Tax Savvy for Small Business Review: The Strategy Handbook Most S-Corps Skip

One book, strategic view

Most small-business owners read two types of tax content: deduction checklists (useful at filing time) and IRS publications (exhaustive, dry). What's missing is the strategy layer — when to elect S-corp status, how to compound retirement contributions, how to structure owner compensation to minimize FICA. Glen Secor's Nolo title fills that gap in 450 pages.

What you get

Part I: Choosing and Changing Entities walks through sole-prop, partnership, LLC, S-corp, and C-corp with decision trees. The "when to elect S-corp" chapter alone is cited in dozens of CPA blogs; Secor gives concrete revenue thresholds (roughly $40K-$80K net profit depending on state) where the election math starts to make sense after reasonable-salary requirements.

Part II: Deductions and Credits is the tactical section — what to claim, how to document, common red flags.

Part III: Retirement and Exit covers SEP-IRA, Solo 401(k), Defined Benefit plans (yes, even for one-person businesses), and eventual sale/wind-down tax treatment.

Part IV: Audit Defense is the chapter every owner skips until they get a CP2000 notice. Start here anyway.

Tactical wins from this book

• Solo 401(k) employer contribution formulas (20% vs. 25% of net SE income) — clarified in one table
• S-corp "reasonable salary" benchmarks sourced from BLS occupational data
• When to bunch deductions in one year vs. spread across two (especially for self-employed healthcare premiums)

Limits

This is a strategy book, not a forms book. It won't replace your Schedule C prep guide (Fishman's Home Business Tax Deductions does that). Also, some chapters move fast if you don't already know basic tax terminology — "basis," "distributions," "pass-through" are used without deep glossary support.

The verdict

If you run any revenue-generating entity past the sole-prop stage — LLC, S-corp, or partnership — this book's ROI is enormous. Read it in Q4, plan in Q1, file with confidence.