About this episode

This episode discusses entity tax planning strategies for advising clients, focusing on S corporations, acquisition types, retirement plans, and employee classification issues.

This podcast is made by Ran Chen, who holds an EA license, Insurance and Securities licenses (Series 6, 63, 65), and the CFP® designation. He is passionate about opening access to high-quality exam preparation resources and helping learners prepare more effectively for professional certification exams. In this episode you will learn: - Why an S corporation is often the optimal choice for a single-owner business aiming to reduce self-employment taxes. - The critical differences in tax treatment for buyers and sellers in asset versus stock acquisitions, and why buyers prefer a stepped-up basis. - How the related-party rules under IRC Section 267 disallow immediate loss recognition on property sales between family members. - Key distinctions between retirement plans like SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, and Solo 401(k)s, and which is best for a self-employed individual. - The tax implications of employee classification and why misclassifying an employee as an independent contractor is a common exam trap. For more free exam prep tools, practice questions, and AI-powered explanations, visit https://open-exam-prep.com/ or YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@Open-exam-prep

People in this episode

Host: Ran Chen

Topics covered

• Entity Tax Planning
• S Corporations
• Asset vs Stock Acquisitions
• Retirement Plans
• Employee Classification

Keywords

• S corporation
• self-employment taxes
• asset acquisition
• stock acquisition
• retirement plans
• employee classification
• tax implications

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: S corporation, IRC Section 267, SEP IRAs, SIMPLE IRAs, Solo 401(k)s, Open Exam Prep, YouTube Channel

More episodes of Finance Exam Prep

• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 84, Estate Income Tax — Form 1041 for Decedent's Estate · July 20, 2026 · 3 min
• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 83, Grantor Trust Rules — §671-679 · July 19, 2026 · 3 min
• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 82, Distributable Net Income (DNI) · July 18, 2026 · 4 min
• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 81, Simple vs Complex Trusts · July 17, 2026 · 3 min
• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 80, Trust Income Tax — Form 1041 Basics · July 16, 2026 · 3 min
• Enrolled Agent Exam [Part 2] 78, Estimated Tax Payments — Corporations · July 14, 2026 · 3 min

Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Finance Exam Prep podcast page.