Year-end tax planning this year will be just as complicated as it was last year because of uncertainty surrounding many expired tax breaks for individuals. While Congress mulls legislation to extend (or even make permanent) some expired tax provisions, it’s difficult to predict what will be included in the final bill. Rather than waiting to act until potential legislation is passed, implement these year-end tax planning strategies today because most steps to reduce your 2015 tax bill must be taken before year end.
Take advantage of planning strategies for individuals
Individuals often can reduce their tax bills by deferring income to the next year and accelerating deductible expenses into the current year. To defer income, for example, you might ask your employer to pay your year-end bonus in early 2016 rather than in 2015.
And to accelerate deductions, you might pay certain property taxes early or increase your IRA or qualified retirement plan contributions to the extent that they’ll be deductible. Such contributions also provide some planning flexibility because you can make 2015 contributions to IRAs, and certain other retirement plans, after the end of the year.
Remember that, when you use a credit card to pay expenses or make charitable contributions this year, you can deduct them on your 2015 return even if you don’t pay your bill until next year.
Other year-end tax planning strategies to consider include:
Offsetting capital gains. If you’ve sold stocks or other investments at a gain this year — or plan to do so — consider offsetting those gains by selling some poorly performing investments at a loss.
Reducing capital gains is particularly important if you’re subject to the net investment income tax (NIIT), which applies to taxpayers with modified adjusted gross income (MAGI) over $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly). The NIIT is an additional 3.8% tax on the lesser of 1) your net income from capital gains, dividends, taxable interest and certain other sources, or 2) the amount by which your MAGI exceeds the threshold.
In addition to reducing your net investment income by generating capital losses, you may have opportunities to bring your MAGI below the applicable NIIT threshold by deferring income or accelerating certain deductions.
Charitable giving. If you plan to make charitable donations, consider donating highly appreciated stock or other assets rather than cash. This strategy is particularly effective if you own appreciated stock you’d like to sell but you don’t have any losses to offset the gains.
Donating stock to charity allows you to dispose of the stock without triggering capital gains taxes, while still claiming a charitable deduction. Then you can take the cash you’d planned to donate and reinvest it in other securities.
Monitoring expired tax breaks. Keep an eye on Congress. If certain expired tax breaks are extended before the end of the year, you may have some last-minute planning opportunities. Expired provisions include tax-free IRA distributions to charity for taxpayers age 70½ and older, the deduction for state and local sales taxes, and the above-the-line deduction for qualified tuition and related expenses.
We can help
Although not new, uncertainty over expired tax breaks certainly creates some challenges. We can help you to implement the strategies available today and to be in a position to act quickly when tax legislation is signed into law. Call us today to set up a time to begin your year-end tax planning.
