Jacob T. Buck

Overview

Jacob Buck is an associate in Gunster's Tampa office and a member of the firm's Tax practice group. Jacob advises business owners, family offices, and fiduciaries on the tax and structuring issues that arise in mergers and acquisitions, business reorganizations, and multi-generational wealth planning. His practice sits at the intersection of transactional tax and private wealth, allowing him to align immediate deal objectives with long-term tax efficiency and succession goals.

On the transactional side, Jacob regularly assists clients with mergers and acquisitions, entity formations and restructurings, and S-corporation planning. He helps clients evaluate deal structures, negotiate key tax and indemnity terms, coordinate due diligence, and work through closing mechanics. His engagements frequently involve federal income tax planning for closely held businesses, including S-corporation eligibility and compliance, F reorganizations, and the tax treatment of equity rollovers and earnouts.

On the private wealth side, Jacob designs and implements estate and succession plans for founders, family business owners, and fiduciaries. His experience includes trust planning involving QSST and ESBT elections, lifetime gifting strategies, and estate and gift tax reporting. He works closely with clients' accountants, financial advisors, and family office personnel to ensure that wealth transfer structures function in practice as well as on paper.

Prior to joining Gunster, Jacob was an associate at a mid-sized tax firm, where he advised clients on a broad range of federal tax matters and gained significant experience drafting and reviewing transaction documents, leading diligence workstreams, and implementing tax-efficient structures alongside outside advisors.

Jacob received his LL.M. in Taxation from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he served as a Research Assistant to Professor Steven J. Willis. He earned his J.D., cum laude, from Florida State University College of Law and graduated magna cum laude from Florida Institute of Technology with a degree in Forensic Psychology. While at Florida Tech, he was a left-handed pitcher on the baseball team.