Year-End Tax Planning Tips from Valensi Rose, PLC

Year-end tax planning could be especially productive this year because timely action could nail down a host of tax breaks that won't be around next year unless Congress acts to extend them, which, at the present time, looks doubtful. These include, for individuals: the option to deduct state and local sales and use taxes instead of state and local income taxes; the above-the-line deduction for qualified higher education expenses; and tax-free distributions by those age 70- 1/2 or older from IRAs for charitable purposes. For businesses, tax breaks that are available through the end of this year but won't be around next year unless Congress acts include: 50% bonus first-year depreciation for most new machinery, equipment and software; an extraordinarily high $500,000 expensing limitation; the research tax credit; and the 15-year writeoff for qualified leasehold improvements, qualified restaurant buildings and improvements and qualified retail improvements. High-income-earners have other factors to keep in mind when mapping out year-end plans. For the first time, they have to take into account the 3.8% tax surtax on unearned income and the additional 0.9% Medicare (hospital insurance, or HI) tax that applies to individuals receiving wages with respect to employment in excess of $200,000 ($250,000 for married couples filing jointly and $125,000 for married couples filing separately). We have compiled a checklist of actions based on current tax rules that may help you save tax dollars if you act before year-end. Not all actions will apply in your particular situation, but you will likely benefit from many of them. We are happy to narrow down the specific actions that you can take to tailor a particular plan for yourself or your business.  Year-End Tax Planning Moves for Individuals Realize losses on stock while substantially preserving your investment position. There are several ways this can be done. For example, you can sell the original holding, then buy back the same securities at least 31 days later. It may be advisable for us to meet to discuss year-end trades you should consider making. You may want to pay contested taxes to be able to deduct them this year while continuing to contest them next year. You may want to settle an insurance or damage claim in order to maximize your casualty loss deduction this year. Purchase qualified small business stock (QSBS) before the end of this year. There is no tax on gain from the sale of such stock if it is (1) purchased after September 27, 2010 and before January 1, 2014, and (2) held for more than five years. In addition, such sales won't cause AMT preference problems. To qualify for these breaks, the stock must be issued by a regular (C) corporation with total gross assets of $50 million or less, and a number of other technical requirements must be met. Our office can fill you in on the details. If you are age 70-1/2 or older, own IRAs and are thinking of making a charitable gift, consider arranging for the gift to be made directly by the IRA trustee. Such a transfer, if made before year-end, can achieve important tax savings. Make gifts sheltered by the annual gift tax exclusion before the end of the year and thereby save gift and estate taxes. You can give $14,000 in 2013 to each of an unlimited number of individuals but you can't carry over unused exclusions from one year to the next. The transfers also may save family income taxes where income-earning property is given to family members in lower income tax brackets who are not subject to the kiddie tax. Year-End Tax-Planning Moves for  Businesses & Business Owners Businesses should consider making expenditures that qualify for the business property expensing option. For tax years beginning in 2013, the expensing limit is $500,000 and the investment ceiling limit is $2,000,000. And a limited amount of expensing may be claimed for qualified real property. However, unless Congress changes the rules, for tax years beginning in 2014, the dollar limit will drop to $25,000, the beginning-of-phaseout amount will drop to $200,000, and expensing won't be available for qualified real property. The generous dollar ceilings that apply this year mean that many small and medium sized businesses that make timely purchases will be able to currently deduct most if not all their outlays for machinery and equipment. What's more, the expensing deduction is not prorated for the time that the asset is in service during the year. This opens up significant year-end planning opportunities. If you are self-employed and haven't done so yet, set up a self-employed retirement plan. Depending on your particular situation, you may also want to consider deferring a debt-cancellation event until 2014, and disposing of a passive activity to allow you to deduct suspended losses. If you own an interest in a partnership or S corporation you may need to increase your basis in the entity so you can deduct a loss from it for this year. These are just some of the year-end steps that can be taken to save taxes. Again, by contacting us, we can tailor a particular plan that will work best for you.  Please contact a member of the Tax & Wealth Planning Group for more information.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 Upheld by the Supreme Court, and How We'll Pay For It

By Autumn Ronda

On June 28, 2012, the Obama Administration was successful in its battle to have the Supreme Court uphold most of the provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (the "Act").  In an effort to fund the Act, beginning January 1, 2013, taxpayers at higher income levels will feel the pinch of the new taxes included in the bill, which initially passed in March, 2010.

The first tax is a .9% increase in the Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax portion of FICA on wages over $200,000 ($250,000 for couples, $125,000 for married filing separately). Generally, every wage earner owes a 2.9% tax, which is split between the employee and the employer. Under the new tax, the additional .9%, which brings the total Hospital Insurance Tax for these high earners to 3.8%, is payable entirely by the employee.  Self-employed persons will be equally affected by a .9% increase Hospital Insurance Tax portion of the SECA tax on self-employment, subject to the same income limits.

The second tax, called the Unearned Income Medicare Contribution Tax, is a tax on lesser of net investment income, or the excess of Modified Adjusted Gross Income over the threshold amount of $200,000 (or $250,000 for couples, $125,000 for married filing separately), at a 3.8% flat rate.  Investment income is a broad category including, but not limited to, most interest, rents, dividends, royalties, capital gains from the sale of stocks and bonds, and passive rental and business income. Even taxable gain on the sale of a home is hit by this new tax to the extent the gain exceeds the Section 121 exclusion for the sale of a principal residence.  The tax on investment income not only affects individual taxpayers, but also can have a significant effect on the income taxes owed by trusts and estates. 

The effort to raise revenue to pay for the costly healthcare act has made two very significant changes to the tax system. Historically, the tax on wages to fund Medicare has been a flat tax and has only been imposed on earned income. The new .9% tax will impose a progressive Medicare Hospital Insurance Tax on wages, and the new Unearned Income Medicare Contribution Tax of 3.8% will impose a Medicare tax on investment income which previously did not exist.

Contact Autumn Ronda

Michael Morris Interviewed on KTLA Television on Income Tax Pitfalls

KTLA-TV Channel 5 Legal expert Manny Medrano interviews Michael Morris warning consumers about some pitfalls you want to avoid when filing your income taxes.

 VIDEO: Tax Time Pitfalls - Manny Medrano "Inside the Law"

For more information on the subject or any other tax related questions, please  Contact Michael Morris