Seek Tax Advisor Recommendations Before Selling an Investment Property
The real estate market is red hot, and plenty of folks nearing retirement and holding investment property see now as an excellent time to offload their real estate assets and reap the profits. If you’re one of them, then – tempting as it may be – make sure that you talk to your tax advisor before making that move.
Purchasing rental properties has become an extremely popular investment strategy. In fact, experts say that those nearing and past retirement age have accumulated about $6.4 million in net worth tied to those holdings. As attractive as that income is, it can also create responsibilities around rent collection and property management that lose their appeal pretty quickly. It’s no wonder that, between those responsibilities and skyrocketing valuations, many people are looking to get out.
Continue reading →
You have probably heard others discussing living trusts but may not understand the reasons for them or whether you should have one.
Birth and Adoption Exception – The tax law provides for several exceptions to the early-withdrawal penalty, and Congress has added another one as part of the Appropriations Act of 2020 (SECURE Act). The new exception provides for penalty-free plan withdrawals for births or adoptions, for distributions taken from IRAs, qualified employer plans (such as 401(k)s) and government retirement plans after Dec. 31, 2019. However, the maximum aggregate amount of a qualified birth or adoption distribution by any individual with respect to any birth or adoption is $5,000, applied individually (so each spouse may separately receive $5,000 of qualified birth or adoption distributions).
Taxpayers are frequently blindsided when their filing status changes because of a life event such as marriage, divorce, separation or the death of a spouse. These occasions can be stressful or ecstatic times, and the last thing most people will be thinking about are the tax ramifications. But the ramifications are real, and the following are some of the major tax complications for each situation. 
When was the last time you or your attorney reviewed or updated your will or trust? If it was before the passage of the 2017 tax reform legislation, or the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA), your documents may be out of date. Among the many changes in that law was a more than doubling of the estate tax exemption. Prior to the TCJA, if the value of an individual’s estate at his or her death was about $5.5 million or more, it was subject to the estate tax. For deaths in 2020, and based on the TCJA inflation-adjusted amounts, just over $11.5 million is exempted from estate tax. So, if your will or trust was premised on the lower value, it may need to be revised so that it provides the appropriate estate tax results for your situation
Taxpayers with disabilities may qualify for a number of tax credits and other tax benefits. Parents of children with disabilities may also qualify. Listed below are several tax credits and other benefits that are available if you or someone else listed on your federal tax return is disabled.