Financial Advisor and CPA for Real Estate Agents
A flat-fee CPA and Financial Planner team that gives you personalized, holistic advice across your taxes and financial plan. We plan estimates around closings, deductions, an S corporation and your rentals, and file your returns.
What we handle for real estate agents
Commission arrives at closing, nobody withholds from it, and most of what it costs to earn is yours to track. This is the work we do with you.
- 01
Self-employed by statute
A licensed agent paid on sales rather than hours, under a written contract saying so, is a statutory nonemployee: self-employed for all federal taxes. You owe 15.3% self-employment tax on 92.35% of net earnings, with Social Security capped at $184,500 for 2026.
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Estimates around closings
Estimates are due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15, but closings do not arrive evenly. The annualized income method on Form 2210 lets each payment follow the commissions you actually earned by then, so a slow spring is not a penalty.
- 03
Splits, fees and dues
Check whether your 1099-NEC shows the commission before or after the brokerage split. If before, the split, desk and transaction fees are deductions, alongside license renewals, MLS and association dues, E&O insurance and continuing education.
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Mileage or actual car costs
The 2026 IRS rate is 72.5 cents a mile through June 30 and 76 cents from July 1. Choose it in the car’s first business year; once you claim depreciation under MACRS, Section 179 or bonus, that car stays on actual costs. Log the date, miles and purpose of each trip.
- 05
Marketing and closing gifts
Listing photos, signs, ads, your website and lead services are deductible. A closing gift is deductible only up to $25 per client a year, business meals at 50%, and tickets or other entertainment not at all.
- 06
Schedule C and your returns
Your CPA prepares Schedule C from your profit and loss and reconciles it with each brokerage’s 1099-NEC, then prepares your federal and state returns. Nothing is filed until you approve it.
How Nino helps real estate agents
An agent’s year can turn on a few closings, so the tax plan has to move with the pipeline. On an Advisor plan your CPA and Financial Planner plan estimates, retirement saving and your own properties from the same numbers, and Nino’s AI software keeps them current between closings.
Book a free consultation-
A plan in your first two weeks
Your CPA and Financial Planner build your tax and financial plan from last year’s return, your closings to date and your household goals, then revisit it every quarter.
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A payment sized to each quarter
Your CPA sets each estimated payment from the commissions that actually closed, and resets it when a big listing sells or the market slows.
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Your numbers after each closing
Connect your accounts read-only, then ask Nino’s AI how much of a commission check to set aside for tax, or what buying a property of your own would do to your plan.
What should real estate agents decide?
Four choices that change what an agent keeps from a commission.
Whether to elect S corporation status
Profit above a reasonable salary skips payroll tax, but payroll on uneven commissions takes planning and adds a corporate return. First confirm that your state and your brokerage allow commissions to be paid to your corporation.
How the QBI deduction applies
Real estate agents and brokers are not a specified service business. Above $276,750 of 2026 taxable income, or $553,500 joint, the 20% deduction is capped by the W-2 wages and property of the business, a limit that phases in from $201,750 or $403,500. An S corporation salary counts.
Which retirement plan fits lumpy income
A SEP IRA can be opened and funded after year-end, once you know how the year closed. A Solo 401(k) adds a $24,500 deferral, and first-year 2026 deferrals need the plan adopted by April 15, 2027. See Solo 401(k) vs SEP IRA.
Whether your license changes your rentals
Brokerage counts as a real property business. With more than 750 hours and over half your working time in real estate, plus material participation in the rentals, rental losses can offset commissions. See landlords.
Pick your plan
Every Advisor plan includes a CPA and Financial Planner team, federal and state tax filing, and our Ultra software.
Essential
- Everything in Ultra software, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you
- Single-filer return, quarterly taxes included
- Retirement & equity planning
- Quarterly advisor access
- Rentals
- 0
- K-1s
- 0
- States
- 1
- Brokerage
- 3
Plus
Most Popular- Everything in Essential, plus:
- A dedicated CPA and Financial Planner team for you and your spouse
- Married filing jointly return, international coverage included
- One coordinated plan for both of you
- Quarterly and ad hoc advisor access
- Rentals
- 2
- K-1s
- 5
- States
- 3
- Brokerage
- 5
Premier
- Everything in Plus, plus:
- Business bookkeeping and tax filings, priced by complexity
- Joint or single return, complex international coverage
- Advanced equity & estate planning
- Priority advisor access
- Rentals
- 5
- K-1s
- 10
- States
- 5
- Brokerage
- 10
Software plans starting from $20 a month
Our AI financial assistant on its own, with a 7-day free trial.
Guides for real estate agents
Read up on these decisions, or run your own numbers.
Solo 401(k) vs SEP IRA
A Solo 401(k) beats a SEP IRA at most incomes because it adds a $24,500 employee deferral and catch-ups. See the 2026 math at $60K, $150K, and $300K.
Read guideSEP IRA
A SEP IRA lets a business owner contribute up to 25% of pay, capped at $72,000 for 2026. Here is the self-employed math, the employee rule, and the deadlines.
Read guideTax and Financial Deadlines for 2026 and Early 2027
Every date from October 2026 to April 2027: estimated taxes, December 31 moves, tax forms, IRA and HSA deadlines, and the life-event clocks that run on their own.
Read guideTax Strategies for High Income Earners, by Income Type
Which tax strategies are open to you depends on where your income comes from. Here are the levers for wages, a business, real estate, and investments, and which to plan a year ahead.
Read guideSEP IRA Contribution Calculator
Estimate your 2026 SEP IRA maximum as a sole proprietor or S corp owner, the federal tax it saves, and the Solo 401(k) alternative.
Open calculatorState Income Tax Calculators
Estimate take-home pay after federal, FICA, and state income tax, for all 50 states.
Open calculator
More people we work with
See how our CPA and Financial Planner team helps people in situations like yours.