Within the framework of the study, an analysis is conducted of the strategic function of tax planning as a factor for maintaining sustainability and expanding small and medium-sized enterprises in the context of the economic turbulence of 2024–2025. The argumentation is structured around the author’s methodology Tax as Strategy, within which fiscal architecture is interpreted not as an inert external constraint, but as a controllable contour of capital optimization and a mechanism for reducing agency costs. The conceptual core of the work is formed by propositions concerning the transformation of business organization: from the dominance of survival heuristics at the stage of stabilization to institutionally embedded and procedurally formalized structures at the stage of scaling.

Substantial attention is devoted to startups and entrepreneurship in the United States, where financial formalization acquires the significance of a highly informative signal for external stakeholders and functions as a condition of trust on the part of counterparties, investors, and the regulatory environment. The study synthesizes empirical evidence regarding the effectiveness of transitioning to the S-Corporation model, which is associated with tax savings in the range of 15–35% and an increase in net profit of 20–40%. A separate analytical block examines the impact of artificial intelligence and digital platforms on fiscal resilience, and also constructs a prognostic model of adaptation to probable changes in tax legislation after 2025.

The methodological framework is grounded in the theory of dynamic capabilities, agency theory, and contemporary approaches to risk management that are relevant to an environment of high inflation and market volatility. Thus, tax planning is revealed as an element of strategic management that is capable of simultaneously enhancing organizational viability, supporting growth, and ensuring the alignment of interests among key participants in the economic process.

tax strategy, S-Corporation, financial formalization, business resilience, entrepreneurship, startups in the United States, agency theory, scaling of small and medium-sized enterprises, digital transformation, tax architecture.

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