.png)
4275 Executive Square Suite 200
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 754-8277
INDIVIDUALS & HIGH INCOME EARNERS
Architect a Strategy. File with Precision. Live Your Best Life.
Transforming Complexity into Clarity & Peace of Mind
CPA & Tax Strategist
for
Individuals & High-Income Earners
La Jolla, Greater San Diego & California
For individuals and high-income earners — typically $250K to $2 million+ in income — we act as your tax strategist. We prepare current-state and projected state multi-year tax projections and analysis and integrate tax strategy and planning opportunities designed to assist you minimize tax liabilities and effective tax rates, increase financial efficiencies and eliminate expensive year-end surprises.
Our clients typically have multiple revenue streams, including W-2 wages, equity compensation (ISOs, RSUs, NSOs, and founders stock), bonuses, investment income, K-1s, rental real estate, and/or business income. Proactively modeling the coordinated income streams and tax implications and planning opportunities well in advance of year-end assist our clients make intentional decisions that align with targeted outcomes and avoid expensive year-end surprises.
Quarterly tax management and the updating and refinement of year-end projected tax liabilities and effective tax rates will keep you focused and on track to achieve year-end targets and achieve your goals.
At year-end, we will accurately and efficiently prepare your individual, business, and trust returns in full compliance with federal and state law, capturing every deduction, credit, and tax-saving opportunity planned for, earned, and deserved.
And unlike most CPAs, we encourage you to reach out anytime you have a question, are contemplating a new initiative, have re-prioritized your goals or experienced an unplanned event. We are here to discuss your options, update your projections, and keep you focused and on track to achieve the outcomes you deserve.
Tax Planning vs. Tax Preparation:
What the Difference Means for High-Income Earners→
Six Figures & Still Overpaying:
Where High-Income Earners Quietly Leave Money on the Table→
The Quarterly Estimated Tax Trap:
Tax, Planning & Advisory Services for Individuals & High-Income Earners
Tax Strategy & Planning
-
Multi-Year Tax Projections, Scenario Analysis Integrated with Tax Planning Opportunities
-
Avoiding / Minimizing AMT
-
Managing MAGI phase-out limits
-
Tax Planning Strategies for Equity Comp - ISOs, RSUs & Restricted Stock
-
Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) Minimization
-
K-Is & complex investment planning
-
Real estate rental tax planning
Contribution Strategies & DAFs -
Roth Conversion Analysis
Tax Preparation
-
Personal tax returns (Forms 1040 / 540) and multi-state returns
-
Trust and estate tax returns
-
Professional medical corporation tax returns
-
S-corporation tax returns (Forms 1120-S / 100S)
-
Limited liability company (LLC) returns
-
Partnership tax returns
-
Late S-corporation elections
-
FBAR filings (FinCEN Form 114)
Planning & Advisory
-
Career transitions and signing bonus planning
-
Major life changes — marriage, divorce, children, inheritance
-
Launching a new business
-
Maximizing the benefits of business ownership
-
Rental real estate and 1031 exchanges
-
Retirement planning and withdrawal sequencing
-
Transitioning to retirement
-
Planning for financial independence
-
Relocation and California exit planning
-
Multi-year tax projections and scenario planning
-
Charitable giving and legacy planning
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Why do two households earning the same income pay very different taxes?
The type of income you are earning matters. Individuals that can control the timing, structure and character of one or a multitude of their income streams have the greatest opportunity to benefit from working with a CPA to architect a tax strategy designed to materially minimize multi-year tax liabilities and effective tax rates.
What is the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) and additional Medicare tax and can they be avoided?
These surtaxes apply on top of federal and California tax once income crosses thresholds. They increase marginal rates without looking like a traditional bracket. Many households underestimate their impact. A well-architected tax strategy will assist you minimize taxes on income, NIIT, self-employment and other taxes.
When should I consider a Roth conversion strategy?
Roth conversions are a tax‑rate arbitrage decision. When future tax rates are expected to be higher than today’s effective rate, Roth conversions can lower lifetime taxes. But if the timing is wrong—meaning your current effective rate is not actually lower—you can accidentally increase taxes and trigger IRMAA/Medicare surcharges. Roth Conversions should be a component in a well-defined multi-year tax strategy - and not performed as an isolated event.
Why do high earners pay more tax in California than anywhere else?
California taxes ordinary income at up to 13.3%, taxes capital gains at the same rates as ordinary income (no preferential rate), and does not conform to several federal benefits — including HSA deductions and Qualified Small Business Stock (QSBS) exclusions. Combined with federal rates, a high-income Californian can face a marginal rate approaching or exceeding 50%. That is exactly why proactive planning has more dollar impact in California than in almost any other state: every deduction, deferral, and election is worth more at a 50% marginal rate.
Should a high-income professional do a backdoor Roth?
Usually yes — the backdoor Roth is a standard, well-established strategy for anyone over the direct Roth income limits, moving $7,000+ per year (plus a spousal contribution) into permanently tax-free growth. The critical detail is the pro-rata rule: pre-tax balances in any traditional, SEP, or SIMPLE IRA make the conversion partially taxable, so those balances must be dealt with first — often by rolling them into an employer plan. Executed for both spouses over a career, this single strategy compounds into hundreds of thousands of tax-free dollars.
How do I get the most out of my employer 401(k)?
Start with the full employee deferral — $24,500 for 2026, plus an $8,000 catch-up at age 50 ($11,250 at ages 60–63) — and never leave match dollars behind: an unclaimed employer match is a guaranteed, immediate 50–100% return no investment can replicate. From there, three moves separate high earners who fully use their plan from those who don't. First, check whether your plan allows after-tax contributions with in-plan Roth conversion — the "mega backdoor Roth" — which can add tens of thousands per year of Roth savings above the normal limit. Second, if you earned over $150,000 in 2025, your catch-up contributions must now be made as Roth — confirm your plan offers a Roth catch-up feature, or you lose the catch-up entirely. Third, coordinate the deferral if you have any outside income: your $24,500 limit is shared across all employers' plans, but a side business can open a second, separate bucket of employer-funded contribution capacity.
What retirement strategies go beyond the 401(k) for high earners?
Above the standard 401(k), the ladder runs: 457(b) plans (a second, separate deferral limit for hospital and university employees), mega backdoor Roth after-tax contributions inside an employer plan, backdoor Roth IRAs, HSAs treated as stealth retirement accounts, and taxable-account strategies like direct indexing with tax-loss harvesting. For professionals with any self-employment income — consulting, speaking, moonlighting, board service — a solo 401(k) or even a cash balance plan opens contribution capacity that W-2 income alone never reaches. That 1099 income is often the single biggest unlocked door in a high earner's tax picture.
Who needs to file an FBAR?
Any U.S. person — citizen, green card holder, or tax resident — must file an FBAR (FinCEN Form 114) if the combined value of all foreign financial accounts exceeded $10,000 at any point during the year, even for one day. The threshold is aggregate, not per account, and the definition is broader than most people expect: foreign bank and brokerage accounts, foreign pensions, foreign life insurance with cash value, and accounts you merely have signature authority over — such as a parent's account abroad. Common triggers include time spent working or training overseas, inherited accounts, and dual citizenship. The FBAR is filed separately from your tax return, and penalties start at over $10,000 per violation even for innocent oversights. If you have unfiled prior years, don't simply start filing — the IRS's streamlined procedures resolve past years properly, and choosing the right path matters.
Natalie C. Papagni, CPA
Tax, Planning & Advisory Services
4275 Executive Square
Suite 200
La Jolla, CA 92037
(858) 754-8277
_edited.jpg)
CPA & Tax Strategist for High-Income Earners & Businesses
La Jolla, Greater San Diego & California
Who We Serve
Natalie C. Papagni, CPA - Tax, Planning & Advisory Services provides advanced tax planning, tax preparation and advisory services for individuals & high-income earners, physicians & healthcare professionals, executives with equity compensation, s-corporations , Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) and successful sole proprietorships in La Jolla, greater San Diego and throughout California.
Tax Planning, Preparation & Advisory Services
Natalie C. Papagni, CPA - Tax, Planning & Advisory Services provides services including advanced tax planning, individual and business tax preparation and specialized advisory services in La Jolla, greater San Diego and throughout California.
Many of our clients are physicians and healthcare professionals with multiple income streams and S-corporations that benefit from reasonable compensation analysis, QBI and California PTET optimization, multi-layered retirement plan strategies, and strategies to maximize the benefits of business ownership, professionals and executives with equity compensation (RSUs, ISOs, NQOs, restricted stock, founder's stock) that benefit from equity compensation planning, multi-state tax preparation, retirement plan tax planning, trust tax preparation, tax projection and scenario planning, and amended return preparation and quarterly tax management.
Serving La Jolla, Greater San Diego & California
Recognized among the best CPAs for high earners in La Jolla (La Jolla Village News) the firm provides year-round tax planning for high-income clients in La Jolla, greater San Diego and throughout California.