In fiscal year 2023, the IRS assessed over 14.2 million estimated-tax penalties—totaling $7.0 billion—against individuals, estates, and trusts. For founders and operators, these penalties often manifest as a high-cost ‘surprise bill’ that arrives only after capital has already been deployed into headcount, inventory, or growth initiatives. This timing creates a liquidity crunch, as the cash required to settle the penalty has already been committed to the business.
The uncomfortable truth is that most ‘unexpected’ tax bills are entirely predictable. They are the direct result of a compliance-driven mindset that treats tax planning as an annual event, despite the IRS requirement that income tax be treated as a pay-as-you-go obligation—due in real-time as income is earned.
That gap is the business Gelt is built to solve. Gelt is an AI-native tax firm that serves scaling businesses and high-net-worth clients who want more than annual compliance, positioning itself as a proactive, year-round tax partner rather than a once-a-year filing service. It is built for owners with complex situations, such as multiple entities, investments, or operations across states, where reactive tax prep often misses planning opportunities until it is too late to take advantage of them.
Why Business Owners Keep Getting Blindsided at Tax Time
For many business owners, the stress at tax time is not proof that they messed up. It is what happens when they never had a clear, running view of their tax exposure. The work most people call tax planning still tends to be reactive. Books close, forms get assembled, and the true liability becomes visible only after the year is basically over.
That lag is where surprises are made. The IRS can charge an underpayment penalty if enough tax was not paid for a given payment period, and it can apply even if the taxpayer ultimately gets a refund. Estimated payments are due on fixed dates, generally April 15, June 15, September 15, and January 15, while business income rarely arrives on a neat quarterly schedule.
The IRS also notes that estimated payments are generally made in four equal amounts, and it points uneven earners to the annualized income installment method to better match payments to when income actually hits.
When owners lack real-time insight or a proactive strategy, liabilities build until they surface as bills that strain cash flow and leave them feeling blindsided.
How Gelt Turns Tax Planning Into a Year-Round Advantage
Gelt was built to enable continuous tax management. Its CEO, Tal Binder, puts the problem plainly, saying, “We didn’t need another accountant. We needed answers. So we built Gelt.”
The platform pairs software with high-caliber, licensed tax professionals. Gelt offers tax projections to forecast potential liability, a secure document vault to keep filings and records organized and accessible, and a tax library that helps users understand strategies and next steps without waiting for year-end prep. It also supports collaboration to allow users to pull in a wealth advisor or business partner when a move affects ownership, cash flow, or long-term plans.
Gelt positions itself as a replacement for a traditional CPA relationship, with planning and filing handled by its internal team and supported by the platform. Its compliance and quarterly estimation services range from $2,500 per year for business owners or multi-entity clients, with strategy scoped separately based on complexity.
From Guesswork to Confidence With Gelt
What business owners get from proactive tax infrastructure is not a prettier return. It is control. With year-round visibility and planning, they can see where they stand before deadlines hit, understand what they are likely to owe, and course-correct while there is still time to do it.
Gelt frames its value in exactly those terms. In its September 2025 Series A announcement, Gelt said it restructured a venture partner’s compensation through an S-corp and identified deductions that saved the client more than $100,000 in a single year. In a separate case study, it described a small business owner who saved more than $60,000 annually through a mix of timing, entity structure, and multi-state planning.
Ultimately, the larger benefit is focus. When owners know what to expect and use the right tax software for their needs, they spend less time bracing for surprises and more time building the business.
