implement incorrectly.
1. Home Office Reimbursements (Done the Right Way)
Yes, even if you have an office outside your home.
If you’re doing admin work from home, your S-Corp can reimburse you for a percentage of:
• Rent or mortgage interest
• Utilities
• Internet
• Other qualifying expenses
But it has to be structured properly.
No guessing percentages.
No sloppy reimbursements.
No “my buddy said this was fine.”
Done correctly, this moves legitimate personal expenses into accountable plan reimbursements.
2. PTET Election
This one is big.
Pass-Through Entity Tax elections can allow your business to deduct state taxes at the entity level instead of being stuck under the $10,000 SALT cap personally.
But:
• It’s optional
• It must be elected
• Deadlines matter
Miss it, and you wait a full year.
3. Solo 401(k)
For 2025, you can defer up to $23,500 from salary. More if you’re over 50.
Then you can potentially add employer contributions on top of that.
Yet I still see profitable S-Corp owners not using this.
That’s not a tax problem.
That’s a planning gap.
This one gets butchered constantly.
Handled correctly:
• Premiums are included in your W-2
• You take the self-employed health insurance deduction
• You reduce payroll tax exposure on that amount
Handled incorrectly, it’s just another expense with no optimization.
5. Bonus Depreciation
This one is shrinking.
It used to be 100%.
Now it phases down each year.
Timing matters.
Buy equipment at the right time and accelerate deductions.
Miss the window and you spread it over years.
Here’s the Real Issue
None of these strategies work if you look at them in March.
Tax preparation is reactive.
Tax planning is proactive.
Most business owners don’t need more deductions.
They need someone looking ahead while the year is still in motion.
If your S-Corp strategy is:
“We’ll see what happens at filing time”…
You’re probably overpaying.
If you want to know which of these five apply to your business right now, schedule a planning call here:
Or reply to this email with:
Revenue
Your current payroll number
Your state
And I’ll tell you where I’d look first.
Talk soon.
-Nate
Read Past Newsletters and Posts here ➡️ Deduct This!
Nate Lewis CFP®, EA |
Lewis Wealth Management Group |
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