Direct answers,
without
the hedging
The questions on this page are the ones we hear in roughly the first ten minutes of every discovery call. The answers are direct, long enough to be substantively useful, short enough to actually answer the question without burying the point.
Most FAQ pages exist to defer decisions. This one exists to enable them. If the answer to your question isn't here, or if it is here but isn't quite hitting your specific situation, the strategy session is the right next step.
Ten questions, grouped into three sections: what MicroTax does and how it differs, the substantive questions about TFRAs and the VFO model, and the practical questions about engagement, cost, geography, and how to start. Anchor links jump you to any specific one.
The introductory questions
Q1 · What is MicroTax?
MicroTax is a Silicon Valley-based proactive tax advisory and Virtual Family Office. It combines tax strategy, §7702 tax-free retirement, wealth coordination, estate planning, and fractional CFO services into a single coordinated relationship for high-earning professionals, business owners, and families.
The firm operates nationally through a curated specialist partner network, local CPAs, estate attorneys, insurance designers, investment specialists, coordinated by the MicroTax core team under a single architecture document per household.
For the full structural explanation, see The Virtual Family Office, properly explained.
Q2 · How is MicroTax different from a traditional CPA?
A traditional CPA is reactive, they file your return in April and see you once a year, often briefly. MicroTax is proactive: planning happens year-round, opportunities are surfaced before December 31, and tax strategy is coordinated with retirement, wealth, and estate planning under one advisor.
The structural difference is timing. A compliance CPA looks backward at twelve months that have ended. A strategic tax advisor looks forward at twelve months that have not yet begun. They are doing different jobs, both necessary, neither a substitute for the other. The result of adding the strategic layer is typically $40K–$80K+ per year in legitimate, IRS-compliant savings that a compliance-only engagement never has time to find.
For the full structural argument, see MicroTax vs Traditional CPA: a structural comparison.
TFRA, VFO, audience, compliance
Q3 · What is a TFRA (Tax-Free Retirement Account)?
A TFRA, Tax-Free Retirement Account, is a retirement income vehicle built on IRS Section §7702. It is a properly structured permanent life insurance contract designed primarily for cash-value accumulation, with tax-free distributions taken via policy loans.
The benefits, when structured correctly, are zero tax on growth, zero tax on withdrawals, no contribution limits, no income-based eligibility caps, no required minimum distributions, and no early withdrawal penalty. It complements (does not replace) a 401(k) or IRA, and is particularly powerful for high earners who have already maxed traditional retirement vehicles.
The trade-offs that most marketing of TFRAs glosses over, surrender period costs, the requirement for proper §7702 structuring, the fact that this is fundamentally a life insurance product with insurance costs, and the carrier-selection complexity, are real and consequential. They don't disqualify the vehicle; they require it to be designed correctly. For the complete picture, see §7702 Tax-Free Retirement, properly explained.
Q4 · What is the Virtual Family Office model?
A traditional family office serves a single ultra-wealthy family with $50M+ net worth, typically costing $500K–$2.5M per year to operate. The Virtual Family Office (VFO) delivers the same coordinated specialist expertise, tax, wealth, estate, insurance, sometimes CFO services, through a curated network of partner specialists rather than an in-house team, at a fraction of the per-household cost.
The result is institutional-grade household financial coordination accessible to households earning $300K–$1M+ or with $2M+ in net worth, rather than only to households at $50M+. The work itself is the same. The operational structure that delivers it is different.
For the deeper comparison, see MicroTax vs Traditional Family Office.
Q5 · Who does MicroTax serve?
MicroTax serves six distinct client profiles, each with its own deep-dive page:
- Tech Executives, senior engineers, EMs, and directors at major firms with RSU/ESPP/equity complexity
- Startup C-Suite & Founders, Series A–D leadership with pre-IPO equity, QSBS exposure, and pending liquidity events
- Physicians, Surgeons & Attorneys, high-earning professionals at $300K–$1M with practice ownership or partnership stakes
- Business Owners & Operators, owner-operators at $500K+ revenue with structural tax and retirement opportunity
- Real Estate Investors, investors with 4+ properties seeking cost segregation, REPS, 1031, and depreciation strategy
- Multi-Generational Families, households coordinating wealth, tax, and legacy across two or more generations
Q6 · Is MicroTax IRS-compliant?
Yes. Every strategy used is built on established sections of the U.S. tax code: §7702 (TFRA), §1202 (QSBS), §199A (QBI deduction), §1031 (like-kind exchange), cost segregation studies, R&D credits, Opportunity Zones, defined benefit plans, S-Corp elections, ISO and §83(b) elections, Roth conversions, and the rest of the well-documented strategies catalog.
The work isn't about exotic structures or aggressive positions. It's about identifying which of the established, legitimate strategies apply to a given client and implementing them in the correct sequence. The methodology, F.A.S.T. Steps Method, is explicit about which strategies are foundational, advanced, strategic, and tactical, and why the order matters.
Cost, geography, methodology, how to start
Q7 · How much does MicroTax cost?
The engagement starts with a complimentary 30-minute strategy session and a free written opportunity report delivered within a week of the call. Following that, fees are scoped to the work, calibrated to engagement complexity, not to a percentage of assets, and quoted in writing before any commitment.
Three engagement levels are available, Foundational, Comprehensive, and VFO-Full, each described qualitatively (without dollar figures) on the How We Engage page. The reason pricing isn't posted in a fixed table is that quoting a single number would either overstate the engagement for simple situations or understate it for complex ones, neither is honest.
What is committed: year-one savings recovered typically exceed the year-one fee by a meaningful multiple. The path from discovery to formal engagement passes through four free stages (discovery call → opportunity report → engagement scoping → written quote) before any commitment is required.
Q8 · Where is MicroTax available?
MicroTax was founded in Silicon Valley and operates nationally through a curated network of local CPA partnerships and remote engagement. Active markets include Silicon Valley, Los Angeles, San Diego, Sacramento, New York City, Austin, Dallas, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, Denver, Phoenix, Miami, Atlanta, Boston, Washington DC, Raleigh-Durham, Minneapolis, Portland, and Las Vegas.
Other U.S. metros are served regularly through the remote engagement model, the quarterly call cadence and continuous email coordination work identically whether the client is in San Francisco or Nashville. For the full geographic argument, see Locations.
Q9 · What is the F.A.S.T. Steps Method?
F.A.S.T. is MicroTax's four-stage advisory framework:
- Foundational, HSA, retirement maximization, basic entity review, Backdoor Roth, charitable bunching
- Advanced, S-Corp elections, defined benefit plans, §199A QBI optimization, equity-event timing
- Strategic, cost segregation, R&D credits, §7702 TFRA, 1031, QSBS, Opportunity Zones
- Tactical, estate design, legacy planning, cross-entity optimization, pre-event structuring
Every client moves through the stages in sequence. The order is what makes the strategies compound, Foundational savings fund Advanced work, Advanced structures make Strategic moves possible, Strategic outcomes generate the wealth and complexity that Tactical work coordinates. For the full methodology, see The F.A.S.T. Steps Method.
Q10 · How do I get started?
Book a complimentary 30-minute strategy session at calendly.com/reenucherian. The session reviews your situation, identifies the largest gaps in your tax-and-wealth picture, and produces a free written opportunity report within a week.
No cost. No obligation. No commitment until both sides agree on engagement scope and a written fee proposal is reviewed and signed. The path is intentionally structured so most of the decision-making information arrives before any commitment is required.
If the strategy session reveals that MicroTax isn't the right fit for your situation, we'll say so, and the opportunity report still serves as a useful map of what's available, even if you choose to work with someone else.