The Seller's Guide to §453: Keep More of What You Built
When you sell a business, a professional practice, or appreciated real estate for $1M or more, the biggest check you'll write isn't to your broker or your attorney — it's to the IRS, and it all comes due in a single tax year. On a large gain that's often 25–40% of everything you built, gone by next April.
Buyer cash → Assignment Co. → A-rated carrier → You, on schedule
There is a legal, code-based way to spread that tax across years instead. This free guide walks you through it in plain English — no jargon, no pitch — so you can decide for yourself whether it fits your deal before you sign the closing documents.
What's inside the guide
- The math, on a real example — a $2.5M gain paid in one year versus structured across many, side by side.
- How a §453 structured installment sale actually works — the four steps at closing, and why you carry none of the buyer's credit risk (a top-rated carrier stands behind every payment).
- Why it beats the usual answers — a clear comparison against paying the tax, a 1031 exchange, a seller-carried note, and a deferred sales trust.
- How to know if your deal is a candidate — the asset types, the dollar thresholds, and the one hard deadline you cannot miss.
- Straight answers to the five questions every seller asks: Is it legal? What does it cost me? What if the deal doesn't close? What does my CPA need to do? Do I have to defer everything?
Why sellers read this before they close
Most people who could have used a structured installment sale never did — for the single reason that no one told them it existed until the money had already moved. Once the proceeds hit your control, the §453 window is shut for good. The whole point of this guide is to put the option in front of you while there's still time to use it.
It's written by a specialist who does this work every day, and it costs you nothing — not the guide, and not the structuring itself (the carrier compensates the broker, not you).
Get the guide + a free read on your deal
Drop your details below and you'll get instant access to the full guide, plus — within one business day — a preliminary, no-obligation read from Hans on which structure actually fits your specific sale. No retainer. No pressure.
📘 Get the free Seller's Guide to §453 + a fit-check
A plain-English guide for sellers: how a structured installment sale defers the tax when you sell a business, practice, or property — the math, the alternatives, and how to know if your deal fits.
Drop your info — instant PDF download + within 1 business day Hans will email a preliminary read on which structure fits your deal. No retainer. Carrier compensates the broker — not you.
📞 Hans Goldstein · 317-463-6659 · CA Insurance License #4322192 · Independent §453 specialist · Goldstein & Co. LLC
Run your specific numbers
The calculator runs your sale through real 2026 federal + state tax brackets and shows §453 savings vs lump sum side-by-side.
Run the calculator → 317-463-6659