Tax Planning in Alpharetta, GA
Know What Your Next Dollar Really Costs
Your bracket doesn't tell you. Between phase-outs, surtaxes, and timing, the cost of your next dollar is decided months before the return gets filed.
Fee-Only • Fiduciary • Independent RIA • CFP®, ChFC® • 30+ Years Serving North Atlanta
Your Largest Expense
Am I paying more than I have to? It's the question we hear most, and it's a hard one to answer on your own.
Tax is the largest expense most high earners will ever have. Add up the top federal rate, Georgia's flat rate, the net investment income tax, and the extra Medicare tax, and close to half of your next dollar can go to taxes. You probably know your bracket. That number is different, because several rules phase out in the same income range. Cross a threshold and you lose part of a deduction, lose an exemption, or pick up a surtax.
At Daner Wealth Management, we help high-income professionals and executives in Alpharetta, Roswell, and Johns Creek find those lines and build a calendar of decisions around them.
When to Start This Conversation
- April brought a bill you didn't expect
- Your CPA files the return but nobody is planning ahead of it
- A bonus, vesting equity, or a business sale is coming this year
- You give to charity and haven't structured it
- You have income from more than one state
- Someone mentioned a strategy you couldn't evaluate
What We Work Through
- The Phase-Outs You Can't See on a Bracket Table. Several 2026 rules tighten in the same income range. The state and local tax deduction starts shrinking above $505,000 of income, and the alternative minimum tax exemption shrinks nearby. Inside that range an extra dollar costs you the tax on it plus the deduction it takes away. Georgia's flat 4.99% at least keeps the state side simple. More on planning at higher incomes.
- Timing Income and Deductions. Pushing a bonus into next year, taking a deduction early, or combining two years of giving into one can move you below a phase-out line. Some years open a window: a large vest, a business sale, a sabbatical, the years before withdrawals start. And some strategies exist only because the normal route closes at higher incomes, like a backdoor Roth.
- Estimated Payments and the Safe Harbor. Withholding on bonuses and vesting shares usually sits below your actual rate, and the gap shows up when you file. Paying in a set percentage of last year's tax avoids underpayment penalties, and above $150,000 of prior-year income that percentage is 110%. It stops the penalty. The bill still comes due.
- Charitable Giving With Structure. Giving appreciated stock avoids the capital gains you'd owe on a sale, and a donor-advised fund lets you take the deduction in one year and give over several. A new 2026 floor favors fewer, larger giving years.
As a fiduciary, we plan around your taxes and coordinate with your CPA, who remains the one preparing and filing your return.
How We Take Tax Planning Deeper
Tax Loss Harvesting
We look for positions worth selling at a loss to offset gains, and handle it without tripping the wash sale rule or changing the portfolio you meant to hold.
Tax Return Review
We read your filed return for what it shows: missed elections, accounts working against each other, and opportunities your preparer wasn't hired to look for.
Tax-Efficient Investing
We decide with you which investments belong in taxable, tax-deferred, and Roth accounts, and choose holdings by how their income is taxed.
We don't charge by the service or take commissions on products we recommend. As a fee-only firm, we charge an all-inclusive percentage of assets under management, generally 0.75%–1.25% annually, so our only incentive is doing right by your plan. We'll walk you through exactly what that means for your situation before you commit to anything.
Why Choose Daner Wealth Management
Marc Daner, CFP®, ChFC®, has helped clients plan around taxes as part of a full financial picture for more than 30 years. As an independent, fee-only fiduciary, we're required by law to act in your best interest, not selling products or earning commissions. We explain your options in plain language and stay with you as your plan evolves.
Start With a Conversation
If your return keeps producing surprises, we'd welcome the conversation. Schedule a consultation with Marc Daner to talk through how tax planning fits your full financial picture.
Tax Planning FAQs
Get your questions answered about tax planning.
Your CPA reports what already happened and files the return. Most are engaged to prepare rather than to plan, and the decisions worth the most are made months before a return gets filed. We don't prepare or file returns. We plan around them, we read them closely for what they show about the year ahead, and we work alongside your accountant. If you don't have one, we can point you toward someone.
It depends on the month and the lever. Most timing decisions close on December 31, including charitable gifts, loss realization, and whether income lands this year or next. A few run later. Estimated payments have a January deadline, and IRA and HSA contributions for the prior year can generally be made up to the filing deadline. The earlier in the year we look, the more is still open.
Yes, and it's common here. Concentrated compensation makes timing matter more, since one vest or bonus can move you across a threshold. That work sits alongside executive compensation planning.
