A Structured Installment Sale spreads your capital-gains tax over years instead of one brutal April, and the right advisor builds it to survive IRS scrutiny, not merely to look good on signing day.
You spent thirty years paying down a rental, a piece of land, or a business. Now a buyer shows up, the number is big, and your accountant says the words that ruin the celebration: "You'll owe tax on the whole gain this year."
For a Southern California seller sitting on a $1M, $3M, or larger gain, a single-year sale can push you into the top federal capital-gains bracket, the 3.8% Net Investment Income Tax, and California's ordinary-income treatment of capital gains, all at once. It's the most expensive sentence in the language: "It all hits this year."
It doesn't have to.
Send me the sale price and rough basis. Within one business day I'll email you the actual number and the Seller's Guide to §453. If it doesn't fit your deal, I'll tell you that plainly.
No retainer · no obligation. Hans Goldstein, a licensed insurance agent (CA Insurance License #4273294), will contact you and may discuss insurance products, including annuities.
A Structured Installment Sale (SIS) uses a long-recognized part of the tax code (the installment method under IRC §453) to let you receive your sale proceeds over a schedule of future years instead of one lump sum. Because you're taxed on the gain as you receive it, you spread the tax across multiple years rather than detonating it in one.
Done right, that can mean:
It's the difference between handing the IRS a check the size of a house down payment and keeping that money working for you and paying the tax in calm, planned installments.
What separates a salesperson from an advisor: a salesperson knows the product. An advisor knows what happens after the deal, because the IRS doesn't take your return at face value forever.
1. The IRS has a window to look back: generally three years from filing, six years if more than 25% of income is omitted, and no limit at all for fraud or an unfiled return. A clean SIS gives them nothing to find.
2. The burden of proof is on you: in an exam, the taxpayer substantiates the position. Your installment-sale paperwork must be airtight from day one.
3. You have the right to representation: an Enrolled Agent, CPA, or attorney can deal with the IRS for you. You never face an auditor alone.
This is exactly the body of knowledge tested on the IRS Enrolled Agent exam, the federal credential for tax representation. An advisor who understands how audits, statutes of limitations, and representation rights actually work structures your sale to survive scrutiny, not merely to look good on signing day.
A big sale is a once-in-a-lifetime event. The tax on it shouldn't be a once-in-a-lifetime mistake. A Structured Installment Sale can turn a brutal one-year bill into a manageable, multi-year plan, built to be both tax-smart and audit-ready.
Before you sign anything, run your numbers with someone who structures the deal to be tax-smart and audit-ready from day one.
Call 213-414-2808 Run the Numbers →
A plain-English guide for sellers on how a structured installment sale defers the tax when you sell a business, practice, or property. It covers the math, the alternatives, and how to tell if your deal fits.
Leave your details and the PDF downloads right away. Within one business day Hans will email a preliminary read on which structure fits your deal. No retainer. On a funded structure, the insurer pays a one-time commission of about 4% of the amount structured to the brokerage firm that places it (Hans’s share is about 2.4%; no trail). It is built into the annuity pricing, not a separate fee.
📞 Hans Goldstein · 213-414-2808 · CA Insurance License #4273294 · Independent §453 specialist · Goldstein & Co. LLC
Hans Goldstein, a licensed insurance agent (CA Insurance License #4273294), will contact you and may discuss insurance products, including annuities.
