There are ways to collect income and gains free from federal income tax. For example, if you receive a gift or inheritance, the amount generally isn’t taxable. And unlike withdrawals from traditional IRAs, qualified Roth IRA withdrawals are free from federal income tax. A qualified withdrawal is one taken after you reach age 59½ and have had a Roth IRA open for over five years, or you are disabled or deceased. Also, you can have a decent income and still owe 0% for long-term gains and dividends. In 2024, single taxpayers can have up to $47,025 in taxable income ($94,050 for married couples filing jointly) and be in the 0% bracket. Contact us. Advance planning may lead to better tax results.
The upcoming elections may significantly alter the tax landscape of U.S. businesses. The reason has to do with provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025. One significant change is the scheduled expiration of the qualified business income (QBI) deduction. This write-off is for up to 20% of QBI from noncorporate entities. What will happen to your taxes depends on different possible outcomes: For example, all expiring TCJA provisions could expire. Or some provisions could expire and others could be extended or made permanent. New laws could also be enacted to provide different tax breaks and/or rates. We’ll keep you informed so stay tuned.
It’s an ideal time to begin making moves that could reduce your tax bills for 2024 and 2025. If you itemize deductions, you may be able to deduct medical expenses, state and local taxes up to $10,000, charitable donations, and eligible mortgage interest. But these deductions won’t save taxes unless they’re more than your standard deduction ($29,200 for joint filers, $14,600 for singles and $21,900 for heads of household). You may be able to work around deduction limits by bunching discretionary medical expenses and charitable gifts into the year they’ll do some tax good. For example, if you itemize for 2024 but not 2025, you may want to make two years of charitable contributions this year.
If you’re buying a business, you want the best results possible AFTER taxes. You can potentially structure a purchase in two ways: 1) Buy the business assets. 2) Buy the seller’s entity ownership interest. If you’re buying assets, you must allocate the purchase price to the specific assets acquired. The amount allocated to each asset becomes the initial tax basis of that asset. For depreciable and amortizable assets (such as furniture, equipment, buildings, software and intangibles such as customer lists), the initial tax basis determines the post-acquisition tax deductions. The allocation process can lead to better or worse post-acquisition tax results. Contact us for assistance.
Buckle up: We’re likely to see major federal tax changes within the next year or two. The reason has to do with the upcoming elections and provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) that are set to expire on Dec. 31, 2025. Here are 4 possible scenarios: 1) All TCJA provisions that are scheduled to expire will expire. 2) All TCJA provisions that are set to expire will be extended or made permanent. 3) Some provisions will expire while others will be extended or made permanent. 4) Some or all expiring TCJA provisions will expire and new laws will be enacted that provide different tax breaks and/or rates. What will happen to YOUR taxes depends on which scenario becomes reality.
