Those dealing with income taxes only once a year when involved with their own personal tax return often have questions related to tax terminology. The following is a compilation of questions frequently asked by individuals:
If you are a grandparent there are several things you can do to teach your grandchildren financial responsibility and set aside money for their future education and retirement. Before we get into actual suggestions, it is important that you understand the gift tax rules. You can give anyone, every year, an amount up to the annual gift tax exclusion. The gift tax exclusion is inflation-adjusted and is currently $17,000, which means that, in 2023, you can give any number of recipients up to $17,000. Thus, you can give each grandchild $17,000per year; and, if you are married, both you and your spouse can each give $17,000 for a total of $34,000 per year. Gifts in excess of $17,000 per donee can certainly be made, but doing so will mean the grandparent must file a Gift Tax Return (Form 709) and pay gift tax on taxable gifts in excess of a lifetime gift and estate tax exclusion $12.92 Million for 2023).
Of course, just handing out money to your grandchildren will not teach financial responsibility or meet specific goals you might have in mind for the money. The following are some suggestions.
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When it comes to transactions between family members, the tax laws are frequently overlooked, if not outright trampled upon. The following are some commonly encountered situations and the tax ramifications associated with each.
These are not the only examples of the tax complications that can occur in family transactions. It is recommended that you contact this office before completing any family financial transaction. It is better to structure a transaction within the parameters of tax law in the first place than suffer unexpected consequences afterwards.
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When you are attempting to defer the taxability of a capital gain, save money for your children’s future education or plan your retirement finances, you may do so in several ways, including investing in the stock market, buying real estate for income and appreciation, or simply putting money away in education savings accounts or retirement plans. Knowing how these various tax savings vehicles and income deferral opportunities function is important for choosing the ones best suited to your circumstances.
To get ready for your tax appointment, we use tax organizers to help us identify missing tax deductions and get you more organized before your appointment. We update the tax organizer annually to make sure you are compliant with the latest tax law changes.
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Background – The Affordable Care Act (ACA) – also referred to as Obamacare) was enacted over 12 years ago, and one of its main features was the creation of government marketplaces (sometimes called exchanges) where Americans could purchase their health insurance if not covered by an affordable employer’s plan. Also included in the ACA was a new tax credit, the Premium Tax Credit (PTC), that could be used to offset some or all of the premiums for policies obtained through the marketplace.
However, that law also contained what some have referred to as “the family glitch” that prevented some families from having access to a health insurance marketplace or taking advantage of the PTC. After more than a decade, the IRS has come up with regulations that will allow, in some cases, these family members to be eligible for the PTC.
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Along with the holidays comes a lot of extra work for many family-run businesses, which may require putting the kids to work and having a spouse help out over the busy time. There are special tax rules when hiring your children and also for your spouse, depending on whether he or she is a business partner or an employee.
The holiday season is customarily a time of giving gifts, whether to your favorite charity, family members or others. Some gifts even provide a variety of tax benefits.
But be wary; during the holiday season, you may receive phone calls, texts, emails, snail mail, or appeals on social networking sites for donations for various causes. However, some of these appeals may come from fraudsters and not legitimate charities. Unfortunately, this happens every holiday season.
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Year-end is rapidly approaching as are the holidays. So before you become distracted with the seasonal celebrations, it may be in your best interest to consider year-end tax moves that can benefit you for both 2022 and 2023.
It’s been a rough Fall for the stock market. So much so that you should probably carefully review your portfolio and other capital transactions to minimize gain or maximize losses for the year. Remember, capital gains and losses are not just limited to stock transactions. For example, stock losses can offset the gain from the sale of a rental. So you may want to consider other capital transactions you’ve already made this year or could make before the end of the year that would result in a gain that can be offset with stock losses. There can be any number of scenarios that might benefit from year-end planning.
Any transaction you plan must be completed by the end of the year, which is right at the conclusion of the Holidays. Thus, it is probably appropriate to have your planning strategies in place well in advance of the Holidays.
But first here’s a review of the various tax rules and strategies that apply during this severely down stock market.
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