4 Overlooked Tax Planning Opportunities Created by Economic Disruption
Economic disruptions create unexpected opportunities for businesses to reduce their tax burden, yet many companies miss these critical windows. This article explores four often-overlooked tax planning strategies that can turn financial uncertainty into tangible savings. Drawing on insights from tax experts, these practical approaches help businesses make the most of challenging economic conditions.
Maximize Bonus Depreciation Now
One tax planning opportunity created by recent economic disruption that many practitioners are overlooking involves accelerated depreciation and bonus depreciation on capital investments. In the wake of economic shifts, businesses have been investing in technology, equipment, and infrastructure to adapt to new market demands. While many companies account for these purchases in standard depreciation schedules, they often overlook the ability to immediately expense a significant portion of these investments under bonus depreciation rules, which can provide substantial near-term tax savings.
To better capitalize on this, businesses should conduct a detailed audit of their recent and planned capital expenditures, identify assets eligible for accelerated depreciation, and coordinate timing to maximize deductions within the current fiscal year. Additionally, pairing this strategy with forward-looking projections can help optimize cash flow, support reinvestment into growth initiatives, and reduce overall taxable income without delaying operational plans.
The key is proactive planning: businesses that integrate accelerated depreciation into their strategic financial management—not just routine bookkeeping—can gain a meaningful tax advantage, freeing up resources to navigate uncertainty and invest in competitive priorities.
Harvest Losses And Revalue Assets
One of the most overlooked tax planning opportunities emerging from recent economic disruptions is the ability for businesses to strategically harvest losses and revalue assets during periods of volatility. Many practitioners focus on defensive moves—cutting costs or delaying investments—but they miss the chance to use downturn conditions to reset basis, accelerate depreciation, or claim partial asset dispositions that permanently lower future tax burdens.
Businesses can capitalize on this by conducting a mid-cycle cost segregation review rather than waiting for a property acquisition or renovation. Economic disruptions often change asset use, retire outdated equipment, or reduce fair market value, which creates opportunities to write down or dispose of portions of an asset that no longer produce economic benefit. This reduces taxable income immediately while improving cash flow at a time when liquidity matters most.
Companies that treat volatility as a planning window—not just a risk—tend to emerge with stronger tax efficiency and more capital available for growth.
Use Downturns To Restructure Ownership
One major tax planning opportunity created by recent economic disruption—and one most practitioners are completely overlooking—is the ability to "reset" basis, income character, and future deductions through strategic restructuring during down years. When valuations dip, business owners can transfer equity into trusts, family partnerships, or next-gen entities at a dramatically reduced tax cost, locking in future appreciation outside their taxable estate. They can also harvest losses, reposition depreciated assets, and use cost segregation timing to offset high-income rebound years. In other words, economic volatility becomes a discount window for tax planning—and businesses that proactively restructure during downturns end up capturing millions in long-term tax savings instead of waiting for a recovery and losing the opportunity.
Clean Up Disruption Years
One tax opportunity that keeps getting missed lives in the mess disruption created.
Those years broke everything. Revenue moved around. Costs came early. Teams got reshuffled. New entities popped up. Everyone focused on survival. Once growth came back, most teams shut the file and moved on. That clean up never really happened.
Losses get attention, but deferred tax assets get ignored. Timing differences from revenue recognition changes, unpaid bonuses, provisions, write downs. These sit quietly on the balance sheet. Treated like old accounting baggage. In reality, they reduce cash taxes for years if tracked properly.
Transfer pricing is another blind spot. During disruption, risk shifted. India teams did more real work. US or parent entities slowed down. Markups stayed the same because changing them felt like effort. That creates exposure and missed planning room. Resetting this with real operating logic saves future pain.
Indirect tax credits sit idle too. GST refunds on exports. Input credits stuck due to classification shifts. Many founders mentally write these off. With follow up, these turn into actual cash, especially for SaaS and services companies.
Entity structures also deserve a second look. Groups expanded fast during chaos. IP locations, intercompany charges, entity roles got decided in a hurry. Disruption gives a solid business reason to fix these without drama.
The playbook stays simple. Go back to the disruption years. Review them slowly. Connect tax positions to what actually happened in the business. Teams that do this turn old stress into cash savings and cleaner governance going forward.
