2019 Tax Season Year-End Tax Planning Ideas

2019 Tax Season is Right Around the Corner:
We have compiled a list of Five Tax Planning tips for Year-End
- Review Capital Gains/Losses to minimize tax exposure and possibly harvest some gains to offset losses
- Maximize Charitable Contribution Deductions-with the change in the Standard Deduction, many Individual Taxpayers are bunching charitable contributions in one year to increase their itemized deductions above the standard deduction amount. Additionally taxpayers 70 1/12 and older can direct their RMD annual distribution directly to a charity of their choice and avoid claiming this amount in Income for that tax year.
- Review Your Estate Plan-Since the increase in the Estate and Gift Tax Exemption Amount to $11.4 million , this allows wealthy individuals to gift additional monies to donee individuals. Also these individuals should update their estate planning documents to ensure that the new limits are referenced.
- IRA Conversions to Roth IRA-Benefits to doing these types of conversions is potential tax-free inheritance to children and reduce future required minimum distributions.
- Maximize the Use of Tax-Advantaged Savings Vehicles-If possible, always try to increase the amount of salary deferrals into 403b and 401k accounts. Also HSA’s can be a great way to help pay for and save for qualified medical expenses on a tax-advantaged basis.