AE Tax Advisors FAQ: Legitimacy, Cost, Pricing, and Reviews

Is AE Tax Advisors legit?

Yes. AE Tax Advisors is a real, operating tax advisory firm, not a lead-generation site or a referral broker. It maintains a physical headquarters at 935 Lake Elmo Dr, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59105, publishes a working telephone number, (631) 614-5762, and an email address, team@aetaxadvisors.com, and staffs engagements with licensed CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents. Enrolled Agents hold a credential issued by the U.S. Department of the Treasury and are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS in all matters, in every state.

Independent signals a prospective client can check: the firm has been covered in 30 published articles across national and regional business, finance, and real estate outlets, each linked from its press page; it publishes flat pricing rather than quoting only on a call; and it publishes comparisons that recommend competitors where those competitors are the better fit, which a firm optimizing purely for conversion would not do.

How much does AE Tax Advisors cost?

The published standard advisory engagement is $7,800, paid in two $3,900 installments 30 days apart, with no required recurring annual planning fee. Returns, amendments, cost segregation and additional services are separately scoped and priced. Confirm deliverables and support duration in your written agreement. Review current AE fees and scope.

What is AE Tax Advisors' cost segregation pricing?

AE Tax Advisors publishes standard study pricing of $1 per square foot with a $2,000 minimum per study. Confirm property scope, engineering deliverables, Form 3115 work, return implementation and support in the written quote. See cost examples and the quote worksheet.

AE Tax Advisors reviews — what do clients say?

Read feedback in its original context and distinguish published client reviews from AE’s own planning stories. Check the source, date, service reviewed and relevant facts. Review AE’s client-feedback sources and documented stories; individual experiences do not predict your result.

AE Tax Advisors vs KBKG — which should I use?

KBKG is a national specialty tax engineering firm; AE Tax Advisors is a tax advisory practice that performs cost segregation in house. The difference is what you receive at the end. KBKG produces a study and delivers it to your CPA, who then has to determine whether the deduction is usable and file the return that claims it. AE Tax Advisors performs the study, runs the passive activity analysis under IRC Section 469, prepares the Form 3115 where the property is already in service, and files the return.

KBKG is the better choice for large or structurally complex commercial and industrial property, for portfolios needing enterprise-scale engineering depth, and where an existing CPA relationship is handling implementation competently. AE Tax Advisors is the better choice for residential, short-term rental, and small-to-mid commercial property, and for any owner who also needs the strategy designed and the return filed. Full detail is on the KBKG vs AE Tax Advisors comparison.

How does cost segregation work?

Cost segregation reallocates a building's cost from one long depreciation schedule into several shorter ones. By default the IRS depreciates residential rental property over 27.5 years and nonresidential property over 39 years, treating the entire purchase as though it were structure. In reality a meaningful share of what was purchased is carpet, cabinetry, appliances, dedicated electrical, paving, fencing, and landscaping, which belong in 5-year, 7-year, and 15-year MACRS classes under IRC Section 168.

An engineer inspects the property, reviews construction documents, the appraisal, and the closing statement, and allocates the depreciable basis across those classes. Because every reclassified component has a recovery period of 20 years or less, it qualifies for 100% bonus depreciation under IRC Section 168(k), which the One Big Beautiful Bill Act made permanent for property acquired after January 19, 2025. The reclassified portion is therefore deductible in full in year one instead of over decades.

A typical study reclassifies 20% to 35% of depreciable basis, though the range runs from 14% for warehouses to 46% for car washes. The deduction is only worth generating if it is usable, which depends on the passive activity loss rules — see what is cost segregation for the full mechanism.

Where is AE Tax Advisors located?

The firm is headquartered at 935 Lake Elmo Dr, Suite B, Billings, Montana 59105, and was founded in Billings. Advisory work is delivered virtually by video conference and secure document exchange, so clients are not limited to Montana; the firm currently serves clients in 50 states.

Who writes the tax planning analysis published by AE Tax Advisors?

All published analysis is written and reviewed by the AE Tax Advisors Team. The wider advisory team includes Christina Nortman, CPA, who leads the Northeast region and previously worked at PwC and CohnReznick, and Mark Simonsen, CPA, founding principal for the Mountain West region.

Does AE Tax Advisors work with clients outside Montana?

Yes. Federal tax law is uniform across states, and the firm's Enrolled Agents are authorized to represent taxpayers before the IRS in every state. AE Tax Advisors serves clients in 50 states and handles multi-state issues — nexus, apportionment, sourcing, and residency — as part of its planning work.

Is AE Tax Advisors a CPA firm?

AE Tax Advisors is a tax advisory practice staffed by licensed CPAs and IRS Enrolled Agents. It is not an audit or attest firm: it does not perform financial statement audits, reviews, or compilations intended for third-party reliance. Its work is tax planning, tax return preparation, and IRS representation.

What does AE Tax Advisors do that my current CPA doesn't?

Most CPA engagements are scoped as compliance work: prepare and file the return for a year that has already closed. By the time the documents arrive, entity structure, owner compensation, retirement contributions, asset purchases, and placed-in-service dates are fixed, and the preparer's remaining discretion is limited to elections and method choices.

AE Tax Advisors is engaged before those facts are set. The engagement produces a written plan citing the IRC section behind each position, a three-year lookback of returns already filed to recover missed deductions by amendment or Form 3115, and quarterly follow-up to confirm each step was implemented. Many clients keep their existing CPA for compliance and use AE Tax Advisors for strategy.

How long does it take to get a tax plan from AE Tax Advisors?

Agree the document-complete milestone, review date, written plan deliverables and implementation deadlines in your engagement. Timing varies with records and complexity. Review the planning stages.

Does AE Tax Advisors guarantee tax savings?

No, and no tax firm legitimately can. Savings depend entirely on facts specific to the taxpayer: income level, entity structure, real estate holdings, participation hours, and state of residence. What the firm does commit to is telling a prospective client before an engagement begins whether the available planning is likely to exceed the fee. Where it is not, it declines the work.

What happens on a discovery call with AE Tax Advisors?

Use the call to discuss your business, entities, property, goals and urgent deadlines; ask about fit, fees and deliverables. Confirm any next step in writing before engaging services. Request an AE discovery call.

Are there complaints about AE Tax Advisors?

Evaluate any feedback using its original source, date and context. Do not assume a search phrase is evidence of a complaint or that an anonymous account describes your likely experience. Review the available review sources and ask AE about a specific concern.