Benjamin Franklin once said, "nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes." His words may have been inspired by taxation without representation, but there's still a pearl of wisdom in the quote today. No matter how painful the process may be, you're going to have to pay your taxes.

Unfortunately with death and taxes, the former can seem like the better alternative sometimes, especially when it comes to minimizing capital gains obligations. Boiling down the complexities of the tax code isn't impossible. It's only one degree separated from impossibility, but it's still not a hopeless endeavor. In fact, it's what Glenn Frank specializes in.

Glenn Frank teaches TX 999 in the masters of taxation program at Bentley University, and he makes a living advising clients and teaching young professionals about minimizing tax liability. Here are a few of his boiled-down tips.

1. Hire a qualified tax attorney
Unless you're a tax professional, you might want to consider hiring a qualified tax attorney. Tax law is incredibly complex, it changes frequently, and there are state particulars that must be considered. For those that can afford it, a professional can save a lot of headaches.

Why a tax attorney specifically? Two liability reasons:

• An attorney can give you attorney-client privilege.
• Tax attorneys are expected to have a full understanding of tax settlement programs, while a certified public accountant may only be familiar with them.

2. Hold onto equities for at least a year
Unlike other forms of income, investors actually have more control over when they pay taxes on capital transactions because taxes aren't applied until after investments are sold. The schedule D netting process matches short-term realized gains against short-term realized losses in its top half and long-term realized gains against realized losses in its bottom half.

In other words, gains and losses on the short-term are added together to produce a net amount that can be taxed if positive or deducted against other income if at a loss. The same happens with long-term gains and losses as well, but the amount you are taxed may vary.

For short-term gains, you will be taxed at the highest marginal tax rate. However, for long-term gains, you will be taxed an amount that varies based on your level of income. The highest earners can be taxed up to 23.8 percent while low earners may not be taxed on at all. For this reason, it can be in the best interest of the investor to hold onto equities for at least one year after purchase to avoid being taxed the highest marginal rate and accept a lower amount based on income level.

3. Transfer gains to family members in lower tax brackets
For high earners, it may also be wise to consider gifting stocks to family members in different tax brackets — for example, a person older than 24 whose taxable income is less than $37,000. This can save money from taxes in several ways.

Adults over 24 are usually not susceptible to the "kiddie tax." Also, whereas the high earner may pay 23.8 percent in tax, the person gifted the stock may pay nothing at all because they fit into the lowest income level and qualify for the 0 percent capital gains rate. This has the potential to save thousands from taxes, but remember that taxable income plus the amount of the gain must be less than $37,000 to qualify for the 0 percent capital gains rate.

Also, keep in mind that this is not a way to hide your income from taxation. Gifts given must be legitimate. If the gift is conveniently given back to the original owner, an action which isn't necessarily illegal but is strongly disapproved of, the Internal Revenue Service may take notice.

4. Capitalize on personal lower bracket years
Don't forget that you may be able to take advantage of lower tax brackets if your adjusted gross income is in flux. For example, married couples filing jointly making over $425,000 will be taxed 23.8 percent, but the rate drops to just 15 percent if your adjusted gross income is below $250,000. If you fit into the lower tax bracket now and that may change in the foreseeable future, you may consider harvesting the gains and paying taxes sooner rather than later.