Advice on Neil Jesani mineral funds for tax planning?
Hey all, I'm wondering if anyone has experience with Neil Jesani's mineral fund investment approach for tax purposes? Recently came across his seminars where he talks about using mineral rights/funds as a tax strategy for high-income professionals. I'm a dentist making around $340K annually and looking for legitimate ways to reduce my tax burden. I've maxed out my 401k, do backdoor Roth, and have some real estate investments already, but I'm intrigued by these mineral funds he promotes specifically for dentists and doctors. The tax benefits sound almost too good to be true - he claims we can get significant deductions in the first year while maintaining income streams. Has anyone here actually invested with Neil Jesani or similar mineral funds? What was your experience with the tax implications? Did the IRS ever question these deductions? Just trying to do my due diligence before jumping in.
24 comments


Lola Perez
I've reviewed several of these mineral rights investment structures for clients. While I won't speak specifically about any individual promoter, I can give you some general guidance about mineral rights investments. These investments can offer legitimate tax benefits through depletion allowances and intangible drilling costs (IDCs) that can be deducted in year one. However, they're not magic tax elimination tools - they're investments with specific tax characteristics that come with substantial risks. The IRS absolutely scrutinizes these arrangements, especially when marketed primarily as tax avoidance strategies rather than economic investments. The key is whether there's genuine economic substance beyond the tax benefits. If the program is structured properly and you have profit motive beyond tax savings, the deductions can be legitimate.
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Nathaniel Stewart
•Isn't there something called "passive activity loss" rules that limit how much you can deduct? I heard from my CPA that these mineral investments might be subject to those limits if you're not actively involved in the business?
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Lola Perez
•Yes, that's an important point. For most investors, mineral interests are indeed considered passive activities, which means the losses can typically only offset passive income. However, there are nuances here. If the mineral interests are structured as working interests (where you share in the costs of development), they may not be subject to passive activity loss limitations, allowing the investor to deduct losses against other types of income. But this also means you have more liability exposure, so there's a trade-off between tax benefits and risk.
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Riya Sharma
I feel like I should share my experience with tax document analysis services. After researching mineral rights investments, I had so many questions about the tax implications for my specific situation. I found this tool at https://taxr.ai that really helped me understand what I was getting into. I uploaded the prospectus from a mineral fund and my past tax returns, and it analyzed everything to show me exactly how the investment would affect my specific tax situation. The AI pointed out potential audit triggers I hadn't considered and showed the multi-year impacts, not just the first-year deduction everyone focuses on.
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Santiago Diaz
•How accurate is it compared to what a CPA would tell you? I'm hesitant to trust AI with something as complex as mineral rights taxation.
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Millie Long
•Does it handle K-1 forms from these partnerships? My last mineral investment generated the most complicated K-1 I've ever seen and I paid my accountant an extra $500 just to figure it out.
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Riya Sharma
•The accuracy really impressed me - it caught nuances about passive activity limitations that aligned perfectly with what my CPA later confirmed. It's not replacing my accountant, but it helped me understand things before I paid for professional time. The K-1 analysis is actually one of its strongest features. It broke down each line item and explained how it would flow through to my personal return, including those special allocations that mineral investments often use. Saved me from being blindsided come tax time.
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Millie Long
Just wanted to update after trying taxr.ai myself. I uploaded the mineral fund prospectus I was considering plus my last two years of returns. The analysis showed that while I'd get about a 65% first-year deduction, I was likely to trigger AMT (Alternative Minimum Tax) which would erase about half the benefit in my specific situation. The platform highlighted that my state doesn't follow federal rules for depletion allowances, something my advisor hadn't mentioned! Literally saved me thousands in unexpected state taxes. Before making any decisions, I had the AI generate questions to ask the fund manager - their responses to those technical questions told me they weren't as knowledgeable as they should be. Dodged a bullet there.
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KaiEsmeralda
If you're seriously researching these mineral investments, you probably also want to talk directly with the IRS about how they view these structures. I spent weeks trying to get through to someone knowledgeable at the IRS about a similar investment structure. After days of busy signals and disconnections, I found https://claimyr.com which got me through to an actual IRS agent in 45 minutes instead of the hours or days I was experiencing before. You can see exactly how it works in their demo: https://youtu.be/_kiP6q8DX5c Getting that clarification directly from the IRS about how they classify certain mineral rights structures saved me from a potentially messy audit situation. Worth every penny for that peace of mind.
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Debra Bai
•How does this actually work though? The IRS phone system is deliberately designed to be impenetrable. Are they hacking it somehow?
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Gabriel Freeman
•This sounds like total BS. I've been told by multiple tax pros that the IRS never gives definitive answers on the phone about complex structures like mineral rights investments. They just tell you to consult the code or your tax professional.
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KaiEsmeralda
•They use an automated system that navigates the IRS phone tree and waits on hold for you. When a human agent answers, you get a call. It's basically doing the waiting for you, nothing shady. They definitely won't give you tax advice or approve your specific investment, you're right about that. But I was able to ask specific questions about how certain mineral rights structures are classified for passive activity purposes and got references to the relevant regulations. Having those specific citations was valuable when discussing with my tax attorney.
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Gabriel Freeman
I stand corrected about Claimyr. I was so skeptical I tried it myself for a question about my own mineral rights K-1 from last year. Got connected to someone in the business division in about an hour. While they didn't "approve" my deductions (as expected), the agent pointed me to a specific IRS notice I hadn't seen before (Notice 2019-75) that addressed certain issues with depleting assets and how they're handled on audit. My tax attorney said that reference alone was worth the service cost since it helped us strengthen our documentation. Sometimes being wrong feels pretty good, especially when it saves you money or headaches with the IRS!
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Gabriel Freeman
I stand corrected about Claimyr. I was so skeptical I tried it myself for a question about my own mineral rights K-1 from last year. Got connected to someone in the business division in about an hour. While they didn't "approve" my deductions (as expected), the agent pointed me to a specific IRS notice I hadn't seen before (Notice 2019-75) that addressed certain issues with depleting assets and how they're handled on audit. My tax attorney said that reference alone was worth the service cost since it helped us strengthen our documentation.
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Laura Lopez
I actually invested in one of those mineral funds marketed to doctors back in 2023. My experience: yes, I got the big deduction the first year (about 70% of my investment), but here's what the sales pitch didn't emphasize: 1) The income was way less than projected (about 30% of what they showed in presentations) 2) I had major headaches with state taxes (had to file in 4 different states) 3) The K-1 was insanely complex with intangible drilling costs, depletion allowances, etc. 4) When I wanted to exit early due to poor performance, found out it's completely illiquid So while the tax benefits were real, the investment itself underperformed significantly. Just remember these are INVESTMENTS, not just tax strategies.
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Ethan Scott
•Thanks for sharing your real experience. Were there any red flags you noticed in hindsight that I should look out for? And did you get any pushback from the IRS on the deductions?
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Laura Lopez
•The biggest red flag was how much the presentation focused on tax benefits rather than the underlying economics of the wells themselves. They spent 80% of the time talking about tax deductions and only 20% on production projections, operator track records, etc. No problems with the IRS so far, but my accountant was very careful to document everything thoroughly. She said these investments get flagged more often, not because they're illegal, but because they're complex and often done incorrectly. Make sure whoever does your taxes really understands oil and gas partnership taxation - it's a specialty area.
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Victoria Brown
For what it's worth, my neighbor is a tax attorney who specifically warned medical professionals against these heavily marketed mineral rights programs. He said they aren't necessarily scams, but they're often: 1) Overpriced compared to direct mineral investments 2) Structured with huge fees that aren't clearly disclosed 3) Sometimes set up in ways that could be challenged by the IRS If you want the tax benefits of mineral investments, he suggested finding a reputable energy-focused investment firm rather than one that specifically targets doctors/dentists with tax-focused marketing.
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Samuel Robinson
•I second this. My brother works in oil & gas private equity and says the programs marketed heavily to doctors often use marginal wells and charge premium prices because they know doctors are buying for tax reasons, not because they understand energy investments.
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Camila Castillo
Has anyone considered using an Oil & Gas ETF or publicly traded royalty trust instead? Way more liquid and transparent, though you don't get the same upfront deductions. Seems like a better risk/reward to me than these private partnerships.
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Ethan Wilson
As someone who's been researching tax strategies for high earners, I'd strongly recommend getting a second opinion from a tax professional who isn't selling these investments. I've seen too many colleagues get burned by complex tax strategies that sounded great in presentations but fell apart under scrutiny. One thing that concerns me about Neil Jesani's approach specifically is that when someone markets primarily to one profession (dentists/doctors), it often means they're exploiting our lack of investment knowledge rather than offering genuinely superior opportunities. We're easy targets because we have high incomes but limited time to do proper due diligence. Before considering any mineral rights investment, I'd suggest: 1) Get an independent analysis of the investment's economics (not just tax benefits) 2) Understand the full fee structure 3) Ask what happens if tax laws change 4) Consider simpler alternatives like maximizing defined benefit plans or conservation easements The fact that you're asking these questions here shows you're being smart about it. Don't let FOMO or aggressive sales tactics rush you into something this complex.
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Josef Tearle
•This is excellent advice. I'm also a healthcare professional and fell for a similar pitch a few years back. The key red flag I missed was exactly what you mentioned - when they're targeting specific professions, it's usually because they know we don't have time to properly vet investments. I'd add one more thing to your checklist: ask to speak with investors who've been in the program for 3-5 years, not just the cherry-picked success stories they'll initially offer. Most of these promoters will resist this request, which tells you everything you need to know. Also, if anyone is considering these investments, make sure your CPA has actual experience with oil & gas partnerships before you file. I learned the hard way that not all tax preparers understand the complexities, and mistakes can be costly.
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Chloe Robinson
I appreciate everyone sharing their real experiences here. As someone who's been through IRS audits before (unrelated to mineral investments), I can't stress enough how important it is to have bulletproof documentation if you're going to pursue these strategies. The IRS has been increasingly scrutinizing tax shelter-like investments, especially those marketed to high-income professionals. Even if the deductions are legitimate, you need to be prepared to defend them. This means keeping detailed records of: - Your profit motive beyond tax benefits - All due diligence you performed - Documentation showing this is a real business investment, not just a tax scheme I'd also suggest looking into the IRS's "Listed Transactions" and "Transactions of Interest" lists to see if similar structures have been flagged. The last thing you want is to unknowingly participate in something the IRS has already identified as abusive. One final thought: remember that aggressive tax strategies often have a shelf life. What works today might not work tomorrow, and you could be stuck in an illiquid investment that no longer provides the benefits you bought it for. Sometimes the boring approaches (maxing out retirement accounts, establishing a cash balance plan) are boring for a reason - they work consistently over time.
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Atticus Domingo
•This is such valuable perspective, especially about the IRS scrutiny. I'm curious - when you went through your audits, did you find that having professional representation made a significant difference in the outcome? I'm weighing whether it's worth establishing a relationship with a tax attorney now, before making any complex investments, rather than scrambling to find one if issues arise later. Also, regarding the "Listed Transactions" - is there an easy way to search those, or do you need to work through the technical IRS publications? I want to make sure I'm not walking into something that's already on their radar.
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