You run surgery, imaging, and a packed schedule. You don't run depreciation schedules. We expense the CT and surgical suite in year one, settle the contractor question before the IRS does, and structure the multi-doctor entity around the QBI rules.
A specialty vet practice is capital heavy and doctor heavy. The misses cluster in three places. Equipment that should be expensed gets spread over years, relief vets are misclassified as contractors, and the QBI deduction is left to chance even though veterinary medicine raises the SSTB question. We plan all three together.
CT, digital radiography, ultrasound, surgical lasers, anesthesia and monitoring, dental units, in-house lab analyzers, and practice management software. Up to $1,160,000 of §179 expensing for 2024 plus 60% bonus depreciation on the overflow. Off-the-shelf software qualifies. We time purchases so the deduction lands in your highest-income year.
IRC §179(d); §168(k); §179(d)(1)(A)(ii) softwareThe 20% QBI deduction is valuable, but health-field businesses are a Specified Service Trade or Business, and veterinary medicine sits in the gray zone the regulations created. Above $383,900 MFJ for 2024 the deduction phases out for an SSTB and is gone by $483,900. We analyze your facts and use retirement and entity planning to protect the deduction inside the band.
IRC §199A(d)(2)(A); Treas. Reg. §1.199A-5(b)(2)Relief veterinarians and techs are a classic misclassification risk. Get it wrong and you owe back payroll tax, penalties, and interest. We apply the common-law control test and document the relationship so your relief coverage does not turn into a payroll-tax assessment two years later.
IRC §3121(d); §3509; Rev. Rul. 87-41 twenty factorsBringing on associate or partner doctors changes everything about comp, profit splits, and the QBI math. We model whether an S-Corp, a partnership, or a group structure produces the best after-tax result for the owners, then set reasonable compensation that holds up while the rest flows efficiently.
IRC §1361; §1402(a); §199A aggregation rulesHigh-income owner doctors can shelter $50K to $200K per year in a cash balance plan stacked on a 401(k) with profit sharing. The contributions are deductible, the growth is tax-deferred, and the lower taxable income can pull you back under the QBI threshold. We coordinate the actuary and keep the plan compliant.
IRC §401(a), §404(o), §415(b); ERISA §302Plumbed the surgical suite, shielded the imaging room, built isolation and boarding? Qualified Improvement Property is 15-year property and 60% bonus eligible for 2024. We segregate the construction invoice so the bonus-eligible portion is expensed now instead of waiting 39 years.
IRC §168(e)(6), §168(k); CARES Act §2307Two-doctor specialty and emergency practice, S-Corp, $640K combined net for 2024. We expensed a new CT and surgical laser under §179, reclassified two relief vets correctly, and stacked a cash balance plan to pull taxable income toward the QBI band.
$71,000 savedFederal tax savings from first-year depreciation, recovered QBI, and the retirement shelter at marginal rate. State savings on top, plus the payroll-tax exposure on the relief vets removed before it became an assessment.