Real estate continues to be a significant issue for many of our clients. Real estate in the Santa Cruz area is so expensive that most individuals require professional assistance to map out the tax and cash flow consequences of various real estate transactions, including purchase, sale, finance, refinance, rental, and exchange.

Estate Planning is a critical concern for many of our clients. While estate exemption amounts have increased and are scheduled to increase further, wealth accumulation from real estate, business, investing, and inheritance have forced taxpayers to contend with estate tax issues.

Incentive Stock Options (ISOs) create very difficult decision alternatives for many of our clients who are long-term employees and employers in the high tech industry. Despite the crash of the NASDAQ in 2000, many of our clients still hold appreciated ISOs that have income tax, capital gains tax, and alternative minimum tax consequences.

Alternative Minimum Tax is impacting more of our clients than ever before and will likely continue to do so. AMT is increasing effective tax brackets for a large percentage of taxpayers and is a significant factor in most tax planning engagements. The AMT problem is particularly acute when taxpayers plan to realize gains on appreciated assets.