How to Turn Your Tax Bill Into an Asset | Julio Gonzalez
What if the money you hand the government every year was never supposed to leave your business?
Julio Gonzalez spent two decades cutting tax bills for Fortune 500 companies before he built Engineered Tax Services to bring those same strategies to everyone else. He sits down with Shaan Rais to expose the gap most operators never knew existed: the largest companies pay a fraction of what small businesses pay on the exact same tax code.
Julio breaks down cost segregation, R&D credits, and bonus depreciation in plain language, and shows how a tax liability can be traded for an appreciating asset. He explains why your accountant only touches one of the four levers that lower taxes, and the single question almost no business owner thinks to ask.
If you have ever felt the sting of writing that check, this conversation reframes taxes from a penalty into an opportunity. Listen now.
Timestamped Highlights
[00:03:37] The gap Julio saw between Fortune 500 tax bills and everyone else
[00:06:59] The real cost of handing half your profits back over 20 years
[00:09:38] Why an engineer, not just an accountant, unlocks hidden write-offs
[00:13:53] The four levers to lower taxes that most firms only touch one of
[00:16:23] Cost segregation explained for anyone who owns property
[00:19:05] How a tax liability becomes an appreciating asset, step by step
[00:24:36] R&D credits: who actually qualifies, and it is not just labs
[00:31:35] Bonus depreciation and why it is now permanent
[00:34:30] When a family office model starts to make sense
[00:35:58] The one question to ask your CPA that almost no one asks
[00:52:53] What legacy means: engineering a better world through philanthropy
Mentioned Resources
- Engineered Tax Services (Julio’s firm)
- Free tax literacy book and grant report: text ETS to 26786 (offer from the episode)
About the Guest
Julio Gonzalez is the founder and CEO of Engineered Tax Services, the largest specialty tax engineering firm in the United States. He started ETS in 2001 to bring engineering-based tax strategies once reserved for Fortune 500 companies to mainstream business owners. More than two decades later the firm operates 26 offices nationally and has produced billions in tax savings for clients. Julio advises in Washington, D.C. on tax reform, runs the Gonzalez Family Office across real estate, private equity, and venture capital, and is widely known as “The Most Interesting Man in Tax.”
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Important Links
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Billion Dollar Brand is an original production hosted by Shaan Rais. Brought to you by Shaan Rais Media.
