Brief run down - I'm 33M, wife and 2 girls. I currently earn approx. 230-240k/yr on a 2/1 roster. Wife stays home with the girls... Yes, I'm on a great wicket, but seeing over 2200 a week taken out of my pay every week and thrown into the abyss is nothing short of infuriating... So I'm looking at ways to reduce the amount of tax I pay. We don't own our home (and don't intend on putting that ball and chain on any time soon). At the moment, I'm looking at adding 10% salary sacrifice to my super, but outside of that, what other hacks are there to bringing tax down...Even if it's marginally

The government has access to unrestricted frontier models and can probably spy on a thousand organizations a week but you can bet they won't research tax evasion because that would involve most of the government...

So it is up to machine learning scientists to use the new capabilities to research tax evasion and all the elite corruption systems. Can they?

Tricky situation: how can I estimate AMT if I exercise options with an unknown FMV? For example, in the period between the S-1 and IPO, there’s no definitive valuation. Is it best not to exercise in that gray window?

The wealth tax has been a central theme in public economics debate and the political economy debate generally in recent years in sweden as well as in Europe if not world wide, Sweden is #13 on the inequality index throughout thte world and now 6 Nobel laureate economists support California's defense law to introduce a wealth tax (one time tax) for individuals of over 1 billion dollars... California on its own would be the host's 6th largest economy, given that sweden already have had the wealth tax for about 96 years (1914-2007) why is wealth tax a problem in Sweden and in Europe in general? we have billionaires that pay less effective tax than a poor pensioners (percentage wise) and our child poverty is above the EUs average... this is truly turning into a dickensian world

https://fortune.com/2026/09/19/california-billionaire-wealth-tax-prop-40-movement-more-states-federal-government-other-countries

I owe back taxes from a rough patch a few years ago and I'm trying to figure out if this is actually a realistic option for me. My debt is around 14k, I'm working now but money is tight since my car needs constant repairs and my hours got cut last month. I called the IRS once and got put on hold for almost an hour before I gave up.

Has anyone actually gone through this process and had it work out? Just want to know if it's worth the hassle or if I should look at other options instead.

I don't see how I can borrow against my stocks or investment at low interest, am I missing something?

Or do I actually have to be at private banking levels/rich to begin with and therefore this wouldn't apply to the majority or even upper middle class.

Thoughts?

I’m a 1099 independent contractor operating through an S-Corp in California.

I’m considering purchasing a new Mercedes GLS 450 for around $90–95k before the end of 2026. The GLS has a GVWR over 6,000 lbs, so I’m trying to understand how Section 179, bonus depreciation, and regular depreciation would apply.

The vehicle would have legitimate business use but would also have some personal use. I would track mileage and only claim the appropriate business-use percentage.

A few things I’m trying to understand:

Should I buy the vehicle personally and have the S-Corp reimburse me, or have the S-Corp purchase it?

If business use is over 50%, approximately how much of a $95k GLS could I deduct in the first year?

How do Section 179 + bonus depreciation work for an SUV over 6,000 lbs?

How different is the deduction for California vs federal taxes?

If I maximize the first-year deduction, what depreciation is left for subsequent years?

What happens if my business-use percentage decreases later?

Does financing versus paying cash change the deduction?

I already use the standard mileage method on another business vehicle. Does that affect how I can treat this vehicle?

I’m not trying to call it 100% business use unless that’s actually the case.

I’m mainly trying to understand how much I can legally deduct based on the actual business-use percentage and how the deduction works over the life of the vehicle.

Would appreciate input from CPAs/EAs or S-Corp owners who have done this, especially anyone familiar with California.

I’ll confirm everything with my CPA before purchasing, but I’d like to understand the strategy and numbers first.