If you have a child or grandchild who’s going to attend college in the future, you’ve probably heard about qualified tuition programs, also known as 529 plans. These plans, named for the Internal Revenue Code section that provides for them, allow prepayment of higher education costs on a tax-favored basis.
Continue Reading: Investing in the future with a 529 education plan
Now that fall is officially here, it’s a good time to start taking steps that may lower your tax bill for this year and next.
Continue Reading: Year-end tax planning ideas for individuals
As a result of the current estate tax exemption amount ($12.06 million in 2022), many estates no longer need to be concerned with federal estate tax. Before 2011, a much smaller amount resulted in estate plans attempting to avoid it. But now, because many estates won’t be subject to estate tax, more planning can be devoted to saving income taxes for your heirs.
Continue Reading: Don’t forget income taxes when planning your estate
In its latest report, the National Association of Realtors (NAR) announced that July 2022 existing home sales were down but prices were up nationwide, compared with last year. “The ongoing sales decline reflects the impact of the mortgage rate peak of 6% in early June,” said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. However, he added that “home sales may soon stabilize since mortgage rates have fallen to near 5%, thereby giving an additional boost of purchasing power to home buyers.”
Continue Reading: Seller-paid points: Can homeowners deduct them?
High-income taxpayers face two special taxes — a 3.8% net investment income tax (NIIT) and a 0.9% additional Medicare tax on wage and self-employment income. Here’s an overview of the taxes and what they may mean for you.
Continue Reading: Is your income high enough to owe two extra taxes?
You may have heard that the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) was signed into law recently. While experts have varying opinions about whether it will reduce inflation in the near future, it contains, extends and modifies many climate and energy-related tax credits that may be of interest to individuals.
Continue Reading: The Inflation Reduction Act: what’s in it for you?
If you’re a business owner working from home or an entrepreneur with a home-based side gig, you may qualify for valuable home office deductions.
Continue Reading: Home sweet home: Do you qualify for office deductions?
When a married couple files a joint tax return, each spouse is “jointly and severally” liable for the full amount of tax on the couple’s combined income. Therefore, the IRS can come after either spouse to collect the entire tax — not just the part that’s attributed to one spouse or the other. This includes any tax deficiency that the IRS assesses after an audit, as well as any penalties and interest. (However, the civil fraud penalty can be imposed only on spouses who’ve actually committed fraud.)
Continue Reading: An “innocent spouse” may be able to escape tax liability
If you don’t have enough federal tax withheld from your paychecks and other payments, you may have to make estimated tax payments. This is the case if you receive interest, dividends, self-employment income, capital gains or other income. Here are the applicable rules for paying estimated tax without triggering the penalty for underpayment.
Continue Reading: Estimated tax payments: Who owes them and when is the next one due?
When you filed your federal tax return this year, were you surprised to find you owed money? You might want to change your withholding so that this doesn’t happen again next year. You might even want to adjust your withholding if you got a big refund. Receiving a tax refund essentially means you’re giving the government an interest-free loan.
Taxpayers should periodically review their tax situations and adjust withholding, if appropriate.
The IRS has a withholding calculator to assist you in conducting a paycheck checkup. The calculator reflects tax law changes in areas such as available itemized deductions, the child credit, the dependent credit and the repeal of dependent exemptions. You can access the IRS calculator here.
There are some situations when you should check your withholding. In addition to tax law changes, the IRS recommends that you perform a checkup if you:
You can modify your withholding at any time during the year, or even multiple times within a year. To do so, you simply submit a new Form W-4 to your employer. Changes typically go into effect several weeks after a new Form W-4 is submitted. (For estimated tax payments, you can make adjustments each time quarterly estimated payments are due. The next payments for 2022 are due on September 15, 2022, and January 16, 2023.)
There’s still time to remedy any shortfalls to minimize taxes due for 2022, as well as any penalties and interest. Contact us if you have any questions or need assistance. We can help you determine if you need to adjust your withholding.