Tax planning in California
What a written, year-round plan covers for a California business, and when each decision has to be made.
Learn moreAll of California
A California CPA firm that plans for the California layer.
Franchise tax, the pass-through entity election, state capital gains, and residency. California adds a whole tier that out-of-state advice tends to miss. Astute Advisors builds it into every plan for business owners and high earners statewide, entirely virtual.
Book Your Free ConsultationGo deeper on California
The two engagements most California clients start with.
Tax preparation in California
How the return gets assembled, what to gather, and what most often delays a filing.
Learn moreCalifornia taxes are their own discipline
High earners and business owners in California carry a tax burden that is genuinely different from the rest of the country. On top of the federal return there is the franchise tax, California’s own entity treatment, the pass-through entity (PTET) election that can restore part of the lost SALT deduction, and a state that taxes capital gains as ordinary income. Get any of these wrong and the cost is real.
We are a California firm serving mostly California clients, so this is not an add-on. It is central to how we plan. We project your federal and state picture together, screen your facts against the strategies both allow, and put a written plan in motion while the timing is still yours.
Because every engagement runs over Zoom or Google Meet and a secure portal, distance is not a constraint. We work with owners and households from the South Bay to the Bay Area, San Diego to Sacramento, and the Central Valley in between. A client in Palo Alto or San Diego gets the same year-round access and one-business-day responsiveness as a client down the street from our Torrance office.
4xPlanning checkpoints a year
1 dayReply standard for questions
$10M+Saved through proactive planning
200+Owners & households served
Federal and California, in one plan.
The same four services, wherever in the state you are.
Tax Planning
Year-round strategy that plans federal and California together: entity, PTET, capital-gains timing, retirement, and residency.
Learn moreTax Preparation
California and federal returns, business and individual, prepared to execute the plan. Digital and CPA-reviewed.
Learn moreMonthly Accounting
Reconciled monthly books for California businesses, wherever you are, so the plan runs on real numbers.
Learn moreCFO Services
Forecasting and financial guidance for growing California businesses, without a full-time hire.
Learn moreWho we help across California
The plan pays off when there is real income and California complexity to manage, generally $300,000 and up.
- 01Business owners statewide
Practices, agencies, contractors, and product companies where entity choice and the PTET election move real money.
- 02High earners with multi-state income
Equity compensation, remote teams, or income sourced outside California, where allocation and credits have to be planned.
- 03Real estate investors
Depreciation, passive-activity limits, and California capital gains on a sale, modeled before the transaction closes.
- 04Anyone moving in or out of California
Residency timing and documentation, which are decided in advance or not at all.
Where we started
We serve the whole state from the South Bay, and those pages go deeper on the local picture.
Torrance
Our office on Hawthorne Blvd and the base for everything we do.
Learn moreManhattan Beach
Founders, executives, and high-net-worth families in the South Bay.
Learn morePalos Verdes
Appreciated real estate, capital-gains timing, and business transitions.
Learn morePlan the California layer before it costs you.
Book a discovery call. Thirty minutes, statewide, and an honest read on where a plan would help.
Book Your Free Consultation No pressure, no obligation. Just clarity.Questions we hear most.
01Can you work with me if I am not in the South Bay?+
Yes. We are based in Torrance, but every engagement is virtual, so we work with owners and high earners throughout California - the Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, the Central Valley, and everywhere between. You get the same year-round access wherever you are.
02Why does the California tax layer matter so much?+
California adds franchise tax, its own entity rules, the pass-through entity (PTET) election, and a state capital-gains rate that stacks on top of the federal one. Out-of-state advice routinely misses these. As a California firm serving mostly California clients, that layer is core to every plan.
03Do you handle California capital gains planning?+
Yes. California taxes capital gains as ordinary income at the state level, so a sale can carry a meaningful state bill on top of the federal one. The levers - timing, installment treatment, entity, and residency - are only open before the transaction closes, which is why we plan it in advance.
04I might move in or out of California. Can you advise on residency?+
Residency is one of the most consequential and most misunderstood California tax questions. The state applies specific tests and looks closely at part-year and departure situations. We plan the timing and documentation with you before the move, not after a notice arrives.
05How do we work together if we never meet in person?+
Video calls for the planning conversations, a secure portal for documents, e-signature for anything that needs a signature, and a one-business-day reply standard in between. Most clients find it faster than driving to an office once a year.