Kiera is joined by Alexis Gallati, founder and lead tax strategist at Cerebral Tax Advisors, to talk about tax strategy not just for 2025 success, but 2026 and beyond. They discuss asking your CPA the right questions, shifting income from your higher tax bracket down, the Augusta rule, and a ton more.
Episode resources:
Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast
Schedule a Practice Assessment
Leave us a review
Transcript:
The Dental A Team (00:00)
Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera and today I am super jazzed. I have an incredible guest joining us on the podcast today ? to talk about last minute tax strategies before April 15th. Like why not? I mean, hey, maybe you were like, you're not the early bird. You were like, shoot, I forgot. Like what things can I do? And so I'm super excited. Alexis Gallati, she reached out to us. ? She is founder and lead tax strategist at Cerebral Tax Advisors.
Ansari Real Wealth Academy. And I was so excited about this topic because I know you guys know I love to geek out about this and I have it on my vision board of tax expert ahead. Like I hate taxes. I love taxes. I believe that taxes are such a beautiful way for us to pay to be in this incredible country. But you better believe I don't want to pay a penny more than I need to. So really figuring that out just a little bit about her is she is got a dual master's degree in business administration and taxation, which is super rad because
Let's be real, she gets the business side of it. She gets the taxation and we were chatting before and she was like, what people make like their top line revenue versus their take home pay are two different things. And I was like, amen sister, preach on. She's enrolled agent, NTPI fellow and certified tax strategist. She also is the author of advanced tax planning for medical professionals. She specializes in high level strategic tax planning and multi-state tax preparation for healthcare professionals and business owners. She's raised in a family of physicians and married to one.
She empathizes with the financial challenges medical professionals face. This personal connection inspired her to create accessible, unbiased tax solutions tailored to their busy lives. Driven by passion and guided by cerebral thinking, Alexis forms Cerebral to help professionals keep more of their hard earned money. Amen sister. That's what we want. That's why you're here. Their approach breaks the mold of traditional financial advice, offering a unique perspective for medical professionals and business owners. So while yes, she's not 1000 % dental guys were in the healthcare world and she's so brilliant. So Alexis, welcome to the show today. How are you?
Alexis Gallati (01:54)
Thank you so much for having me. I'm doing very well. Hope you had a wonderful holiday season.
The Dental A Team (01:58)
Yes, likewise. And I was so excited when I heard that you would be a guest on our podcast. I geek out about this, Alexis, I know it's like our first day meeting, but ? I just think the world of tax is such the game of monopoly. And I'm like, if you would have just told me that rule, I could have played and won the game better. But I feel like it's always as ever changing, ever evolving. And I know there were some big things that happened in 2025 that are impacting like our our taxes. And so, yeah, definitely a timely and
exciting podcast to throw out there. So Alexis, I know I gave you a very welcomed ? bio and intro, but yeah, tell us a little bit about who is Alexis. You're married to a physician. You're in this world of tag. How does one become obsessive about CPA? I'm truly just curious. How do you like, how does this happen? How did you become this?
Alexis Gallati (02:49)
Yeah, so I love law and I love money. And so when I was in undergrad, I took a tax and accounting class and loved more the tax side than the accounting side, I do admit. And so after meeting my husband in college and us starting to go through that full medical journey, was about a year and a half out from him.
The Dental A Team (02:54)
you
Alexis Gallati (03:18)
from him finishing his residency. And I really saw the writing on the wall. Even at that time, with him being in residency, about four months of his salary was going towards taxes. And I was like, that's not right. That's not right. With
The Dental A Team (03:36)
No.
Alexis Gallati (03:38)
hard he works and how hard
medical community works in general. ? my gosh, that's not right. So that's when I really dedicated myself to
finding out, why do the Warren Buffets and the Bill Gates of the world have this really low to sometimes non-existent tax bracket? And I really dove into that tax planning. ? And so, you know, what's very unique about, ? you know, the way that I work and my business is that my husband and I are in the same exact position as majority of our clients. And so, yes, I'm looking for
strategies for my clients, but I'm also looking for those strategies for myself.
The Dental A Team (04:19)
You're like, hey,
it's me. I'm going to help myself out. I'm very motivated to do this.
Alexis Gallati (04:25)
Very motivated. And I love it. I love it. It's like you said, it's ? Congress keeps us on our toes, changing the laws consistently year after year. ? it's like a puzzle. Like, hey, how can I just keep more of what I'm earning?
The Dental A Team (04:43)
Yeah, and I, this is what I get obsessed about. what I learned, gosh, it's like, I was so naive when I started the company. was like, marketing is marketing. I just need to hire a marketer they can do everything. And then I was like, oh, there's a content marketer. There's a copywriter marketer. There's a strategist. There's a growth marketer. There's like an AEO marketer now. There's an SEO. Like you guys, this thing is like a web. They're a content marketer. And then I started realizing it's similar to CPAs and financial planners that like,
I thought you hire a CPA, Alexis. Like I'm so naive to business. I'm shocked that I've made it this far. Like truly I'm proud of like the journey we've been on, but like not all CPAs are created equal. And then I realized like CPAs play by different rules. Like it's the same rule, but there's shades of gray. They're how comfortable are you with this and how uncomfortable are you with it? Like there's one CPA that told me like, here, you can totally go skiing in Tahoe. Just like put your logo on your skis and you can totally ride it off and like put your logo on your boat and you can ride it off.
And then there's like the Alexis of the world was like, oh, hard pass. No, you're going to like totally get flagged. But I'm like, what rule is right? And so I realized that there are, like you said, tax strategy and for higher wealth earners. I do believe that there's a game, like you said, how did the Warren Buffett's, how did the Bill Gates, like they're not paying this. And then you get into the real estate game and you get into all these other things. You're like, how can we do this? And so Alexis, I'm just jazz. This is me being nerdy. And I'm going to ask you a bajillion questions and I can't wait.
to learn. So let's kind of talk about most of your clients, what's the size of take home net pay that they do. So that way we know like what brackets were in. So that way right clients come to you. I also learned not all financial advisors take all people. I was like, I make 30 grand. They're like, great. So we're going to help you out just a little bit. And then like, when you get to this level, we'll chat with you. ? tell us kind of that. And then let's dig into how do we keep more money, Alexis, legally.
Alexis Gallati (06:10)
I love it.
The Dental A Team (06:39)
I'm here for legal advice. I'm willing to go gray, but not go to jail. So that's my line. So as long as we're on the same page, I think we are, I'm here for it.
Alexis Gallati (06:40)
Yes.
Definitely, yeah. I am more than happy to play in the gray areas. We just have to feel comfortable defending it in an audit. And so that's our line in the sand. ? But yeah.
The Dental A Team (06:55)
Mm-hmm.
She's like, this is why I went to law guys. This is why I like the law side and the CPA.
I like it. I like your style. It's so unique and I just am excited. So, okay, I'm ready.
Alexis Gallati (07:07)
Yeah.
Yeah. at Cerebral, we work with those that earn at minimum $400,000 per year in taxable income. So we have lots of businesses, which by the way, 99.9 % of our clients are medical professionals. I think we have like maybe two clients that have zero ties to the medical industry. And so the practices we work with, you know,
generally range from anywhere from maybe about $700,000 in gross revenue all the way up to eight figures. So we tend to not work with those that are larger practices, that usually over 50 employees. And that's just because once you get above 50 employees, yeah, it changes quite a bit. So we're definitely in there with those smaller to medium sized practices.
The Dental A Team (07:56)
Tax co-changes. Yep.
Amazing. No, that's super helpful. And I know we were talking before, like the average of your clients, about 700,000 like net pay is typical where you guys are at. You have some that are higher, but that minimum of 400,000, which is great because I do think that there are thresholds. ? And I did learn through going through business that who Kiera needed as a tax support and advisor when I was in that 30,000 range compare and as a business owner, I thought it was so funny.
Gosh, taxes, like they hurt so bad sometimes. Like, whoa, easy come, easy go. Like I've never, I've always been a W-2. So that was such a fascinating world for me. But yeah, let's dig into some of the things you've seen for the medical world. Cause I know I have friends that were physicians and they're really big on real estate. And like I took the real estate Kool-Aid and I'm just like, is this really real? There's gotta be easier ways than doing this. And so I'm just jazzed to kind of go through what are some of the things we can do now before April 15th.
What are things that we can do even past April 15th to set us up for great success for 2026? So Alexis, this is your show. I'm just excited, kind of riffed us through it. Of course, I'm gonna geek out and ask probably about way more questions than you care to even be asked, but I'm really excited to learn more today.
Alexis Gallati (09:20)
Yeah, great. Well, yeah, I hate to be a little bit of a Debbie Downer in the beginning and that when your past December 31st, ? the number of tax strategies that are available to you are before you actually go to file your tax return are limited. It's just the nature of the code.
The Dental A Team (09:37)
I agree. was super, when you were
like, what are the tech? I was like, I want to know because most of the times like when the clock strikes midnight on December 31st, it's like game over and we start again. But yes, which is why I want to know what are like the small ones, but then also Alexis like, let's set our listeners up for like, what things can they do this year to be better prepared for it in conjunction? So yes, before April 15th, but selfishly I want to know what else can I do this year that maybe I haven't thought of.
Alexis Gallati (09:52)
Yeah.
you
The Dental A Team (10:06)
because the clock hasn't struck midnight in 2026. So like we've got time. So yeah, for 2025 filing, but also for 2026 as well.
Alexis Gallati (10:09)
Yeah.
Yeah, so let's talk about 2025 filing first. Especially if you're a business owner, there are actually a number of things that you could still put together for yourself that can impact your 2025 financials. ? So even basic things like if you haven't been taking advantage of your home office deduction or ? vehicle expenses ? and unreimbursed business expenses. So those are expenses that you paid
personally, but our business expenses. So all of those items, you can still go and report on your 2025 return. So if you haven't taken the time to sit down and say, how much should I pay in my home utilities or insurance, repairs, et cetera, and take the percentage. So let's say your home office is 7%.
of your total square footage of your home. Well, then you can write off 7 % of your home expenses on your taxes. the treatment's a little bit different depending upon if you're a sole proprietorship or an S corporation. But in general, you still have that time to take advantage of that. And a lot of you might be like, oh, Alexis, it's such a little amount. I don't even know if it's worth it. Believe me.
All these little things can really add up together. And easily, I usually see between $10,000 to $20,000 of really ? easy to grab savings for yourself if you just take even a few hours to gather all the information. ? And you can even use ? personal financial apps like Monarch Money or You Need a Budget, things like that to help.
organize that information for you throughout the year so it's a little more automated.
The Dental A Team (12:10)
Yeah, that's amazing. I do love the YNAB. You're throwing me back to like pharmacy school days of you need a budget. I was like, oh my gosh, got to answer this every time. They have updated so much, but I love that you said like 10 to 20 grand, I think is worthwhile, but more than it being pennies or dollars, I think it's the discipline of having it prepared for next year too. So that way we don't, I think it's like, well, it might not be enough this year, but I'm like, you take that this year and we compound over the next year and the next year and the next year. I think these little things to me at least,
Alexis Gallati (12:15)
Ha ha ha.
The Dental A Team (12:41)
Like I said, it's their game of monopoly. And I'm like, okay, maybe I didn't get it that time, but I'm going to take that rule and I'm going to apply it this year and the next year and the next year. So I'm even taking notes over here, guys. So Alexis, if you see me, I'm writing it like, okay, I'm going to check in on that, check in on that. So make sure, make sure that they're being taken into consideration because I don't prep my own taxes. I don't even know half the stuff. Like they just tell me. So I also think being a good steward as well and always double checking your CPA to make sure like, are we maximizing every deduction we can?
Alexis Gallati (12:53)
Good, I like it.
Of course.
Yeah. And being proactive is like you said, the number one thing because the IRS can deny deduction if you don't have that itemized receipt or you don't have the proper documentation. And 99 % of any fight with the IRS is that documentation. And I did a three year fellowship in IRS representation. So I'm obviously very focused on that tax savings, but also very focused on making sure
that everything's set up properly. So if the IRS were to challenge it or even the state, you're in good hands. then that way, you can just give them the stuff and say, go away.
The Dental A Team (13:51)
Exactly. And I heard somebody once tell me, they're like, Kiera, it's not a matter of if I'll be audited, it's when. Like every business will most likely be audited at some point. I hope and pray like we're not. I think about that a lot of like cross my T's, dot my I's, make sure that I'm constantly trying to be compliant with things. But your wealth of knowledge on that Alexis of what things and how to become, I mean, shoot three years of IRS. Girl, you got my vote. That's impressive. And like love the love the authority piece that you're bringing to our podcast today.
Alexis Gallati (14:20)
Thank you. Thank you. So some other things that you're able to do before you file that tax return, and this is a big one, is retirement. So you actually have until the filing of a tax return, and that includes extensions. So for example, if you're an S corporation or a partnership, have the original due date, which is March 15th, or the extended due date, which is September 15th, to go and
open and fund that retirement plan. So if you have employees, it can get obviously a little bit more complicated, but you still are able to do it and ? do that employer contribution. And that's obviously really one of the lower hanging fruits when it comes to not only tax savings, but also wealth generation.
The Dental A Team (15:12)
Yeah, no, I love that. That's a great idea. And I think a lot of people miss that. And again, CPAs, tax strategists, wealth advisors, they're all playing in their own lanes, but how can we make sure all of them are maximizing together? Because you as a human are trying to build that wealth. So I love that.
Alexis Gallati (15:30)
Yeah. And don't forget as well, you know, kind of in the same vein as retirement is that health savings account. So if you had a high deductible plan throughout the year, but maybe your employer didn't actually provide a ? health savings account, like so if you're a W-2, for example, or even if you're self-employed, you can still go open up your
own Health Savings account through, I think Fidelity has some, ? Optum Bank, HSA Bank. So there's a whole bunch of different providers out there. can just Google and find the provider that works best for you.
The Dental A Team (16:07)
Interesting. And I know like I just wrote that down because a lot of dentists don't have HSA. Like we are the providers for it. But hearing that that might even be a resource to attract people into your business if you were able to like, don't necessarily provide it, but these are some companies that we could help our employees get if they wanted to have an HSA because I know that that's something that my husband works at a hospital. So there's an HSA there, but as sole proprietors and S-Corps, a lot of times they aren't provided. That's actually really like, I think just a great tool and resource to
possibly provide to our employees, depending upon what it looks like for your business.
Alexis Gallati (16:40)
Yeah, definitely. And then one other thing that you ? may be able to do, depending upon your state, ? to help with state taxes, is go and contribute to a 529 plan, which is for education for yourself or other dependent. And some states like Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, South Carolina, there's a number of them. They allow you to make that contribution all the way up to the
filing of the tax return.
The Dental A Team (17:13)
Interesting. I did not know that I wrote that down. That's fascinating. I love this. This is like so fun. Keep going.
Alexis Gallati (17:20)
Yeah. Yeah. So that, you know, is, a good, especially for, you know, higher earners. ? that's kind of a good summary of what you can be doing before this, ? April 15th or even the extended due date as well. ? but when you start looking into 2026, who, that book, that book opens up, there is.
The Dental A Team (17:39)
It does, right? It's like the
monopoly Bible. Like it's so big. Like how do I play the game of taxes? So I truly, and I think like for all the listeners, like the home office, the HSA, ? retirement, the 529 plan, like there's still time. So go look at those things. And even if you can't contribute or do those things now, having that set up for next year, like, Alexis, truly, I'm like, I'm getting the popcorn. I'm getting my notepad. Like,
I am so excited because half these things I haven't heard of. And so it's very fun to just hear different perspectives. And I do love that you've got a legal background too. I love that you're in IRS. I love that you're in medicine and healthcare and like for your own personal savings too. It's like you're the Nancy Drew of like, how can I do the most amount through all of this? It's a very fascinating perspective you bring today.
Alexis Gallati (18:27)
thank you. I appreciate that. yeah, when obviously when you are a W-2 employee still that your options are not as open for those that have a business. But ? besides obviously retirement HSA that you can do all year, one thing that a lot of W-2 employees forget is to actually check with your employer to see what their reimbursement policy looks like.
The Dental A Team (18:29)
course.
Alexis Gallati (18:55)
because if you're maybe in a private practice with a large group, and I mean, these could even be groups that have sometimes hundreds of physicians in it, or even if it's just a hospital system, they'll have actually pretty generous reimbursement policies for things like your CME, your new loops, or going and
doing your mileage in between different hospitals or clinics, things like that. So making sure that you are keeping track of those things. Obviously, if you're a business owner, you definitely want to keep track of those. But some of my favorite for those that own their own practices, my absolute favorite is hiring your kids.
The Dental A Team (19:36)
Of course, yeah.
Alexis Gallati (19:48)
It seems so basic, but believe me, there are definitely steps in place that have to be done in order to make sure they ? qualify. for me, the ? court tested age is seven. So I usually don't recommend my clients going and hiring their kids until they're at least that age. You can do it younger, but the old my kids are models strategy is kind of ? antiquated now just because ?
everybody has these great cameras now on their phones. And so it's kind of devalued, being a model ? for those that aren't professionals basically. ? But that's a really great way to shift income from your higher tax bracket down to their non-existent tax bracket.
The Dental A Team (20:21)
Totally.
Right?
Alexis Gallati (20:40)
and you can then put that money into a Roth IRA for them. And if you do that, let's say over like a 10 year period in 2026, that amount is 7,500 is the max you can put in. They're easily, by the time they're age 65, gonna have at least 2 million plus dollars in savings. So it's a really great way to create a legacy for your kids and give them a little headstart.
The Dental A Team (20:48)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, that's amazing. And I think so many people are like, I don't know how to help my kids with college or different things like that. And it's like, these are great ways to prepare them for the future for when they retire for things like that. I mean, how awesome I know a couple of ? doctors because
The bulk of our audience, Alexis, are not W-2 earners. They are self-employed, like dental practice owners. ? But I know that there were several that didn't tell their kids that they had done this for them. And then the surprise when they graduated college of, we've been putting this into place for you. I mean, shoot, that money's going to go to the government or to your kids. Why not invest in your children? You're going to pay that money regardless. So ? definitely think that that's such a brilliant idea. And I've heard people, they're like,
their real job, like they have to have a real job. They're like a paper shredder. Like they like literally shred the paper or they open the mail or they like pick out the cards or they pick out the toys for the prize boxes, like actual legit jobs that they employ them for. But I think what an amazing gift and legacy to give your kids as well.
Alexis Gallati (21:51)
they
Yeah, exactly. All four of my children are, obviously cerebral isn't a dental practice, but they're hired through cerebral. So that way they are earning enough to put that money into their Roth IRA. ? And a lot of ? my clients are like, man, I don't know what my kids can do. And like you said, there's a lot of admin work that they can do. Even a seven-year-old can.
like you said, shred paper, stamp envelopes. They can help with doing their ABCs and filing things away if you're an older ? practice owner and they have ? still the paper file system. ? yeah, it really is a wonderful way to not only teach responsibility, but also to save. ? I highly recommend ? doing that. And even if you have parents that you financially support, you could even
The Dental A Team (22:45)
Yeah.
Yeah.
Alexis Gallati (23:02)
go and hire your parents through your practice ? and write off their support. Of course, again, they need to also have a legitimate job in the business. with parents, you have to be careful if they have any benefits like social security or Medicare. Then you just want to make sure that you're not pushing them out of those benefits because of their income ? or making any part of their social security taxable. So that takes a little bit more. ?
finesse than hiring a child.
The Dental A Team (23:36)
No, that's great. That's a really good idea too, because I hadn't thought about parents. I have heard about children, but you're right, parents are retired. And if there's ways that you can support and give back rather than like, again, I love the government. I am happy to pay taxes, but if there's ways that I can support my own family, ? I think it's great because I'm going to pay that money anyway, but paying it to people that I love and care about is really a great idea.
Alexis Gallati (24:00)
Yeah. Another popular one I'm sure that you've seen on TikTok or other social media is the Augusta rule. ? and this is where you're renting your home to your business. ? and this is perfect example where documentation is absolutely critical. ? but basically what happens is you rent your home to your business for 14 days or less. Those days do not have to be consecutive and your business gets to
The Dental A Team (24:07)
Mm-hmm.
Alexis Gallati (24:28)
right off the cost of that rent. So obviously lowers your taxes. But then you as the individual do not have to pay tax on that rental income. Now, if you do it for 15 days and you've ruined the strategy and you have to pay tax on all 15 days. So that's really important you do 14 days or less. But this is again a really great way if you have monthly board meetings, that's 12 days right there.
Or if you have employee parties, if you have colleagues over in discussing business, though, as long as you have a rental agreement in place between yourself and your business, and you document through meeting minutes everything that occurred during that event, then that is the documentation that the IRS would need in order to substantiate that.
strategy. And obviously a reasonable rental rate as well.
The Dental A Team (25:27)
Yeah, no, didn't realize,
I did not realize that you needed a rental agreement. Can you expand more on that? like we check all the Airbnb's and the VRBO's in the area to see what does our house actually go for and like keep that documented every single year and then have an actual agenda and like have it in the calendar. So it's in our Google calendar. It's got an agenda. It's got a PDF didn't attach. But how does the rental agreement work? like, yeah, how do you, I didn't realize that that was a necessary piece to it.
Alexis Gallati (25:57)
Yeah, so you can even just use ChatGPT to create it. ? But essentially what you do is it's just that agreement between the business and personal. So ? you just want to think about it like any other rental that you would do. If you were to go to a conference room in a hotel, for example, or go rent that Airbnb, you're going to be signing some sort of agreement saying that this can happen.
that this event can happen on this date. ? you can either do one agreement for the entire year, spelling out like, here are the days that we're going to be doing these things, ? or you can have an agreement for each time that it happens.
The Dental A Team (26:43)
Very cool. That's super helpful. Yeah, I do love the addresses for all anything people. And I mean, I've had CPAs and like, don't go crazy. Like that's where I say like check Airbnb, check VRBO like what you think your house is worth versus what market value says your house is worth. Like, let's make sure that we are accurate on that. But yeah, that's definitely an amazing one that I think is great for offices to surely do.
Alexis Gallati (26:51)
Yes.
Yep. Go and get two to three comps. So then that way can just take an average. I feel like that's a very safe way to, ? show reasonableness. You're not just like, Hey, I'm taking the highest one on the block. You know, it's taking a few of them.
The Dental A Team (27:21)
Totally. No, definitely agree. I love that. Okay, Alexis, what other ideas? know we're, I'm like just like sitting here. I'm like, I love this writing it down. Great ideas. What are some of the ones that like, yeah, anything else that's going to save us? Um, because like taxes are taxes and we are going to pay them, but like, what else can we do to, like you said, Bill Gates or, um, like Warren Buffett, what are the things that you found for like these higher net worth earners? Like, do they need to get into real estate and like use the big, beautiful tax bill or like,
Alexis Gallati (27:23)
Yeah.
Okay.
The Dental A Team (27:50)
anything else that you've seen that like really moves the noodles or is like, no, just the small consistent things are really going to help them out.
Alexis Gallati (27:57)
Yes, well, they all help out. ? But if you are looking for more of that, hey, Alexis, what's like Hail Mary that I can be doing to act to really save? ? You can look at real estate. ? That could be a whole podcast by itself. ? But in general, you you tend to ? get into real estate when you're not talking about like reets or things I can do through the stock market.
The Dental A Team (28:14)
Right.
Alexis Gallati (28:26)
? You're either doing like real estate syndications, ? direct ownership, like long-term rentals or short-term rentals. And ? each of those are treated differently and have different ways of making that ? a tax deduction for yourself. So when it comes to, in general, ? real estate syndications, this is where you're
The Dental A Team (28:49)
Mm-hmm.
Alexis Gallati (28:54)
buying into a partnership that maybe owns an office building. And you go in with other partners and ? it's syndicated. So it's very passive. There's no way for you to write off any losses in that current year. ? When it comes to direct ownership, the IRS basically says, hey, that real estate is considered passive unless you have real estate professional status or you do that short-term rental
deduction or excuse me, short-term rental exclusion. And so what ? happens if you can qualify for the short-term rental exclusion or real estate professional status is that those what would have been passive losses that you can't use against your current income will be considered active losses. And then you can use it against your
active income, when I say active income, things like your W-2 or your business. So you're getting a current year deduction from that. And you can do cost segregation study to help accelerate depreciation. ? So this is very, very much in the nutshell sort of explanation. ? But it can really be a great way to lower your taxes if
The Dental A Team (29:57)
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
Alexis Gallati (30:16)
you essentially want a second job. Just know that real estate is not as passive as the social media gurus go and ? try to glamorize. It really does take a lot of extra work. You want to make sure that you are following the rules properly so that you can get that tax benefit in the current year. ? But if you
The Dental A Team (30:19)
Yeah.
Alexis Gallati (30:41)
do have that prerogative and you want to learn and get do things properly, then it can really save you quite a bit of money.
The Dental A Team (30:48)
Yeah. Are there any other things, Alexis, that are like real estate that save that much but don't require that much work? I'm asking you for the weight loss drug of taxes, please. What's our easiest way with the most amount of bang for buck that you've seen? These are the big hits that if you want, because agreed, real estate's great. If you do that short-term thing, but it is a lot of work. With the big, beautiful tax bill that came through, that 100 % depreciation is pretty fantastic. But like you said,
Alexis Gallati (30:54)
Yes.
Mm-hmm.
The Dental A Team (31:17)
got to have it rented out, you got to have the pieces, you got to like reno it like there are and you have to have it done by the end of the year and like it's a stressful zone. ? So are there other things that you've seen that might be like 50 or 100 or 200,000 off taxes that aren't necessary real estate? The Augustus one, yes. Like paying people, there's things but is there anything else you've found that are like some of those bigger chunks that maybe people don't think about they don't recognize? Yes of course they're going to take a little bit more work but...
Alexis Gallati (31:17)
You gotta work for it.
The Dental A Team (31:45)
that you found that could be benefits to our audience.
Alexis Gallati (31:48)
OK, so let's talk about my Hail Mary for tax savings. I
love this one towards the end of the year because you're going to want to know, have a good idea of where your tax situation is going to end up. So I use this a lot for year end planning. And this is oil and gas. When you ? invest in oil and gas, again, just like with real estate, there's a lot of different options.
But my favorite is our drilling funds and this is where you invest in a partnership that owns oil and gas wells and these this allows you in that first year to Essentially write off usually somewhere between 80 to 95 percent of the investment that you've put in So let's say you invest a hundred thousand dollars Then you're getting about and let's say conservatively an eighty thousand dollar deduction that can go a
against your ordinary income. So if you're W2 or your business. usually, a good rule of thumb is that, let's say, if you're putting in $100,000, you're saving $30,000 in tax. You're putting in $200,000, you're saving $60,000 in tax. And then after year one, you're earning overall, during the life of the investment, about a 2x
The Dental A Team (33:10)
Bye.
Alexis Gallati (33:11)
you put
100,000, you're getting about 200,000 back. And so it's considered a very conservative investment. And just because the length of the investment, and this is one of the cons of it, is that it's usually about a 10 to 12 year period. So it's generally only about a 7 % return on investment over the life of the investment. the great thing about it is that
you let's say if you did put in that hundred thousand, you're getting that 30,000 in savings, and then you can go put that into something else that will earn you even more money. So then this is something that you can do every single year. And, you know, just depends on how much money you want to save and so that how much you put in for that investment.
The Dental A Team (33:57)
Gosh, that's such a good one. And these are things of like just fun, like tips and topics. Like I said, it's the rules of monopoly. I caught like, how do we play tax strategy better? Alexis, what are any like resources? I feel like you guys have some resources. Like I feel the world of tax is so daunting. And so it's like, we hear from podcasts and we hear snippets and we see TikTok and it's like real estate games. like, where do people go if they like want to dig a little bit deeper and really become like more tax expert and more tax savvy and.
like tax strategy, like what are any resources you found or ways for people just to become a little bit more literate in the tax world.
Alexis Gallati (34:33)
Yes, so ? of course I'm to do a little shameful plug. My book, The ? Advanced Tax Strategies for Medical Professionals, it's really just that it's a brain dump of all different types of strategies, whether it's for your business or W-2 only, charitable, these alternative investments. And so it's really a space.
The Dental A Team (34:36)
as you should.
Alexis Gallati (34:58)
for readers to learn more about their options. So then that was the way they can go online and do more research or bring it to their current advisor. So, you know, it's just about opening those possibilities. Otherwise, you know, one resource that is really great for especially medical professionals is the White Coat Investor that Dr. Dali, he has a wonderful, wonderful site and he puts out really good material.
The Dental A Team (35:11)
Yeah.
Alexis Gallati (35:25)
when it comes to not only taxes, but also for ? just finances in general. And then, of course, on ? CerebralTaxAdvisors.com, our website has wonderful ? material that I put out all the time. There's lots of goodies there, as well as ? different resources and worksheets and stuff like that.
The Dental A Team (35:52)
Yeah, no, that's super helpful.
But Alexis, what do you find ? as you go through this? Like one, how often are you meeting with your clients? Because I feel like so many CPAs and tax strategists meet with them in like December 1st and they're like, hey, you owe this much money. Is that how you guys plan? Like how should tax planning actually work?
or is that normal? Like I'm just trying to find a vibe of how this should work in the industry.
Alexis Gallati (36:15)
Yeah.
Yeah. So when a medical professional first starts working with us, I design a tax plan for them. And that's really critical because right then and there, OK, what can we be doing to dramatically lower your taxes, legally, of course, and set you up for success? And then we meet with our clients at minimum twice a year. So we do a mid-year tax projection and a year-end tax projection.
The Dental A Team (36:34)
course.
Alexis Gallati (36:45)
And especially with medical professionals, your income is so variable throughout the year, depending upon insurance reimbursements or seasonality and things like that. And so we really want to make sure that we have a good, clear understanding, good six plus months in advance. Hey, what are you going to be owing tax wise? What does cash flow look like? What quarterly estimated payments do you need to make?
All of these things should not be a surprise. So that's why when I built Cerebral in the packages we have, I was really focused around how do we eliminate those surprises.
The Dental A Team (37:23)
Yeah, no, I love that. that's super helpful because I feel like so many just wait till December and it's like, no, like there's things I could have been doing and if I would have known. So that's super helpful. And then I think the other question is like, okay, you guys are tax strategy. Are you CPA? Are you bookkeeping? Like kind of differentiate. Are you in the financial advisor world? Like what specifically would we say I need you for XYZ, but I'm going to need these people again, like marketing, right? Like what facet of my wealth management are you?
and who do I need paired with you?
Alexis Gallati (37:54)
Yep, so we are your tax compliance, tax planning, your bookkeeping, and CFO services, and also business advising as well. So we're able to set up entities for you ? as well as provide ? just a lot of the years and years of experience that we have in running businesses and seeing different types of practices, et cetera. ? We are not investment advisors, so we won't
say, buy Coca-Cola versus Pepsi. But we will introduce you to different investments that have tax benefits. And one very unique quality of Cerebral that's very different from other firms is that we do not take any commissions or kickbacks on any strategies we recommend or vendors we recommend. And we don't sell any products. So we're very education-based. I'm very focused on
you understanding your options so you can make a educated decision on what you want to move forward with. And then we are a white glove done for you firm that will implement those strategies on your behalf and make sure they're reported properly on your tax returns. Because that's what we've found being in this industry, especially specializing in medical professionals, is there's a lot of people out there that know about these strategies.
but they do not know how to implement them properly. And that honestly is 80 % of the fight when it comes to doing any of these strategies.
The Dental A Team (39:26)
Yeah, no, that's incredible. So, and again, this is just like naiveness on my side. Do I need a CPA or are you guys the replacement of a CPA?
Alexis Gallati (39:35)
Yeah, we're the replacement of CPA. We are CPAs. We are EAs. So we are taking care of your tax preparation, so personal and business. We do it all. I try to keep these packages as comprehensive as possible because I hate being nickel and dined. communication's a top priority for us. And so we don't want our clients to hesitate whatsoever to connect with us. And so that's why we don't.
The Dental A Team (39:56)
Totally.
Amazing.
Alexis Gallati (40:05)
shot like I, my gosh, I just got like a bill from my attorney the other day and it was for stuff that I talked to him about like in August. I'm like, I hate those pop-up bills. So that's yeah, that's, why I try to make it as comprehensive as possible.
The Dental A Team (40:10)
Yep.
Right.
Awesome.
No, that's fantastic. That's really helpful. And I know a lot of people are very nervous to switch from their CPA. CPAs, feel like we're so embedded and we trust them with our souls. Truly, I see this. ? So is there complementary calls we have with you? how do we start with that? Because I know, honestly, untangling from a CPA is such a pain. It is so annoying. so ? how does that process work if people want to work with you, Alexis?
Alexis Gallati (40:46)
So the best thing you can do is go to our website and go to the contact page. And you will ? go through a very quick questionnaire to make sure that you're a good fit for us, because we also want to make sure we're a good fit for you. And we will ? have a tax discovery session. And during that session, we will. We'll talk about what your needs are and what it's like to work with us. ? I'm very focused on that return on investment. We actually have a guarantee.
with the design of our plans that I will save you at least two times what you pay us in ? tax savings or you get the plan for free. And on average, our clients actually achieve 4.5 multiple with the design of our plans. So again, it doesn't make sense for us to work together if I can't save you more than what you're paying us.
The Dental A Team (41:39)
That's amazing. No, that's incredible. And that's a great guarantee. And ? then let's say hypothetical, we do get audited. How often do you guys go through audits and like success rate? Like I'm imagining if you were three years in IRS, you're probably pretty fantastic at that. But these are always things that I'm just curious. Like how does that work? And how often are your clients audited? And like, how is your success rate on that? And if you don't want to share this, I hope you do. We're just going to go for it. Like, yeah, I'm just going to ask the weird questions. Why not?
Alexis Gallati (42:01)
Yeah.
I love the weird questions. They're the best. So yeah, that's one thing I can never guarantee that you won't be audited because of course there are always random audits that happen. We've only had three audits since I started Cerebral over 10 years ago. In 2014, I started Cerebral. ? And ? one of them was for the mortgage interest deduction. there's a limitation in that.
The Dental A Team (42:18)
It's incredible.
Alexis Gallati (42:28)
Um, and that was just, unfortunately, a client had not provided the correct information. And so we were easily able to just change it and be on our way. Um, and then another two were regarding actually real estate professional status. And that was just New York state saying, Hey, like we don't, we don't think that you're actually qualified for this. we're like, Oh, yeah, we do. Here's the paperwork. And they're like, Oh, okay. See you later. So yeah.
The Dental A Team (42:50)
Yeah.
That's amazing.
That's a huge thing. And I'm so glad I asked the question because I think for me, that's something I'm curious on of like, I get it. Like you said, you can't guarantee that, but as long as you back in, do you guys charge extra for those audits or is that part of the plan? Like, nope, we stand behind it. Like, how does that work? Cause I know there's some firms that I have chatted with and if we do get audited, it's like 375 an hour for the audit. And I'm like, okay, like I'll just plan for that. But how does that work for you guys?
Alexis Gallati (43:18)
Yep, so we back up all of our work and all of our packages. If you do receive a notice for anything that we prepare, you send it to us and we help you take care of it. So yeah, we 100 % back up our work. If you come start working with us and you have some a notice from a year that we didn't handle, like we didn't prepare, we'll still help you handle it. But that would be just.
at our hourly rate, depending upon the extensiveness of the notice. But to go back to your original question about making that change, I 100 % get it, especially if you've been with somebody for so long. And so you just have to look at that cost benefit and see, hey, staying with this person, how much is that costing me in tax savings versus
The Dental A Team (44:01)
Right.
Alexis Gallati (44:12)
going with somebody like cerebral and we try to go and make that process as seamless as possible when it comes to getting ? up to date in your history and then ? getting access to your bookkeeping and getting your tax returns. ? And so, because I completely understand it can be daunting, but. ?
Happy to have a conversation around it when we meet about the discovery session and to see if it's something you'd want to move forward with.
The Dental A Team (44:43)
Amazing. Alexis, has been such a great podcast and I just love meeting great individuals. I love how much you have a passion for the law and for the tax wealth and it's your own life and your own livelihood. So if people want to reach out, I know you said it before, how do they connect with you? So yeah, they can get started if they're interested.
Alexis Gallati (45:01)
Yeah. So you can Google us or just go to CerebralTaxAdvisors.com. And which by the way, the reason why I have cerebral is because my husband is a private practice neurosurgeon and my dad's a retired private practice neurologist. hence cerebral in the brain. So if y'all can remember. But yeah, so CerebralTaxAdvisors.com is the best way to get a hold of us.
The Dental A Team (45:14)
There you go.
I love it. Yeah.
Alexis Gallati (45:27)
? And I look forward to potentially talking with y'all.
The Dental A Team (45:32)
Well, Alexis, thank you so much for this. And for all of you listening, I hope you take advantage between now and April 15th. I hope you just like have a conversation. I'm always pro. I love CPAs. My CPA listens to this podcast and I'm always interested in meeting new people like Alexis, chatting with them. Are there different ways that they can benefit me? Because yes, I love my CPA, but I love more than that saving money and learning new strategies that maybe I didn't know about. So Alexis, I really hope a lot of them reach out to you, connect with you and for
All of you listening, thank you for listening. I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.