WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Engineered Tax Services (ETS), the nation’s leading specialty tax advisory and engineering firm, continues to advance its mission of tax equality and economic empowerment under the combined leadership of Founder, CEO, and Chairman Julio Gonzalez and Vice President of Community Affairs and National Ambassador Charles “Duke” Tanner. Together, they are expanding access to capital, federal and state grants, engineering-based tax incentives, and strategic resources for businesses of every size, nonprofit organizations, municipalities, minority entrepreneurs, women-owned businesses, and second-chance communities nationwide.
A Shared Vision for Democratizing Opportunity
Founded by Julio Gonzalez in 2001, Engineered Tax Services was built on a transformative premise: sophisticated engineering-based tax strategies—long reserved for Fortune 500 companies through the major national accounting firms—should be accessible to mainstream America.
Over more than two decades, ETS has grown into the country’s largest licensed specialty tax engineering firm, operating from 26 national offices with headquarters in West Palm Beach, Florida. The firm has completed tens of thousands of studies and generated more than $2 billion in client tax savings while helping preserve jobs and stimulate economic growth.
Gonzalez, widely known as “The Most Interesting Man in Tax” and a recognized National Tax Reform Expert, works weekly in Washington, D.C., advising the administration, Congress, and Senate on tax policy. He serves on boards including the Republican Hispanic National Association Executive Board, Freedom Caucus Board, and James Madison Institute Board, and holds memberships in the Forbes Finance Council, The Real Estate Roundtable President’s Council, and the United States Chamber of Commerce.
Through strategic acquisitions—including The Growth Partnership, ABLE CRM, Inside Public Accounting, and others—he has expanded ETS’s capabilities to serve accounting firms, real estate investors, manufacturers, energy projects, nonprofits, and municipalities.
Today, Gonzalez and Tanner are extending that vision beyond traditional tax engineering. Their partnership emphasizes grant funding, community development, business education, infrastructure revitalization, and pathways for formerly incarcerated individuals and underserved entrepreneurs.
Combining Tax Expertise with Community Leadership and Redemption
While Julio Gonzalez provides decades of expertise in tax reform, wealth preservation, cost segregation, R&D tax credits, energy incentives (including 179D and 45L), and national policy, Charles “Duke” Tanner leads the firm’s frontline community engagement and national outreach.
Tanner works directly with business owners, municipalities, churches, nonprofit organizations, minority entrepreneurs, and second-chance leaders to identify available grants, tax incentives, and funding opportunities that accelerate growth and strengthen communities.
Tanner’s own journey embodies the firm’s commitment to second chances. A former professional light heavyweight boxer from Gary, Indiana, with a 19-0 record, ESPN-televised bouts, and training under legendary coach Angelo Dundee, Tanner faced a dramatic turn in 2004 when a first, non-violent offense resulted in two life sentences.
He served more than 16 years in maximum security. His sentence was commuted by President Trump in October 2020, and he received a full presidential pardon on May 28, 2025. He is the author of Duke Got Life and founder of the Tanner 2nd Foundation (also referred to as the Duke Tanner Foundation), which focuses on youth development, housing, clemency advocacy, reentry programs, fatherhood initiatives, and economic opportunity.
Appointed Vice President of Community Affairs and National Ambassador in October 2025, Tanner serves as a key member of ETS’s Minority Advisory Board (chaired by Gonzalez) and helps lead the firm’s Prison Reform Initiative and related outreach.
His work connects local governments and underserved communities with resources for clean water systems, infrastructure, hospitals, first responders, workforce development, and entrepreneurship without raising local taxes.
Expanding Access to Capital and Opportunity Across America
Under their joint leadership, ETS continues helping organizations unlock:
- Federal and state grant opportunities for businesses, nonprofits, and municipalities
- Specialty tax incentives and engineering-based tax strategies
- Cost segregation studies, R&D tax credits, and energy efficiency incentives
- Funding resources for nonprofit organizations and community development
- Capital access for minority-owned, women-owned, veteran-owned, and second-chance entrepreneurs
- Workforce development and reentry pathways that turn transformation into sustainable careers
Leadership Built on Purpose
“Building advanced tax strategies has never been the end goal. The real mission is ensuring businesses, nonprofits, and communities have access to the tools that create opportunity and lasting economic impact,” said Julio Gonzalez, Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Engineered Tax Services. “When knowledge and capital reach the people who have historically been left out, entire communities rise.”
For Duke Tanner, leadership is rooted in service and lived experience. Through nationwide outreach, mentorship, speaking engagements, and community partnerships, he helps entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders discover resources that transform ideas into sustainable organizations.
“When we connect people with opportunity, we strengthen entire communities. Our mission is to ensure that every entrepreneur, nonprofit, and family has access to the resources they need to build a better future,” said Charles “Duke” Tanner, Vice President of Community Affairs and National Ambassador at Engineered Tax Services. “I was once serving a double life sentence. Now I’m standing in rooms helping open doors for others. This ain’t just business—this is purpose.”
Creating Lasting Community Impact
Beyond core advisory services, Tanner frequently leads initiatives providing educational resources, mentorship, school supplies, and support for families, while partnering on programs such as prison-based fatherhood curricula and reentry workforce development.
Combined with Gonzalez’s national tax reform advocacy and policy influence, their partnership reflects ETS’s broader commitment—through affiliated efforts including the Innovation Bridge Foundation and Tax Literacy Foundation—to measurable social impact alongside financial results.
Looking Ahead
As Engineered Tax Services continues its national expansion, Julio Gonzalez and Charles “Duke” Tanner remain focused on helping businesses, nonprofit organizations, municipalities, and entrepreneurs unlock opportunities through education, innovation, strategic financial solutions, and genuine second chances.
Together, they are redefining what it means to combine sophisticated business leadership with community service, advancing a future in which access to capital, tax equality, and economic opportunity is available to all.
About Engineered Tax Services
Engineered Tax Services (ETS) is one of the nation’s leading specialty tax advisory and licensed engineering firms, providing cost segregation, research and development tax credits, energy incentives (including 179D and 45L), grant advisory services, and other engineering-based tax solutions.
Founded by Julio Gonzalez in 2001 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, with 26 offices nationally, ETS is committed to helping businesses, accounting firms, developers, investors, nonprofit organizations, and municipalities preserve wealth, create jobs, and expand economic opportunity through innovative tax and financial strategies.
The firm has generated more than $2 billion in client tax savings while advancing tax and grant equality across America.