Tax and Accounting Services for 1099 Dental Contractors and Dentists
As a 1099 dental contractor, you are running a business, even if it does not feel that way yet. No employer is withholding your taxes, no one is setting up your retirement accounts, and every dollar you earn is fully exposed to self-employment tax without the right structure. We work with dental contractors at every stage, from first-year associates figuring out quarterly payments to experienced contractors building toward practice ownership.
As a dental contractor,
you need personalized, 1:1 support
The difference between a 1099 contractor with no entity and one structured as an S-corp is not a one-size answer. It depends on your income, your state, and how much paperwork you are willing to tolerate. We analyze your situation and set up the right structure from the start or restructure if you have been operating without one.
Missing quarterly estimated tax payments, misclassifying income, failing to document business expenses, or skipping retirement contributions in high-earning years are all mistakes that compound over time. We keep you compliant and on track, so small oversights never become large problems.
Your financial needs as a contractor differ from those of a practice owner, and the transition between the two requires careful, strategic planning. We provide continuous, personalized support through every stage, ensuring your financial strategy evolves effectively alongside your career growth and long-term goals.
We Help Dental Contractors
from Start Up to Practice Ownership
Our personalized approach ensures you have the financial support and expert advice you need as a Dental Contractor, whether you’re just getting started or ready to take the leap into practice ownership.
Year-Round Tax Planning
Paying the least amount of tax possible is not about waiting until tax season. It is about smart planning throughout the entire year. For 1099 dental contractors, that means entity selection, quarterly estimated payments, retirement plan contributions, business expense documentation, and home office or vehicle deductions where applicable. We build a year-round tax strategy specific to your income level and career stage so you are never overpaying or caught off guard at filing time.
Stay Compliant With The IRS
Navigating tax laws and regulations can be tricky, but we’re here to make it simple. Our team ensures you stay on the right side of the law, avoiding costly mistakes that could affect your future. With our guidance, you can focus on your dental career, knowing your finances are in good hands.
Financial Advice to Make Smarter, Long-Term Decisions
As a dental contractor, your financial needs change over time. We’re here to support you every step of the way, from year-round tax planning to business growth advice. Our goal is to help you make smart decisions that align with your long-term goals, ensuring your financial future is secure and prosperous.
Financial Advice to Make Smarter, Long-Term Decisions
As a dental contractor, your financial needs change over time. We’re here to support you every step of the way, from year-round tax planning to business growth advice. Our goal is to help you make smart decisions that align with your long-term goals, ensuring your financial future is secure and prosperous.
1099
Contractors
As a dental contractor, tax planning is crucial. We’ll work with you on year-round strategies that help you minimize your tax burden and keep more of your earnings. But it doesn’t stop there. We also offer retirement planning and other financial services to help you build a solid foundation.
Buying a Dental Practice
Buying a dental practice is one of the biggest investments you’ll make in your life. We guide you through each step, from finding the right practice to handling the financial details, so you can make a smart investment with confidence.
Starting a Dental Practice
Thinking about starting your own dental practice? We’re here to help with everything from financial planning to understanding the legal requirements. Let us guide you through the process and bring your vision to life.
Growing Your Dental Practice
Once your practice is up and running, our practice accounting services are designed to help you grow and expand. We provide the financial insights and monthly support you need to run a more profitable practice, so you can focus on what you do best: providing excellent dental care.
What’s it like to work with specialized dental CPAs?
Unlike general accountants, we know the ins and outs of running a dental practice. With years of experience working with Dental Contractors and 187 Google reviews, rated 4.9, we’ve mastered what it takes to help dental practices succeed from start to finish. Here’s what makes us different:
Read Our 187 Reviews, Rated 4.9, on 
!
Our clients couldn’t be happier! See why they rate us 4.9 across 187 Google reviews.
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Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. 
Trustindex verifies that the original source of the review is Google. Is an S corp worth it
for a 1099 dentist?
We would rather plan your taxes in June than apologize for them in April.
Tell us a few details about yourself to see how Virjee Consulting can help:
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Maximize Your Profits With Dental-Only CPAs
We would rather plan your taxes in June than apologize for them in April. But don’t just take our word for it! We proudly work with over 600 clients. Check out our 187 Google reviews, rated 4.9.
A few of our 1099 dentist FAQs
What changes when you work as a 1099 associate dentist?
You’re running a small business the day you sign a 1099 contract, even if all you brought was your loupes. Nobody withholds your taxes, matches your retirement or covers your health insurance, so all of that is now on you.
The associates who do this well set it up like a business from the start. That means a separate bank account, quarterly estimated payments, a retirement plan and a CPA who knows how dental contracts work.
Should a 1099 dentist form an LLC or elect S-corp?
Form the LLC first, and elect S-corp once your contract income is steady enough to pay yourself a reasonable salary and still have profit left over. The LLC is your legal structure and the S-corp is a tax election on top of it, so you can end up being both.
The S-corp saves self-employment tax on the profit above your salary. It only helps if the company is actually profitable, because pulling money out of an S-corp that’s in the red can create tax of its own.
The rules on S-corp salaries haven’t changed, but the IRS has more funding now and is spending a lot of it on S-corps. A salary that’s too low also shorts Social Security and Medicare, and that’s the kind of underpayment the IRS takes seriously.
Let’s look at an example. We recently went through the returns on an office a client was buying, where the seller was the only dentist and the office produced $700,000.
He paid himself zero salary and took everything as distributions. The IRS can look at that and decide a dentist doing that work should have been paid at least $120,000 a year, then send a bill for the payroll taxes, penalties and interest on every year it went unpaid.
A $30,000 to $50,000 salary on dentist income draws the same kind of attention. We set your salary from what you actually produce before you ever run payroll.
What expenses can a 1099 dentist deduct?
You can deduct the ordinary costs of doing your job as a contractor, as long as you run them through the business and keep the receipts. For most associates that list looks like this:
- Continuing education, including courses, conferences and the travel to get there.
- Your state license, DEA registration and malpractice coverage.
- Loupes, scrubs and any clinical gear the office doesn’t supply.
- Mileage between offices during the workday, logged as you go.
- Retirement plan contributions and, where you qualify, health insurance premiums.
Keep business spending on the business account. A shoebox of mixed receipts in April is how good deductions get lost.
How should a practice owner pay a 1099 associate or a temp?
Pay an associate through a contract with their own entity, such as a PLLC, and run temps through payroll even for a single day. A business-to-business contract is a cleaner setup than paying an individual doctor.
Handing a temp a check with no withholding is a classification risk, and both the IRS and state workforce agencies look at how dental offices classify workers. Collect the paperwork before the temp starts and run an off-cycle payroll with the proper withholding.
Do 1099 dentists have to pay quarterly estimated taxes?
Yes, because nobody is withholding tax from your 1099 income, the IRS expects you to pay it in four installments. In most years they’re due April 15, June 15, September 15 and January 15 of the following year.
You avoid the underpayment penalty if you pay at least 90% of this year’s tax or 100% of last year’s. That second number rises to 110% if last year’s adjusted gross income was over $150,000.
Skip the quarterlies and write one big check in April, and the IRS adds penalties and interest to the bill. We set your estimates with you and adjust them as the year’s income comes in.
What retirement plan works best for a 1099 dentist?
A SEP IRA or a Solo 401(k) set up through your 1099 company is usually where we start, since you’re the only employee. A lot of our clients came to us as 1099 contractors with a company already in place, and they used it to fund a SEP IRA for a solid deduction.
Higher earners can pair a 401(k) with a cash balance plan to put away a lot more each year. Which mix makes sense depends on your income and how much you want working for you outside the practice.
When should a 1099 associate think about buying a practice?
Start thinking about it when you want to keep the profit on the dentistry you produce. When we value a practice, we price an associate at about 32% to 33% of production, and ownership is how you keep what’s left after overhead.
Since around 2022 we’ve seen more new dentists buy a retiring doctor’s practice instead of starting from scratch, because the cash flow is already coming in. Your 1099 income can help in year one too, since a first-year loss from new equipment can often offset it.
Let’s look at an example. We’ve had doctors skip the S-corp election in their first year of ownership, take big deductions, then want to switch in year two.
By then they had something like $50,000 in the bank against a $600,000 practice loan. Converting while that far upside down can turn the gap into a capital gains bill, so we usually make the S-corp decision with you by December of your first year.
How can Virjee Consulting help 1099 dentists?
We’re a CPA firm that only works with dentists, and plenty of our clients started with us as 1099 associates. We handle the S-corp decision, salary and quarterly estimates through our dentist tax planning, and keep your books clean with dental bookkeeping.
When ownership starts to look real, our practice purchase consulting and the dental practice valuation calculator are good next steps.
You can book a call with the Virjee Consulting team to talk through your situation.