Tax Strategies

Advanced Wealth Preservation for Family Offices

The Strategic Shift: Tax Planning Under the OBBBA

Family office tax strategies coordinate entity structure, investment decisions, and multi-year planning to help reduce liabilities and preserve after-tax wealth. As of January 1, 2026, the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) has fundamentally altered the landscape by making several key provisions permanent, providing a level of certainty for wealth tax planning that has been missing for years.

In Florida, the absence of state personal income tax already provides a significant tailwind for tax planning. However, the new federal rules around itemized deduction floors and expanded exemptions require a more proactive, multi-year tax projection approach to reduce the likelihood of "surprises" and improve the efficiency of your capital.

Core Pillars of High-Net-Worth Tax Strategy

A professionalized family office moves beyond reactive filing to a coordinated tax strategy that aligns every financial decision with tax outcomes.

Entity Structuring and "Profit-Motivated" Design

To improve income tax strategy, many families are revisiting their entity structuring.

Trade or Business Status: By structuring the family office as a profit-motivated "Trade or Business" under Section 162, families can continue to deduct many operating expenses, such as salaries and professional fees, that would otherwise be disallowed as miscellaneous itemized deductions.
Profits Interest Model: Utilizing a "profits interest" can legally shift income from a holding company to the family office, allowing expenses to be offset more efficiently.

Capital Gains and Portfolio Tax Optimization

Managing capital gains planning in 2026 requires a focus on both deferral and permanent exclusion.

Enhanced QSBS Benefits: For stock issued after July 4, 2025, the OBBBA has expanded Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) benefits, raising the capital gains exclusion cap to $15 million and reducing the full-exclusion holding period to just five years.
Opportunity Zone Extensions: The OBBBA provides a permanent extension with rolling five-year deferral cycles for Qualified Opportunity Zones (QOZs), allowing families to integrate these into long-term tax-efficient investing.

Advanced Estate and Wealth Transfer Tax Strategy

The OBBBA has permanently increased the estate tax strategy threshold to $15 million per person ($30 million for a married couple) for 2026, indexed for inflation thereafter.

Strategic Gifting: Families are increasingly using Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs) and Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs) to move appreciating assets out of their taxable estates while the exemption is at record highs.
Upstream Basis Planning: Utilizing specific trust powers to "step up" the basis of inherited assets, potentially eliminating capital gains for future generations.

Coordinating with Your "Integrated Advisory Team"

One of the hallmarks of tax strategy in a family office is coordination with your integrated advisory team, including your CPA and legal team.

Multi-Year Tax Projections: Running several scenarios a year to potentially "dial in" the best timing for business exits, Roth conversions, or large charitable gifts.
Tax Plan Reporting: Providing owners with a clear "tax roadmap" that documents every entity-level decision and scenario.
Charitable Tax Planning: Strategically "bunching" donations to exceed the new 0.5% AGI floor for charitable deductions that took effect in 2026.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does Floridaâ€™s "No Income Tax" benefit a family office?

Beyond personal savings, it creates a massive planning opportunity for families to relocate their tax domicile or form holding entities within the state to shelter investment income from state-level taxes elsewhere.

What is the new "Deduction Floor" in 2026?

Starting this year, taxpayers who itemize are limited to charitable deductions that exceed 0.5% of their Adjusted Gross Income (AGI).

Can the OBBBA exemptions be taken away?

While the OBBBA is currently permanent under existing law, it can be modified by a future Act of Congress. However, the current law provides much more long-term certainty than the previous "sunset" provisions.