'If You Don't Have A Kid, Get A Kid': Grant Cardone Shares His Year-End Tax Moves as He Lines Up 'a Quarter of a Billion Dollars' in Write-Offs

Most people spend the last weeks of the year hunting for holiday deals. The rich spend them hunting for write-offs.

With 2026 winding down, entrepreneur and real estate mogul Grant Cardone has a three-step plan for shrinking this year’s tax bill. It involves your kids, a very heavy SUV and a $190 million building.

“Look, there’s only 63 days left to the end of the year,” Cardone said in a TikTok video last month. “So two things you should be focused on right now. One is making more money. But two, getting rid of your taxes. ‘Cause your taxes are gonna kill you.”

Your Kids Just Got A Job

Cardone’s first move is putting children on the payroll of a family business.

“Cut off their allowance. Don’t give them an allowance," Cardone said.

Instead, he said parents should pay each child about $16,000 in wages from the business. He said the child owes no income tax on it while the parent gets the deduction.

The IRS set the 2026 standard deduction at $16,100 for single filers. That generally means a child earning up to that amount owes no federal income tax on those wages.

The work has to be real, though. “Give them a contract that they have to actually do some things ’cause you’re gonna have to defend it,” Cardone said.

He had advice for people without children, too.

“If you don’t have a kid, get a kid,” he said.

The Heavier The SUV, The Lighter The Bill

The second move is buying a vehicle that weighs more than 6,000 pounds, titling it in the business name and using it only for business. Cardone said he does this every 2 years.

“Escalade, Range Rover, G-Wagon,” he said. “Like, it’s stupid. It’s a stupid loophole you should take advantage of.”

Under current IRS rules, vehicles rated above 6,000 pounds gross vehicle weight avoid the tighter depreciation caps on passenger cars. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act restored 100% bonus depreciation, so a business can often write off most or all of the cost in year one if the vehicle is used mainly for business.

Big Buildings, Bigger Write-Offs

The third move is real estate, and Cardone said it’s the big one.

“This is the one that the wealthiest people in the world use all the time, over and over,” he said.

Cardone said he and his partners are buying a $190 million property and plan to borrow about $100 million to do it.

“When we do that, we double the amount of depreciation we can take on the asset,” he said.

If he owned the entire property himself and closed in December, Cardone said he would write off $40 million this year.

“Claim a loss. That’s not a real loss,” he said. “My tax bill is zero. I’m deferring taxes into the future.”

The word “deferring” matters. Depreciation can be recaptured and taxed when a property is sold, so the bill gets pushed down the road rather than erased.

Cardone said his depreciation write-offs from this year’s purchases alone will come to about $240 million.

“A quarter of a billion dollars of tax write-offs,” he said.

Nobody has ever bragged about overpaying the IRS. Cardone’s point is that the tax bill is the one that can do real damage, and every day closer to Dec. 31 leaves fewer ways to shrink it. Anyone weighing these moves should talk with a tax professional first.

Photo via Shutterstock