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Top 7 Ways To Minimize Your Income Taxes
By Kristine McKinley -
Are you paying too much in income taxes? Are you getting all the credits and deductions you are entitled to? Here are 7 tips to help you minimize taxes and keep more in your pocket:
1. Participate in company retirement plans. Every dollar you contribute will reduce your taxable income and thus your income taxes. Similarly, enroll in your company’s flexible spending account. You can set aside money for medical expenses and day care expenses. This money is “use it or lose it” so make sure you estimate well!
2. Make sure you pay in enough taxes to avoid penalties. Uncle Sam charges interest and penalties if you don’t pay in at least 90% of your current year taxes or 100% of last year’s tax liability.
3. Buy a house. The mortgage interest and real estate taxes are deductible, and may allow you to itemize other deductions such as property taxes and charitable donations.
4. Keep your house for at least two years. One of the best tax breaks available today is the home sale exclusion, which allows you to exclude up to $250,000
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($500,000 for joint filers) of profit on the sale of your home from your income. However, you must have owned and lived in your home for at least two years to qualify for the exclusion. 5. Time your investment sales. If your income is higher than expected, sell some of your losers to reduce taxable income. If you will be selling a mutual fund, sell before the year-end distributions to avoid taxes on the upcoming dividend or capital gain. Also, you should allocate tax efficient investments to your taxable accounts and non-efficient investments to your retirement accounts, to reduce the tax you pay on interest, dividends and capital gains. 6. If you’re retired, plan your retirement plan distributions carefully. If a retirement plan distribution will push you into a higher tax bracket, consider taking money out of taxable investments to keep you in the lower tax bracket. Also, pay attention to the 59-½ age limit. Withdrawals taken before this age can result in penalties in addition to income taxes. 7. Bunch your expenses. Certain expenses must exceed a minimum before you can deduct them (medical expenses must exceed 7.5% of your adjusted gross income and miscellaneous expenses such as tax preparation fees must exceed 2% of your AGI). In order to deduct these expenses, you may need to bunch these types of expenses into a single year to get above the minimum. To achieve this, you might prepay medical and miscellaneous expenses on December 31 to get above the minimum amount. The most important thing is to be aware of the tax deductions and credits that apply to you and to plan for taxable events. And don’t be afraid to ask for help. The benefits from consulting an experienced tax professional far outweigh the cost to hire that professional. Article Source: http://www.Article-Warehouse.com Kristine A. McKinley, CFP, CPA, and founder of Beacon Financial Advisors, teaches individuals and families how to invest and plan for retirement, college, and other financial goals. Kristine offers financial and tax planning on an hourly, fee-only basis. To sign up for free financial planning tips, worksheets, checklists and more, visit www.beacon-advisor.com
Here are some more estate planning articles...
Tax Savings Tips For The Small Business
By Arik Rozen CPA, Mon Jan 2nd
Deferring incomeShifting taxable income from the current to the next tax year isuseful only if you expect your next year's income to be equal orless than your current year's one.* Read more...
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Rich Brits Lead Monaco Real Estate Surge
By Henri Boulanger
Twelve years ago the nouveau riche Russians were bringing suitcases of cash to the Cote d'Azur and Monaco to buy property , but a decade later it's the British - using conventional banking methods Read more...
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Battling The Irs
By Richard A. Chapo
2006-06-26 There was once a song about battling the law and losing. Fortunately, battling the IRS is possible and sometimes inevitable. Read more...
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The Past And Present Of Income Tax
By Richard A. Chapo
They say death and taxes are the only two certain things in life. Alas, this wasn’t always the case. Well, at least for the income tax. The Past and Present of Income TaxOur great Read more...
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Keep Spending Under Control By Using Cash
<p>If you're like most people, you probably use plastic for many of your daily purchases. Since more places take credit or debit cards and many of these cards offer rewards or cash back, it is no wonder they are so easy to use. But this convenience can come at a cost. If you don't keep detailed records of your spending, using the card can lead to spending more than you normally would.</p>
<p>When you use cash for your regular daily purchases, you have a physical connection to your available money, and you can visually see how much you have and how much you spend. With a card, it's all digital and you may not review your purchases until the end of the day, week, or even month. By then, the money has long been spent. But with cash, you open your wallet or purse and immediately know how much you have available to spend, and it may keep you from buying something you don't need. So, if you have trouble keeping your spending under control, <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://financialplan.about.com/od/budgetingyourmoney/a/usecash.htm">you may want to consider giving cash a try</a>.</p><p style="background:#f5f3ef;border:1px solid #d5d0bf;clear:both;padding:.5em;"><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/01/31/keep-spending-under-control-by-using-cash.htm">Keep Spending Under Control By Using Cash</a> originally appeared on <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://financialplan.about.com/">About.com Financial Planning</a> on Tuesday, January 31st, 2012 at 20:42:52.</p><p><a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/01/31/keep-spending-under-control-by-using-cash.htm">Permalink</a> | <a href="http://clk.about.com/?zi=1/1hc&zu=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/01/31/keep-spending-under-control-by-using-cash.htm#gB3">Comment</a> | <a href="http://financialplan.about.com/gi/pages/shareurl.htm?PG=http://financialplan.about.com/b/2012/01/31/keep-spending-under-control-by-using-cash.htm&zItl=Keep Spending Under Control By Using Cash">Email this</a></p>
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The process of planning the transfer of all personal assets at death to chosen beneficiaries.
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