Pro Tax Planning Tips For Physicians

Once a physician owns more than just a practice, say a practice plus the building it sits in, plus a short term rental or two, the question of how to organize it all comes up fast. A holding company is the structure people reach for, and it can be the right call. It can also be expensive complexity that buys you nothing. Here is how to tell the difference, with the tax mechanics that actually matter for physicians. What is a holding company? A holding company is a parent entity that owns...

You finished residency to practice medicine, not to decode entity statutes. Yet one of the first decisions a new practice owner or 1099 physician faces is which legal entity to form, and the paperwork usually arrives with a confident recommendation and no explanation of what it costs you at tax time. PLLC or PC? The honest answer is that the entity name matters less than most people think. What actually moves your tax bill is the tax election you put on top of it. This guide walks through...

You and a colleague decide to build something together, a practice, a surgery center, or the building your group already rents. The lawyer says "form an LLC," a website charges you $199, and now two physicians own a business and nobody has explained what multi-member LLC taxes look like. Here is the physician version, with the 2026 numbers and real dollar math. In This Blog How is a multi-member LLC taxed? What tax form does a multi-member LLC file? Do physician partners pay self employment...

You meant to be an S-Corp, but Form 2553 went in late or never got filed. The IRS built a fix for exactly this. Rev. Proc. 2013-30 lets physicians get a late election treated as if it had been filed on time, no formal ruling required, if you act inside the three-years and 75-days window. Here's when an election counts as late, how to qualify, what reasonable cause means, and how to file.

Your S-Corp election trims federal self-employment tax, but part of that savings can disappear on your state return. California, New York, and New Jersey each tax S-Corps in ways with no federal equivalent. Here's what the election actually costs physicians in each state, from California's 1.5% franchise tax to New York City's 8.85% GCT, and how it should change your decision before you file.

Of all the numbers on a physician's S-Corp return, the reasonable salary is the one the IRS reads first. Set it too low and the distributions that were supposed to skip self-employment tax can be reclassified as wages, with penalties on top.