Selling a valuable asset in a high-tax situation can leave a seller with far less than the headline price. Federal and state capital gains, depreciation recapture, and the net investment income surtax stack up quickly. A pre-sale analysis looks at the whole picture before the transaction closes, when the outcome can still be changed.

An investor was selling a commercial office buildings in California in the $10M–$20M range. On a conventional sale, the projected combined federal and state tax reached the $2.5M–$5M range. Because the property carried substantial debt, tax plus debt payoff would have left the owner underwater, a projected net loss despite a high-value transaction.

After a full pre-sale analysis, TaxWealth structured the transaction so the owner cleared the existing debt and still kept positive usable capital, turning a projected loss into a multi-million-dollar positive outcome. The capital stayed available to the owner to reinvest and build on, rather than being lost to tax and debt.