Category: Planning

  • Paperwork You Can Toss After Filing Your Tax Return

    Paperwork You Can Toss After Filing Your Tax Return

    Once you file your 2022 tax return, you may wonder what personal tax papers you can throw away and how long you should retain certain records. You may have to produce those records if the IRS audits your return or seeks to assess tax. It’s a good idea to keep the actual returns indefinitely. But…

  • Strategies for Investors to Cut Taxes as Year-End Approaches

    Strategies for Investors to Cut Taxes as Year-End Approaches

    The overall stock market has been down during 2022 but there have been some bright spots. As year-end approaches, consider making some moves to make the best tax use of paper losses and actual losses from your stock market investments. Tax rates on sales Individuals are subject to tax at a rate as high as…

  • Planning for Year-End Gifts with the Gift Tax Annual Exclusion

    Planning for Year-End Gifts with the Gift Tax Annual Exclusion

    As we approach the holidays and the end of the year, many people may want to make gifts of cash or stock to their loved ones. By properly using the annual exclusion, gifts to family members and loved ones can reduce the size of your taxable estate, within generous limits, without triggering any estate or…

  • Can Taxpayers Who Manage Their Own Investment Portfolios Deduct Related Expenses?

    Can Taxpayers Who Manage Their Own Investment Portfolios Deduct Related Expenses?

    Do you have significant investment-related expenses, including the cost of subscriptions to financial services, home office expenses and clerical costs? Under current tax law, these expenses aren’t deductible through 2025 if they’re considered investment expenses for the production of income. But they’re deductible if they’re considered trade or business expenses. For years before 2018, production-of-income…

  • IRS Audits May Be Increasing, So Be Prepared

    IRS Audits May Be Increasing, So Be Prepared

    The IRS recently released its audit statistics for the 2020 fiscal year and fewer taxpayers had their returns examined as compared with prior years. But even though a small percentage of returns are being chosen for audit these days, that will be little consolation if yours is one of them. Latest statistics Overall, just 0.5%…

  • The Long and Short of Succession Planning

    The Long and Short of Succession Planning

    For many business owners, putting together a succession plan may seem like an overwhelming task. It might even seem unnecessary for those who are relatively young and have no intention of giving up ownership anytime soon. But if the past year or so has taught us anything, it’s that anything can happen. Owners who’ve built…