Year-end tax planning – how to minimize the total tax paid in 2015 and 2016

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To act or not to act? That is the question.

You still have time as year-end approaches to finalize your tax planning for 2015. With that in mind, this post separates areas where you may be able to act and provides more detail on the rules affecting how you act. If any of this is not clear, just ask questions, please.

  • Look through the list below to see if there are any items in your 2015 and 2016 finances that you can change in any way – moving from one year to the other, or delaying further.
  • Determine what impact each of these has and then the impact of all of them in concert:
    • This includes the alternative minimum tax (“AMT”), which is the 28% flat rate as opposed to the marginal rate of up to 39.6%.
    • If your deductions bring the regular tax down too low, the AMT kicks in, so that the deductions are wasted and need to be moved to another year, if possible, or income for that year increased to “pull you out of the AMT.” The AMT exemptions amounts for 2015 are $53,600 for individuals and $83,400 for married couples filing jointly.
  • Be sure to prepare tax projections for both tax years to determine which changes have the best results so that the total tax paid in the two years is minimized.

Not easy!

What do you act on?
To get started, it is helpful to know the current tax rates. Here are the new rates for 2015: Federal Tax Rates for 2015. Also, note that the Standard Deductions rises to $6,300 for single taxpayers and married taxpayers filing separately, $12,600 for married couples filing jointly, and $9,250 for heads of household.

3.8% Medicare surtax
This affects all income for 2015 and beyond, but only to the extent of the lesser of:

  • Net investment income, or
  • The excess of modified adjusted gross income (“AGI”) over the threshold, which is $250,000 ($200,000 for single taxpayers).

Investment income includes interest, dividends, capital gains, annuities, royalties and passive rental income but excludes pensions and IRA distributions.

N.B. – the 3.8% surtax must be covered with your withholdings and estimated payments. See our post Update on the impact of the 3.8% Medicare surtax .

Wages – Can you defer or accelerate between years or even convert income into deferred income, such as stock options, or income to be received at retirement? Can you convert compensation into tax-free fringe benefits?

Stock options – can you exercise a non-qualified option (“NQ”), which is treated as ordinary income, or instead of as an ISO, which can be investment income? Disqualifying an ISO converts it into a NQ, so that you have control over the type and timing of the income.

Schedule C income and expenses – can you defer or accelerate income and deductions between years so that the net income falls in the best year?

Schedule A itemized deductions – like income, can you deductions for the maximum benefit, given the income-based deduction thresholds?

Medical – only the amount above 7.5% (10% above certain income levels) of qualified medical expenses, which include amounts paid for prescriptions, doctor co-pays, long-term care insurance premiums, and glasses, are allowed on Schedule A.

Miscellaneous – only the amount above 2% is allowed on Schedule A. Miscellaneous expenses include unreimbursed employee expenses, tax preparation fees and investment-related expenses.

Deductions – certain itemized deductions are phased out once your AGI exceeds $305,050 for married filing jointly ($254,200 for singles), so that your itemized deductions are reduced by 3%, on up to 80% of the deduction, for the excess of your AGI above $305,050 ($254,200 for single filers).

N.B. – many of the deductions affected by the phase-out are the ones not allowed in the AMT calculation. Also, investment interest expenses are not subject to reduction on Schedule A.

Investment income – can you shift interest, dividends, and capital gains? Can you use an installment sale to spread out a large gain or, if feasible, a like-kind exchange to defer the gain?

(An installment sale that spreads gain over several years; a like-kind exchanges involve investment property, which means you can swap, rent and later convert to residential.)

The tax rate on capital gains was as low as 0% in 2014, with a cap at 20% and those rates remained in place for 2015. The 20% rate applies in 2015 for AGI over:

  • Married filing jointly – $464,850;
  • Head of Household – $439,000;
  • Single – $413,200;
  • Married Filing Separately – $232,426; and
  • Trusts and Estates – $12,300.

You net losses against gains. If you have a loss, with up to $3,000 of the loss is allowed to shelter other income, with any remaining losses carried to the next year.

Investment Loss – Take advantage of tax-saving losses by selling depreciated stocks or mutual funds that are in a taxable account, not your 401(k) or IRA. However, if your traditional IRA has declined in value, you may want to consider converting some or all of the funds in it to a Roth.

Caution:

  • Purchasing mutual funds late in the year can lead to dividend and capital gains distributions where the mutual fund price changes but your investment does not. This means that you have no economic gain for the distribution on which you pay taxes – you are effectively pre-paying taxes because you did not purchase after the declared distribution date.
  • If you sell to recognize a loss, and want to hold the stock again, be aware of the wash sale rule which bars recognition of the loss if you re-purchase substantially the same security within 30 days – which applies to different accounts you own, including repurchasing in your IRA. An example of what works: a bond swap with the same issuer, where the maturity or interest rate is different, is a way to recognize a loss without being affected by the rule.

Investment income also includes passive income and losses (rental property, limited partnerships and LLCs).

If you can re-characterize any activities as material participation rather than passive by grouping together to meet the material participation rules, you have a one-time election to regroup.

N.B. – Gains include the sale of a primary residence (above the $250,000 per owner shelter).

Roth conversions – can you convert an IRA to a Roth IRA, so that future distributions are not subject to tax? Be sure to pay the tax with funds outside of the IRA so that the conversion has maximum benefit.

Health Insurance – It’s the time of year to choose your health insurance for next year and your decision could affect your 2015 tax filing:

  • Choosing to opt out of buying health insurance could be a costly decision. The new penalty is $695 per adult and $347.50 per child, with a family maximum of $2,085. Those whose income is too low or for whom insurance is too costly may qualify for an exemption from this penalty;
  • If you purchase insurance on an exchange, you may qualify for a tax subsidy if your income is between 100% and 400% of the federal poverty level; and
  • The subsidy will be based on your expected 2016 income. However, if your income is higher than the estimated income, your credit may factor into your tax filing for that year.

Required Minimum Distribution (RMD) – If you are 70 ½ or older, you must take a withdrawal by the end of the year from your traditional IRA or face a significant penalty. To calculate your RMD, take your year-end IRA balances as of December 31, 2014, and divide each one by the factor for your age, which can be found in IRS Pub. 590-B. If you turned 70 ½ this year, you can delay your payout until April 1, 2016. If you opt to take your distribution 2016, you will be taxed on two IRA distributions in 2016.

Federal Estate Tax Exemption – the exclusion amount for estates of decedents who die in 2015 is $5,430,000, up from a total of $5,340,000 in 2014.

Gifting – can you shift assets by gifting within the $14,000 per year/per person annual gift tax exclusion, or even by filing a gift tax return to use some of your unified credit now, so that income is in the lower tax bracket of new owner?

If you’re looking to shift more than $14,000 per year per person, amounts directly paid to college tuition and medical services are exempt from gift-tax rules.

Inherited IRA – be sure to divide an inherited IRA among beneficiaries to get the maximum life expectancy for RMD calculations for each

If you made it this far, I hope you have a good idea of your 2015-2016 tax plan, or else a set of questions to ask so we can help devise one for you! Please Contact Us.

Young people, don’t let this happen to you. Plan for retirement now!

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Young people, a.k.a. “Millennials,” have the time horizon that should allow them to save well, and thus avoid the need to save much more in later years. Otherwise, they will end up like those now nearing retirement that Theresa Ghilarducci describes in her 2012 article on retirement:

Seventy-five percent of Americans nearing retirement age in 2010 had less than $30,000 in their retirement accounts. The specter of downward mobility in retirement is a looming reality for both middle- and higher-income workers. Almost half of middle-class workers, 49 percent, will be poor or near poor in retirement, living on a food budget of about $5 a day. See Our Ridiculous Approach to Retirement.

Acting now is crucial, but what do you do?

Step 1 – As a Millennial, accept that you need to start saving now and commit to acting. For encouragement, remember that:

The 35-year-old would need to boost her contribution rate to 9 percent to achieve the same result as the 25-year-old starter who was saving 6 percent. (from Retirment Saving for Young People) See You can Ignore Most Financial Planning Rules.

Step 2 – Identify how much you need to save by using a retirement calculator. There are many calculators you can use – see what we listed in The results from retirement calculations on different websites vary. Why?

Step 3 – Follow this hierarchy for how to set up accounts for your savings:

Start with your employer plan, 401(k), 403(b) or if you are self-employed, SEP-IRA. The contributions you make to a 401(k) or 403(b) are made from payroll deductions, so you never get a chance to spend this money. The deductions reduce your taxable income now, so the government is effectively helping you to save. Also, the amounts invested grow “tax sheltered,” meaning that you pay no tax on any interest, dividends and capital gains. However, when you retire and withdraw from the plan, you are taxed on that amount as regular income.

If you save more, use a Roth IRA next. Set up an auto debit from your checking to fund your Roth IRA, so contributing works like payroll deductions. The amount contributed to a Roth IRA is not deductible, but amounts withdrawn at retirement are not subject to income tax. The amounts invested grow tax sheltered.

Finally, if you still need to save more, set up a “taxable account,” meaning an account with no tax sheltering benefit. You can use auto-debit to add to this account.

Note: for the Roth IRA, you must qualify and have earned income from which to make contributions to the account. Also note that, for any of these tax sheltered plans, withdrawing funds before age 59½ may subject you to a 10% penalty in addition to income taxes, so do not fund any plan when you expect to need withdraw the money before retirement.

Step 4 – Invest. And when you invest, stick to the plan you set in place (this cannot be over-emphasized). The time to retirement is decades away so you can afford to take risks, some of which will take many years to pay off. If you panic and sell, you only lock in a loss; but if you weather the ups and downs, you will be far ahead. (see Don’t Let This Happen to You, Plan for Retirement Now)

Creating an asset allocation, where you diversify among stocks, bonds, real estate and cash. Include large cap, mid-cap and small-cap stocks, as well as international stocks. You man also include invest in real estate investment trusts (“REITs”) and hard assets. You can use exchange traded funds (“ETFs”). The low fees of ETFs leave more invested to grow, compared to high fee and load funds.

If you on-going advice, you may want to check out alternatives such as LearnVest and the new Future Advisor website.

Don’t just Speak to Your Parents, Do your own Planning

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As young people, a.k.a. “Millennials,” graduate, become employed, start businesses and have families, their finances change. With increasing complexity come many options they must evaluate, as well as new responsibilities. Millennials are more educated that prior generations, but they are also saddled with greater student loan debt than any prior generation. And, despite their higher level of education, they get low marks for financial literacy according to a recent U.S. Treasury Department and Department of Education assessment.

What are they doing about their finances? Sources like Pew Research Center tell us that many Millennials seek advice from their parents. Unlike Boomers who did not want to speak to their parents, Millennials often share interests with their parents and correspondingly seek their counsel.

However, taking financial advice from their parents may not a good approach because many of their parents lack sufficient savings to fund their retirement needs. Mark Grimaldi, co-author of “The Money Compass: Where Your Money Went and How to Get It Back” says “never take advice from someone less successful than you are.” He continues: “With almost 30 years investment experience, I can say with complete confidence that many baby boomers, the parents of Gen Yers, are in a financial mess.”

What, then, should Millennials do then? Talking to their parents is not inherently bad, so long as that is not their sole source. “Of course, there’s a difference between receiving [parental] advice and relying solely on the advice given,” says Kristen Robinson, senior vice president of Fidelity Investments’ women and young investors’ products. “Gen Y should listen to what parents have to say. But at the end of the day, financial decisions are personal matters and best made after carefully considering a number of factors and doing research.” From Millennials: Stop Taking Financial Advice From Mom and Dad. She concludes that Millennials really need to do is find ethical professionals for help.

So, how do they do this? They search the internet of things, of course! But, wait, is that how to find truly ethical professionals? Yes, if you search with care.

Look for:
Credentials – check out their bio, are they CFP, JD, or CPA? these help validate the advisor;
Content – are they providing original advice that is sound, helpful?
Website design – professional, kept up-to-date?
Clients – who is using them for advice?;
References – who is willing to put their own reputation at stake for this website?;
Community – who are their partners and advisors?;
 followers, fans, subscribers and user testimonials – more validation;
Website design – professional, kept up-to-date?
Avoid:
Tacky websites that don’t pass the “smell test” – if it “smells bad,” then it probably is;
Old content and closed comments;
Too many ads and pop up ads directing you to buy life insurance, etc.; and
No links to anyone you have ever heard of.

For example, companies like LearnVest and Workable Wealth provide general advice to educate before you pay. Workable Wealth has stated in blog posts the hope that educating will lessen the stress of handling your finances.

Don’t Rush to Pay off Your Student Loan – make a plan first

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This may surprise you: you should worry more about saving for retirement than paying off your student loan. Yes, there are many bloggers testifying to how they paid off their loans, and many trying to tell you that you need to too. The frequency of such posts does not mean that they are right, or that they have factored in all that you need to for a “best use of cash flow over time” plan. In fact, paying off student loans that have relatively low interest rather than investing will be a costly mistake.

Compare student loan payoff blog posts to the many advisors who encourage paying off your mortgage. The urgency to retire your mortgage belongs to the Silent Generation, who survived the Great Depression and are risk adverse. Paying off a mortgage is usually not the way to maximize your net worth. (Watch for a post on “rent vs. buy” discussing investing and use of mortgage debt.) Furthermore, tying up so much capital in a house lacks for diversification and liquidity – you cannot sell your daughter’s room to cover tuition when she goes off to college.

How do you decide what loan to pay off when? Start with this rule:

Whenever the interest rate on debt is less than the annualized return on investments, only pay the minimum on the loans

because the investments will grow faster than using the same cash to pay off debts

The term “annualized” returns is key here, as one good year is not a good measure, nor is a recent bad year; you want the 5 or better 10 year average return.

Next, when applying this general rule to yourself, be sure to use after-tax values. You can deduct home mortgage interest in most cases, a portion of student loans in some cases, and credit card debt in almost no cases, while you can deduct your investment in your retirement plan and what you invest grows tax-free until withdrawn. Roth IRAs do not give you a deduction now, but do grow tax free and withdrawals are tax-free.

Here is a quick example: say your retirement plan is all in ETFs, so it grows at about 7% per year over time, say you have a student loan with an interest rate of 3%, because you consolidated all your undergrad loans, and it has a minimum payment of $500 per month, and say you have $1,000 per month for which you want to devise the best plan. Apply no more than the required minimum to student loan and invest all the rest, maxing out your 401(k) or 403(b) plan first, and then investing in a Roth IRA next. In 10 years, you will be so much better off than the person who used the full $1,000 to pay her student loan. What if you had a loan with an interest rate of 8%? Tough call. However, because the loan is compounding over time at a higher rate, that persuades me to apply more to the loan, provided that doing so did not give up an employer match on a 401(k) plan.

These examples are overly simple, I realize. Many of you face the quandary of student loan vs. retirement funding vs. rent or buy a home and more. I am working on that …. (Watch for a post on integrating decisions on buying a home, paying off student loans, investing for retirement and all the other issues you are likely to face.)

Scam alert: your secrets are not safe with the IRS

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The IRS recently announced that the tax information of 104,000 filers was stolen by hackers and used to file false returns. The same thieves attempted to steal tax data from an additional 100,000 filers, but were unsuccessful.

The unauthorized access of records occurred between February and May of 2015, when hackers used the IRS’s “Get a Transcript” web tool to access filers’ tax return transcripts. The hackers had previously obtained social security numbers of these 200,000 filers from other sources. The IRS pointed out that their servers were not hacked, but their online service allowed resourceful thieves to access filers’ information.

This breach is especially alarming because IRS Transcripts contain sensitive information about filers. Specifically, they include much of the information reported to the IRS on 1040 and the supporting forms, such as W-2s. The stolen information was then used to file 36,500 fraudulent tax returns seeking refunds. As many as 13,000 of those phony returns were accepted by the IRS, for a total of $39 million in refunds paid.

The IRS acted after discovering the breach by closing down the “Get a Transcript” tool for individual filers. Filers may still request their transcripts, but must do so by mailing in a completed form 4506. The IRS has not indicated when it will provide the online service again.

Their next step was to notify all 200,000 victims, informing them that their social security numbers and possibly other personal data was stolen. For those 104,000 whose tax information was stolen, the IRS is offering credit monitoring services. These victims will receive instructions to sign up for the credit monitoring note: these outreach letters will not request any personal identification information from taxpayers). In addition, the IRS will continue to monitor those tax accounts.

As always, victims may apply for identity protection numbers to prevent the filing of future returns using their information. Additionally, the IRS plans to strengthen its authentication procedures.

The hackers were able to answer many of the “out of wallet” security questions by using information that can be easily found on credit reports and social media sites like Facebook. As a result, the IRS will use questions that are more difficult to answer.

The IRS plans to employ a more proactive approach to prevent future breaches by partnering with private tax software companies, payroll companies and state agencies to share data on uncovered scams. Congress may act as well and may move up the date that W-2 forms must be filed with the government to January 31. This change would make it more difficult for scammers to e-file fake 1040s.

If you were affected by this breach, you will receive a notice in the mail from the IRS. If you do not receive a notice, we still recommend you access your free credit reports annually and stay vigilant about keeping your sensitive data protected.