Tag Archives: tax

3 last-minute tips that may help trim your tax bill

Advice, Articles, Uncategorized, , , , , , , ,

If you’re starting to fret about your 2019 tax bill, there’s good news — you may still have time to reduce your liability if you do your tax return preparation carefully. Three strategies are available that may help you cut your taxes before year-end, including:

1. Accelerate deductions/defer income. Certain tax deductions are claimed for the year of payment, such as the mortgage interest deduction. So, if you make your January 2020 payment this month, you can deduct the interest portion on your 2019 tax return (assuming you itemize).

Pushing income into the new year also will reduce your taxable income. If you’re expecting a bonus at work, for example, and you don’t want the income this year, ask if your employer can hold off on paying it until January. If you’re self-employed, you can delay your invoices until late in December to divert the revenue to 2020.

You shouldn’t pursue this approach if you expect to land in a higher tax bracket next year. Also, if you’re eligible for the qualified business income deduction for pass-through entities, you might reduce the amount of that deduction if you reduce your income.

2. Maximize your retirement contributions. What could be better than paying yourself instead of Uncle Sam? Federal tax law encourages individual taxpayers to make the maximum allowable contributions for the year to their retirement accounts, including traditional IRAs and SEP plans, 401(k)s and deferred annuities.

For 2019, you generally can contribute as much as $19,000 to 401(k)s and $6,000 for traditional IRAs. Self-employed individuals can contribute up to 25% of your net income (but no more than $56,000) to a SEP IRA.

3. Harvest your investment losses. Losing money on your investments has a bit of an upside — it gives you the opportunity to offset taxable gains. If you sell under-performing investments before the end of the year, you can offset gains realized this year on a dollar-for-dollar basis.

If you have more losses than gains, you generally can apply up to $3,000 of the excess to reduce your ordinary income. Any remaining losses are carried forward to future tax years.

We can help

The strategies described above are only a sampling of strategies that may be available. Contact us if you have questions about these or other methods for minimizing your tax liability for 2019.

© 2019

Plan for Estate tax NOW!

Advice, Articles, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , ,

What will happen if a different president is elected?

Due to the Trump Administration, the estate tax exemption was increased as of 1/1/2018 – up to $10,000,000 per taxpayer.  This goes up annually and for 2019, the estate tax exemption is $11,400,000.   So, a married couple would get a combined total of $28,000,000.  Any estates above this amount are taxed at a Federal tax rate of 40%.  This is a LARGE amount, and one should seriously focus on utilizing the estate tax exemption before it changes.  The estate tax exemption amount is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025, after which it would be reduced to $5MM per taxpayer.

Consider that even though the estate tax exemption is high, it expires AND it could change.  There seems to be more and more conversation about increasing tax on the wealthy, but we also have the United States national debt to consider.  If political parties change in power, there could be a push to increase taxes on the wealthy and thus lower the estate tax exemption.  Recently, the IRS issued the following Proposed Regulation https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2018/11/23/2018-25538/estate-and-gift-taxes-difference-in-the-basic-exclusion-amount, which explains that if a taxpayer uses the larger estate tax exemption rules and when they die the estate tax exemption is lower, the estate tax calculation will not claw back or recalculate to the lower estate tax at death.  Thus, we recommend that wealthy individuals review using the larger estate tax exemption while it is still law.

As always, income tax and estate tax can be very complex and individual taxpayers need to work with their tax adviser to customize an approach that will work for them.  There are many different strategies to consider, and each strategy should be reviewed in detail with the proper professionals.

Vertical Advisors is a boutique CPA, Accounting, and Business Advisory firm that focuses primarily on privately held businesses and their owners.

2019 Vehicles, Auto Depreciation Limits, and Amounts

Uncategorized, , , , , , ,

The IRS has released the depreciation deduction amounts which are pursuant to Internal Revenue Code (IRC) Section 280F. This code section discusses the depreciation deduction limits for passenger automobiles (including trucks and vans) first placed in service during 2019. For passenger autos acquired before 9/28/17 and placed in service during 2019, the depreciation limits are $10,100 for the first year ($14,900 with bonus depreciation), $16,100 for the second year, $9,700 for the third year, and $5,760 for each succeeding year. Typically bonus depreciation is taken by default for tax year 2019.

If a taxpayer is leasing a car, there are also lease inclusion amounts which is really giving the lease expense a haircut. This is discussed in Rev. Proc. 2019-26. Most small business owners use their auto’s for business. However, one needs to be careful in how they deduct the expense and depreciation of the vehicles. There are also additional considerations for luxury autos, and automobiles that weigh over 6,000 lbs., which allow for larger deductions.

Clients often ask us – “is it better to lease or purchase?” The answer is, well, it depends. Here are some quick thoughts.

If you drive a lot of miles, say over 12,000 miles a year, you will typically have to pay more or get a penalty for too many miles under a lease. However, if you like to get a new car often, then a lease might work out. Purchasing a car generally allows a business owner to deduct a large amount in the first year using accelerated depreciation, but one still needs to navigate through the depreciation limitations above. However, depreciation for vehicles above 6,000 gross vehicle weight may allow for more. Now, most of this discussion is regarding passenger auto’s and SUV’s, so if you purchase commercial vans or trucks for your business the depreciation rules and deductions are generally much larger as they are viewed as not being passenger autos.

Anyway, as one can see there are specific rules and considerations for deducting your vehicle. The IRS doesn’t allow for deductions for personal use, and personal use technically can also include commuting to and from work. So, discuss this topic with your tax advisor and make sure you understand your plan, your deductions and your risk.

For passenger autos acquired after 9/27/17 and placed in service during 2019, the depreciation limits are $10,100 for the first year ($18,100 with bonus depreciation), $16,100 for the second year, $9,700 for the third year, and $5,760 for each succeeding year. Also, the IRS has released the lease inclusion amounts for lessees of passenger autos first leased in 2019. Rev. Proc. 2019-26.

Three questions you may have after you file your return

Advice, Articles, Uncategorized, , , , ,

Once your 2018 tax return has been successfully filed with the IRS, you may still have some questions. Here are brief answers to three questions that we’re frequently asked at this time of year.

Question #1: What tax records can I throw away now?

At a minimum, keep tax records related to your return for as long as the IRS can audit your return or assess additional taxes. In general, the statute of limitations is three years after you file your return. So you can generally get rid of most records related to tax returns for 2015 and earlier years. (If you filed an extension for your 2015 return, hold on to your records until at least three years from when you filed the extended return.)

However, the statute of limitations extends to six years for taxpayers who understate their gross income by more than 25%.

You’ll need to hang on to certain tax-related records longer. For example, keep the actual tax returns indefinitely, so you can prove to the IRS that you filed a legitimate return. (There’s no statute of limitations for an audit if you didn’t file a return or you filed a fraudulent one.)

When it comes to retirement accounts, keep records associated with them until you’ve depleted the account and reported the last withdrawal on your tax return, plus three (or six) years. And retain records related to real estate or investments for as long as you own the asset, plus at least three years after you sell it and report the sale on your tax return. (You can keep these records for six years if you want to be extra safe.)

Question #2: Where’s my refund?

The IRS has an online tool that can tell you the status of your refund. Go to irs.gov and click on “Refund Status” to find out about yours. You’ll need your Social Security number, filing status and the exact refund amount.

Question #3: Can I still collect a refund if I forgot to report something?

In general, you can file an amended tax return and claim a refund within three years after the date you filed your original return or within two years of the date you paid the tax, whichever is later. So for a 2018 tax return that you filed on April 15 of 2019, you can generally file an amended return until April 15, 2022.

However, there are a few opportunities when you have longer to file an amended return. For example, the statute of limitations for bad debts is longer than the usual three-year time limit for most items on your tax return. In general, you can amend your tax return to claim a bad debt for seven years from the due date of the tax return for the year that the debt became worthless.

We can help
Contact us if you have questions about tax record retention, your refund or filing an amended return. We’re available all year long — not just at tax filing time!
© 2019