Texas has no state income tax — but federal rates still apply in full, and most Houston business owners and professionals overpay the IRS every year because no one is planning proactively before the year ends.
WHY HOUSTON NEEDS A TAX STRATEGIST
One of the most common misconceptions among Houston business owners is that Texas’s lack of a state income tax eliminates their tax burden. In reality, federal income tax rates range from 22% to 37% for most business owners and professionals — and without proactive planning, the majority of that liability is unavoidable.
A proactive tax strategist works throughout the year to identify moves that reduce your federal taxable income before December 31 — the point after which most legal tax-reduction strategies are no longer available for that year. Strategies that are available in October become unavailable in January.
The difference between a tax strategist and a tax preparer is timing. A preparer records what happened. A strategist changes what happens — before the year ends, while there’s still time to act.
INDUSTRIES WE SERVE IN HOUSTON
Houston’s economy spans energy, healthcare, professional services, and real estate — each with distinct tax planning considerations and opportunities.
Houston’s energy sector offers significant tax planning opportunities including intangible drilling cost deductions, percentage depletion allowances, bonus depreciation on equipment, and Section 199A qualified business income deductions for pass-through structures. We work with operators, service companies, and mineral rights owners.
Physicians, dentists, and healthcare practice owners face high W-2 income combined with business ownership income, creating layered tax planning opportunities. We focus on entity selection, defined benefit pension plans, equipment expensing, and practice overhead structuring for Houston medical professionals.
Houston attorneys, consultants, architects, and engineers operating as solo practitioners or small firms benefit from S-Corp structuring, home office deductions, qualified business income strategies, and timing of income recognition across tax years. Professional services is one of the highest-leverage areas for proactive tax strategy.
Houston real estate investors have access to depreciation deductions, cost segregation studies, 1031 exchanges, and Qualified Opportunity Zone investments. Real estate professional status — when properly documented — allows passive activity losses to offset active income, producing some of the largest individual tax savings available.
Houston executives with high W-2 compensation, RSUs, or stock options benefit from deferred compensation planning, charitable strategy, backdoor Roth conversions, and investment tax optimization. These clients often assume their options are limited because they are employees — in reality, significant planning opportunities remain.
From pre-revenue startups to established Houston businesses with $5M+ in annual revenue, we provide entity optimization, profit-sharing plan design, exit planning, and annual tax minimization strategy. Business owners have the broadest set of legal tax reduction tools available — but only when used proactively.
TAX STRATEGY SERVICES
Our tax strategy services for Houston clients span entity structure, annual planning, retirement optimization, investment strategy, and compliance — all integrated into a single coordinated engagement.
Year-round strategy reviews to identify deductions, timing adjustments, and structural moves before each December 31 deadline. We plan in Q3 and Q4 — not April of the following year.
Evaluating whether your current entity structure (sole proprietor, LLC, S-Corp, C-Corp) minimizes your total tax liability. For many Houston business owners, this single change saves more than all other strategies combined.
Maximizing pre-tax retirement contributions through SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), SIMPLE IRA, defined benefit pension, or cash balance plans. For high-income Houston business owners, the right plan can shelter $60,000 to $300,000+ per year.
Section 199A provides a potential 20% deduction on pass-through business income — but it phases out at higher income levels and is restricted for certain service businesses. Strategic structuring can preserve or expand this deduction.
Coordinating investment decisions with tax timing — tax-loss harvesting, asset location across taxable and retirement accounts, and Qualified Opportunity Zone investments for capital gains deferral and reduction.
Ensuring all deductions and positions taken in your strategy are properly documented and defensible. We maintain your returns to IRS examination standards throughout, not just at filing time.
SELF-EMPLOYED & GIG ECONOMY
Self-employed workers and independent contractors in Houston face a tax situation that is fundamentally different from W-2 employees — and more favorable with proper planning. The self-employment tax (15.3% on top of income tax) is real, but multiple strategies exist to reduce it legally.
S-Corporation election is the most powerful single strategy for many self-employed Houston professionals. By splitting income between a reasonable salary (subject to payroll taxes) and distributions (not subject to self-employment tax), an S-Corp can reduce self-employment tax by $5,000 to $25,000+ annually at mid-to-high income levels.
Retirement contributions through a SEP-IRA (up to 25% of net self-employment income) or a Solo 401(k) (up to $70,000 per year in 2025) provide the largest above-the-line deductions available to self-employed individuals.
Additional deductions available to Houston’s self-employed include home office (regular and exclusive use), vehicle (actual expense or standard mileage), health insurance premiums, professional development, and business equipment under Section 179 or bonus depreciation rules.
HOUSTON BACKGROUND
Brandt Michelet served as the financial strategy lead for Landry’s Inc. — one of Houston’s largest employers and the largest privately held restaurant and hospitality company in the United States, with 600+ venues across the country. In that role, Brandt managed tax strategy and financial decision-making at a scale most Houston businesses will never approach.
That Fortune-500-level financial discipline — the same frameworks that large corporations use to minimize their effective tax rate — is what Michelet Financial brings to Houston business owners and high-income professionals. The same strategies used by billion-dollar companies are legally available to any business owner or individual; the difference is having a strategist who knows how to apply them.
Michelet Financial is based in Houston at 12645 Memorial Dr., Suite F1 #429, Houston, TX 77024, and serves clients across the Greater Houston metropolitan area as well as nationwide via remote consultation. Initial consultations are always free.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Stop overpaying federal taxes. Michelet Financial’s free strategy consultation identifies your highest-impact tax reduction opportunities — before the year ends.