In this episode of Build It to Billions, Brett Swarts sits down with Gian Pazzia, Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of KBKG and a leading expert in cost segregation, to uncover how real estate investors can use depreciation strategies to reduce taxes, improve cash flow, and accelerate wealth creation. With more than 25 years of specialty tax experience, Gian brings a unique combination of engineering expertise and deep tax knowledge to one of the most powerful strategies available to real estate owners.
Brett and Gian explore the fundamentals of cost segregation, how it can accelerate depreciation deductions, the role of bonus depreciation, and some of the biggest opportunities and mistakes investors should understand before implementing a study. Whether you’re acquiring, improving, holding, or preparing to sell real estate, this conversation offers practical insights into how strategic tax planning can help you keep more capital working toward your long-term wealth goals.
Episode Highlights Here:
Intro
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Brett
Hi, everybody! Welcome to the Build it to Billions podcast, where we guide successful entrepreneurs and investors on their journey from millions to billions. We believe the key to scaling and compounding your wealth in life starts every single day with the mindset and practice of stewardship over ownership and applying billionaire biblical principles. Our ultimate goals help you scale and compound your wealth in life, so you give more all the way to help MVPs. My name is Brett Swarts. Every episode, we’re joined by some of the world’s top entrepreneurs, millionaires or billionaires, and they share their secrets and insights with us, so we can all level up, make a bigger impact. I’m excited about our next guest. He’s a cost segregation specialist, and he helps companies, real estate owners, and CPAs unlock proven tax strategies created by Congress. He has been doing this for over 25 years, and he started his career at a big four accounting firm, not as a CPA but as a structural engineer. And he’s become a recognized leader in the cost segregation field, serving as a former president of the American Society of Cost Segregation Professionals, and sitting on their board of directors for over a decade, he’s been featured in major journals such as BNB Bloomberg, and invited to speak to 1000s of CPAs. Please welcome the show with me, Gian Pazzia. Did I pronounce that correctly, Gian?
Gian
It’s Pazia. It’s like Piazza, but Pazia.
Brett
Pazia, exactly. And for our listeners, really quick, getting to know you for the first time, John, give give us a little bit more about your background and your focus.
Gian
Yeah, no, I think you covered it pretty well. I got into in the tax world by in real estate through cost segregation. You know, fell into it after I graduated college 25 plus years ago, and over the years, worked with 1000s of clients and tax professionals on how to help reduce taxes for real estate investors. I myself am a real estate investor. I have seven multifamily buildings and several LP investments. So happy to be here. Thank you so much, Frank.
Brett
Grateful to have you. And we were just kind of chatting before the show, and we’re just goingto be comparing and doing some just higher level cap gains, estate tax, 1031 cost segs
discussion today, DSTs, and want to just start it out with when you when you sit down with somebody and you’re saying, “All right, let’s talk tax and some strategy, what are the a couple questions that you’re that you’re starting with, and then and then to help you to guide you towards what strategy to use or strategies because I find that it’s about layering, sequencing, timing, combination, and if you know all of the tools that are out there, you can start to really get lots of flexibility and/or more ideal outcomes. So, what’s kind of your approach when it comes to you know 1031 or Costeg or we’ll talk about our DSTs too here in a second to kind of compare notes.
Gian
Yeah. Well, first off, let me preface this all by saying that I’m not a CPA or you know I’m a very specialized tax advisor. In fact, most of the clients we get are referred by CPAs, and we’re really strictly focused on tax incentives. And so, you know, I wouldn’t say that I’m a comprehensive tax planning kind of expert. And so, my areas of focus have always been
cost segregation and really everything that kind of surrounds depreciation. And so you know,it’s connected to 1031 exchanges. It’s connected to a whole bunch of other issues like being areal estate professional for tax purposes. My firm also handles things outside of real estate,things like the R and D tax credit, energy incentives, and so on. But to answer your question,really, it does start with you know if we’re if we’re talking to someone in real estate, let let’stalk about what your holdings are, what your goals are, and kind of what you’ve done in thepast and what you’re looking to do into the future.
Brett
I like that holdings, goals, past experience, future hopes, right? And then getting like technical, obviously you’re going to figure out what’s the adjusted basis on the asset that’s selling, right? That’s really key. What’s the gain? What’s the timing of the sale, right? May be how charitable are you, right? Maybe how passive or active do you want to be? What? What about estate tax, right? I think sometimes that gets lost. I say the tiger by the tail, John, is the is the cap gains tax, right? But the elephant in the room, for those that are above the 30 million married, 15 million singles, that’s the death tax, right? And if you’re not a
Outro
so, if you like this little, short clip of the interview I just did, click over here to watch the full interview, and please don’t forget to subscribe. Thanks so much, everybody.
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About Gian Pazzia
Gian Pazzia, CCSP, is the Chairman and Chief Strategy Officer of KBKG and a nationally recognized expert in cost segregation and specialty tax services. With more than 25 years of experience, Gian has helped real estate owners, investors, CPAs, and businesses identify valuable tax-saving opportunities through cost segregation, depreciation strategies, and other specialized tax incentives. His background in civil engineering gives him a unique perspective at the intersection of construction, real estate, and taxation.
Gian previously served as President of the American Society of Cost Segregation Professionals (ASCSP) and has played an influential role in advancing professional standards within the cost segregation industry. Before KBKG, he gained experience with Big Four accounting firms, including PwC. Today, Gian continues to educate real estate and tax professionals on strategies designed to improve cash flow, maximize available deductions, and make more informed tax-planning decisions.
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