The “65 Day Rule” allows a trustee to elect to make a trust distribution within 65 days of the end of the preceding tax year and effectively transfer some of the tax liability from the trust to the trust beneficiary who received the distribution. Utilizing this rule can provide a … Read more »
It has been a volatile year in the markets and many portfolios have accumulated sizable losses. It may make sense to perform tax loss harvesting to make the most of these losses. Tax loss harvesting is a practical move that can result in thousands of dollars in tax savings. Each year, … Read more »
As time goes by, tax practitioners are coming to better understand some of the significant changes brought about by the new tax act, which became law in late December. Among these changes are a significant reduction of the tax deductibility of business meals and entertainment. To summarize, the old rules generally … Read more »
One of the biggest stories of the new tax act is the $10,000 limitation to be imposed on the deductibility of state and local taxes, beginning next year. There has been a rush for advice on this, with CPAs phones becoming very busy during this usually slow time of year. … Read more »
While we are just beginning to wrap our thoughts around the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, we are already learning some strategies for taxpayers to consider before the end of 2017. One of the simplifications of the new act is to create much higher standard deductions for the future. The … Read more »
The IRS has just released their updated contribution limits for tax deferred savings plans for next year. Since there has been a small increase in inflation for the past year, the contribution limits have risen slightly, and income thresholds have increased as well. If you want to begin planning for your … Read more »
In a quick move, the IRS has given relief to taxpayers affected by Hurricane Harvey. As a result of the hurricane, counties suffering from the storm have been declared disaster areas. This qualifies taxpayers for relief from filing 2016 individual and business tax returns, which are otherwise properly extended. The … Read more »
There is a good article about Donor Advised Funds (“DAF”) in the December 23 edition of the Wall Street Journal. It’s titled, Giving Back Isn’t Only for Billionaires, and it provides several stories about less-wealthy philanthropists using DAFs for their good intentions. At Horizon Advisors, many of our clients have … Read more »
If you are a high-income earner and make large charitable gifts every year (or anticipate large gifts in the future) you might want to consider accelerating your charitable contributions to take advantage of the current income tax benefit. A charitable gift in 2016 may provide substantially more benefit than you … Read more »
The IRS has just released their updated contribution limits for tax deferred savings plans for next year. Since there has been no appreciable inflation for the past year, the contribution limits remain the same as last year, although some of the income thresholds have changed. If you want to begin planning … Read more »
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