Tax What If Doctor

From our family to yours, have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

It may sound odd when you say it out loud, but after considering all the facts, it’s quite true. It’s an emotional but understandable reaction to think you always want to lower your tax bill as much as possible. However, except in the case of death, the tax code is basically a case of “tax me now or tax me later.” In many cases, to lower your current tax bill means that income avoided or deductions taken now are going to come back into your life at some later point. One example would be an IRA. You put money in an IRA and lower today’s tax bill, but those dollars will need to be taxed at some point. When you[…]

In the “old days”, you went to the general store for your dry goods, the blacksmith for your horseshoes or tool repair and likely had your own cow and chickens for milk and eggs.  Fast forward, you went to a lawyer to get a will, an insurance rep to get a policy and an accountant to get your taxes done.  There was no internet, so information was something you had to gather and organize yourself.  You would talk to a few co-workers, a family member, a mentor and then take actions based on the limited intel.  Back then, you would sit with a financial advisor, and if they were a big deal they might have a stock ticker pumping out tape[…]

In a few months the U. S. will begin filing tax returns again, and at tax firms all over the country people will be making the “E-Trade” Shocked Baby Face (remember him?) when they see they are being charged penalties and interest for under paying their taxes due. Even if they made a 941 payment in the last quarter to cover ALL the tax due for the year, they can still find themselves fined by Uncle Sam as a penalty for not paying equally over the four quarters of the year. A last quarter over-payment simply means they underpaid for three quarters and overpaid for one quarter, and no, it’s not “good enough” for the IRS. People also argue that[…]

In October, as Halloween approaches, the fall wrap up begins around the house.  Any remaining lawn chairs, storm windows, etc., all go into place ahead of the first storm.  Sure, for some places, like Arizona, winter is just a nice break from the heat.  But, for a majority of the country that lives in the snow belt, November means batten down the hatches. The same is true for finance and tax planning.  People start looking at their holiday shopping budgets and looking at their end of year projections (if they’re financial goal setters) to see where they are at.  We often talk about tax planning, but the 911 calls start in early December, and there’s a lot that still can[…]

With fall in the air, it’s time to start thinking about things that need to be done to prepare for winter.  The garden harvests are rolling in, fresh vegetables are everywhere and it’s really, really great.  Time to fill up your oil tanks before the price change, and at least know where those snow tires are in the back of the garage.  It’s also time for tax planning. There are so many things in the tax code that have time limitations.  It’s really time to check in with yourself if you want to actually participate in your bill with the IRS.  Taxes can be very much within people’s control, even though they don’t feel that way.  If you’re still out on extension, heads up — you[…]

Many taxpayers today don’t really know how much income tax they actually paid with their 2021 tax filing. A few can tell you something more general like, “I got quite a refund” or “I paid a lot and it hurt!”, but not many can really tell you how much tax they actually owed. That’s a shame in our “plugged in” world where your mortgage company, credit card company, crypto wallet service, Amazon, Credit Karma etc. have all done their best to have you interact on a regular basis. They send you reminders, offer you guidance and try to inform you in some way of your ongoing status. Ask a taxpayer what bracket they are in and they might answer, “I[…]

We are nearing the October filing deadline, so all the crying is almost over for last year’s tax return submissions.   We’ve blogged throughout the summer on various topics, but now you’re down to a few weeks to effectively do 90% of what can be done to affect your current year tax liability.  Only a few things can be done after December 31st, once you realize how big the bill actually is.  If you’re an individual making less than top wages, you can open and fund IRAs after December 31st to reduce this year’s tax bill.  Other than that, there’s little that can be done once the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.  You have until then to get your act together, figure out where your[…]

This last wave of tax filers are quite often the most productive people in our economy. Many are business owners, some with more than one business, or at least in some ways just have a lot going on, which means they usually add and not subtract from the tax base. That said, if your taxes are not done yet, then you’re in a rush (or should be) to get everything ready for filing, which usually means you’re not getting everything done accurately, and very often means you’re not getting any real tax mitigation advice either. It’s a vicious cycle. You wait to file because you are so busy getting ahead and just plain getting things done, then comes the fear[…]

Don’t let your stockbroker off the hook when it comes to tax planning.  Many people work with brokers when they buy and sell stocks.  Many people now, because of the internet, also have become their own stockbrokers, doing their own research and trading on various platforms.  Whether you use a professional or do your trades yourself, you still need to hold your stockbroker accountable.  What do I mean?  If a broker is helping you buy and sell, they had to take a Series license of some kind.  Sometimes, an RIA (Registered Investment Advisor) has taken a Series 65 exam.  If it’s a representative of a broker/dealer, perhaps they’ve taken a Series 6 or a Series 7 exam.  There are other possibilities, but the point is, these exams[…]

Well, do they or don’t they, actually?  Long debated and often manipulated by the media, the topic of the wealthy and taxation has many, many complex points and counterpoints.  First, when people say that, they often don’t define what kind of tax.  The people hearing the comment usually go to federal personal income tax in their mind as TAXES. However, if a wealthy person owns 20 C corporations, with each filing their own tax returns, those C corporations pay their own taxes and unless the wealthy person needed to take a dividend or other distribution, then they could pay zero federal income tax, even though their companies paid potentially millions in taxes themselves.   The kinds of taxes people pay[…]

Have you ever seen a cat on the side of the road that waits until the very last second and then darts across the road in front of traffic? Ever see one that didn’t make it and think, “Some child is going to be very sad soon.”? I always wonder what makes the cat wait until the last second, but then again that’s what most taxpayers seem to do! They wait until February or March with a filing deadline looming and then dash out in front of a tax preparer and beg, “Is there anything we can do to lower this?”  Like the cat, perhaps the preparer has an idea and they miss getting hit with the entire bill, but[…]

It’s hard to be logical all the time about everything.  The most financially successful tax clients we serve at least attempt to force themselves to be logical, for their own benefit.  For instance, our parents, as well as a subset of the economy including some popular radio show based advisors like Dave Ramsey, say you should pay off your home and have a “free and clear” deed as a goal (they are wrong in most cases by the way).  That kind of thinking is emotional thinking, mixed perhaps with some presumptive attitude about what the general populous is capable of.  “Well, we know we can’t get people to do what would really be best for them based on pure math[…]

The buzz about the IRA potentially getting billions in new funding and hiring 87,000 new employees is typical of the news spinners who thrive on creating anxiety for the general public. The tax industry has known the IRS’s secret for years now and the few people in the public that pay attention know that these people are desperately needed!  Like many restaurants and other businesses that have closed because of staff shortages and uncertainty, the IRS at current staff levels has been almost impossible to reach and is years behind in its work. They have had tens of thousands of employees retire without being replaced, and just reaching the IRS to speak to someone about an issue can take days[…]

When planning ahead, or just engaging in their day to day operations, most business owners at least occasionally think about tax deductions. A business dinner that can be partially deductible, or a new machine that can be depreciated. However, they often don’t think about or plan how to acquire other tax credits, which can often be much more valuable. Tax credits are often transitory, with the benefits increased or reduced from year to year, or sometimes eliminated altogether, only to be brought back again several years later. Over the last few decades we have seen some popular credits renewed or in some cases even made a permanent part of the tax code. Small business owners seem to often not be aware[…]