Tax Planning

The Best Tax Planning Tips for the End of the Year: Our Experts Weigh In

by
Lee Reams II
on
11/19/2018
The Best Tax Planning Tips for the End of the Year: Our Experts Weigh In

Most individual and business tax filers take the last few months of the year as a much-needed chance to take stock of their current situation. For a lot of people, it simply involves seeing how far you've come, looking at how far you still have to go and determining how to use the tax code to get you there. In most years, this is a straightforward process and is little more than "business as usual" for many.

2018, however, is not one of those years.

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was passed on December 20, 2017 — just a few short days before most employers had to file W4 forms for 2018 withholding information. Many of those employers didn't have time to adjust the form to properly account for the new withholding tables created by the recent law. Remember that your tax refund is ultimately the difference between A) what you pre-paid through payroll withholding throughout the year, and B) the estimated tax payments and what you owe. This means that even if your tax bill is lower than it's ever been, your prepayments were probably also lower as well. If you're not careful with your expectations, your refund may not come in quite as high as you think it will — if you don't end up owing the federal government, that is.

This is just one of the many, many reasons why proper tax planning is so important — especially in 2018. Recently, we sat down with a number of experts and other qualified professionals to discuss their best tax planning tips for the end of this year. Their responses were insightful, to say the least, and helped paint a vivid picture of what most people can expect when April rolls around once again.

An Incredible Opportunity Just Waiting to Be Taken Advantage Of

"2018 is proving to be one of the most unique tax years in history," said Greg O'Brien, CPA. "There's a lot of confusion out there about what tax reform means for you given your specific circumstances." While this is certainly adding to the already difficult process of filing your taxes, most experts agree that the era we're currently living in presents a unique opportunity for those with the right perspective. They just need to keep a few key things in mind, of course.

"Before I look to reduce taxes for my clients, I first want them to understand what their 2018 tax picture looks like as it's often different than they expect," O'Brien continued. "For planning purposes, I am going through comprehensive entity selection reviews with all small business clients and in several cases, am restructuring in order to save on taxes in 2018 and beyond."

Indeed, although taxes in 2018 are as complicated as ever, they also present something of a proverbial "reset button" to a certain degree. Things are changing so much that it's now easier than ever to course-correct for both personal and business taxes — sometimes to an enormous degree — to strengthen your financial groundwork moving forward.

"Tax planning opportunities have grown due to the new laws and we've been able to project significant savings with both our individual and our corporate clients through new strategies," said O'Brien.

David Robson of Premier Tax and Business Services agreed with that sentiment, saying that "the time has never been better for year-end tax planning. The QBI deduction alone can make year-end tax planning valuable. The complexities of different variables make it necessary to evaluate different scenarios to validate if the client is on the right track."

In other words, it's certainly true that there are a number of potential paths that both personal and business tax filers might take. However, each path brings with it a plethora of unique benefits that most people wouldn't otherwise have access to. By taking the time to properly evaluate your tax situation now, you could be making a series of seemingly small decisions that pay huge dividends by way of tax savings over the next few years and beyond.

Barry G. Fowler of Fowler Tax said that when he's specifically working with business clients, one of the things he's making sure to do involves "reviewing an organization to take full advantage of the Section 199 Qualified Business deduction." This particular section of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act provides many taxpayers with a unique deduction opportunity for qualified business income from any qualified trade or business operated directly through a pass-through entity. This deduction actually has two components:

  • Any and all eligible taxpayers might be able to deduct up to 20% of qualified business income from a domestic business that is operated as a sole proprietorship, or through a partnership, an S corporation, a trust or an estate.
  • Eligible taxpayers may also be able to deduct up to 20% of their combined qualified real estate investment trust dividends, along with income from a qualified publicly traded partnership. Note that this part of the Section 199 deduction is NOT limited by W2 wages or by the UBIA of the qualified property.

Again, this deduction was specifically created by the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act upon its passing at the end of 2017, and it didn't exist prior. Income taxes may be as controversial than ever, but it's hard to argue against the fact that there aren't positive outcomes being created by these actions — if you know what you're looking for, that is.

If anything, all of this serves to underline the importance of working with a qualified professional on both your personal and your business income taxes. This is a naturally complicated process, and it's very easy to get it wrong or miss something, potentially leaving huge amounts of money on the table at the same time. Partnering with the right professional who understands your situation puts you in an ideal position to come up with a tax planning strategy that properly aligns with your long-term goals.

At that point, success is more than just "well within reach." It's practically an inevitability.

Lee Reams II, writes for TaxBuzz, a tax news and advice website. Reach him at [email protected] or on LinkedIn

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Lee Reams II

Lee Reams II

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I am a tax and business news junkie who has spent the last 20 years developing and executing "best in class" word-of-mouth marketing campaigns for tax and accounting professionals. With TaxBuzz and CountingWorks we have taken that same commitment to quality content directly to the consumer. Keeping you up-to-date with the latest tax law changes, business growth tips and planning strategies to help you reach your best financial outcome.

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