Don’t Miss Out on Year-End Tax-Planning Opportunities
To say COVID-19 has made 2020 a disastrous year for just about everyone would be an understatement. In response to the economic slowdown and losses of income, Congress passed several extensive laws to benefit individuals and businesses that suffered financial hardship because of COVID-19. However, 2020 has given rise to more than the usual tax-planning opportunities. Thus, you may find it appropriate to schedule a tax-planning appointment well before the close of the year to take advantage of the tax benefits and strategies available for 2020. Although everyone’s situation is unique, the following are examples of tax opportunities and strategies that may apply to your circumstances.
You have probably heard others discussing living trusts but may not understand the reasons for them or whether you should have one.
The Internal Revenue Service has resurrected a form that has not been used since the early 1980s, Form 1099-NEC (the NEC stands for non-employee compensation). This form will be used to report non-employee compensation in place of the 1099-MISC, which has been used since 1983 to report payments to contract workers and freelancers. Form 1099-MISC has also been used to report rents, royalties, crop insurance proceeds and several other types of income unrelated to independent contractors.
The Internal Revenue Service has announced it will reopen the registration period for federal beneficiaries with children who didn’t receive a $500 per child Economic Impact (stimulus) Payment earlier this year.
As part of tax reform put into place a couple of years ago, individuals are able to defer both short- and long-term capital gains into what are referred to as Qualified Opportunity Zone Funds (QOFs). What is nice about this is that only the actual amount of gain needs to be invested into a QOF to avoid taxes on the gain for the sale year. The gains invested in a QOF are deferred until you cash out of the QOF investment or December 31, 2026, whichever occurs first.
If you hire a domestic worker to provide services in or around your home, you probably have a tax liability that you don’t know about – or one that you do know about but are ignoring. Either situation can come back to bite you. When the worker is your employee, your liability includes both withholding and paying payroll taxes as well as issuing a W-2 after the close of the year.
Most taxpayers don’t intentionally incur tax penalties, but many who are penalized are simply not aware of the penalties or the possible impact on their wallets. Let’s look at some of the more commonly encountered penalties and how they may be avoided.
Tired of having all those old tax records taking up drawer or closet space and collecting dust. Want to dump as much as you can? People often ask how long records must be kept and the amount of time IRS has to audit a return after it is filed.
The outcome of the November elections could have a significant impact on taxes for the wealthy. The COVID-19 pandemic has wreaked havoc on the economy, as the government’s tax revenues have declined while government spending has soared. Although the President has not revealed his tax policies for the future, Joe Biden, his presumptive opponent in November, has, and that is why the wealthy are strategizing for potential increases.
The IRS is mailing all recipients of Economic Impact Payments a Notice 1444 that provides information about the amount of their payment, how the payment was made and how to report any payment that wasn’t received. If you’ve already received your economic impact payment, you’ve probably already received this document too. This notice was issued from The White House and looks more like a letter than a traditional IRS notice, but the notice number is in the upper right of the heading, just below the date.