Fleet depreciation, multi-state tax planning, and entity stacking for logistics operators managing significant overhead and capital assets.
A logistics business is capital, fuel, people and paperwork, in that order, and the tax return follows the same shape. Equipment is the biggest lever: when a tractor or a warehouse racking system is placed in service, and whether section 179 or bonus depreciation applies, can swing a year by six figures. Operations in several states raise apportionment and nexus questions that decide where the income is taxed. And a growing fleet run inside one entity carries every liability together.
The plan separates the equipment from the operations, models the depreciation calendar against the income, structures driver per diem and reimbursements to hold up under examination, and handles the state footprint deliberately. Where years of growth have left payroll or income tax balances behind, the cleanup is part of the plan, not a separate emergency.
We work with the operator’s bookkeeper and CPA, review the fleet schedule and the last three returns, and write the blueprint with a purchase and filing calendar.
What we typically see: Equipment bought in the wrong quarter. Every truck and the operating company in one entity. Per diem paid without a compliant plan. State filings guessed from where the freight went. An IRS balance growing in the background.
Each one is modeled against your numbers and written into the blueprint with the documentation it needs.
The balance had climbed past seven million with the penalties. After every other firm gave up, it settled into a payment plan and the lien came off.
Only if the business needs it and the year's income supports it. Bonus depreciation and section 179 are timing tools; a purchase that does not fit the plan is still a purchase.
Not for driving through. Nexus and apportionment rules vary by state and depend on payroll, property and revenue sourced there. The plan documents the position so it can be defended.
Yes, under an accountable plan with the substantiation the rules require. Paid loosely it becomes wages, with payroll tax on both sides.
It has to be. Representation, penalty abatement where the facts support it, and a payment structure the business can carry are built into the blueprint alongside the planning.
RSVP for the Asset Accumulation Formula Masterclass. One live session on the strategies residential developers use to keep more of what they build, and how to tell whether they apply to you.
Have one specific question instead? Book a Strategy Session with Jose.