5 Year-End Tax Tips

The clock is ticking down to 2018 … but you still have a few weeks left to make some last-minute tax moves. Take a look at these five tips and save a little more this year.

1. Check the amount of 2017 tax you have prepaid through withholding and quarterly estimates ASAP.If you’ve underpaid, consider increasing your withholding before year-end. Withholding is considered to have been paid evenly throughout the year. This is to help prevent you being charged underpayment penalties for 2017.
2. Make sure you have the correct tax status. If you got married or divorced this year, be aware that your marital status as of Dec. 31 determines your tax status for the whole year. If you are in the process of a marital status change, know that altering the dates of a year-end event to the new year may affect your taxes.
3. Plan for losses. Check your basis in any S corporation in which you are a shareholder and where you expect a loss this year. Be sure you have sufficient basis to enable you to take the loss on your tax return.
4. Use this year’s annual gift tax exclusion. If you make annual gifts to family members or others, make sure you complete your gifts for 2017 by Dec. 31.
5. Consider equipment purchases before Dec. 31. Taxpayers must usually deduct the cost of business property over several years. The Section 179 election allows taxpayers to expense up to $510,000 of new and used property purchased and put into service in 2017. Property such as machinery, equipment and furnishings usually qualify. Be careful with special rules that apply to vehicles and personal computers.

Contact our office today if you’d like more tips or have questions about year-end tax savings.

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The holidays: A time for mistletoe and … fraud?

It’s not surprising that identity thieves and con artists love the holidays. More shoppers, more deals and more buying motivation makes the season rife with opportunities to steal. But you don’t have to let the holiday spirit cloud your shopping safety judgment.

Here are a few tips to avoid fraud, whether you’re shopping online or at your local mall:

• Shop on websites you trust. During the holidays, your e-mail inbox may be filled with unsolicited messages urging you to “click here.” Don’t. Scammers set up websites that mimic legitimate stores. They want your personal information so they can steal from you. Stick to reputable stores and sites and you’ll be better off.

• Background-check your choice charities. Many legitimate church groups and nonprofit organizations engage in fundraising activities during the holidays. If you’re confident that the group is above-board, go ahead and donate. But if something seems off – hold on to your money.

• Be attentive — especially at the mall. Large shopping centers offer scammers ample opportunities to steal. Don’t be fooled by someone selling a typically expensive product for way less money than it’s worth. Make sure you keep track of your purse, wallet and shopping bags. And be aware of your surroundings when you leave the mall. If you don’t feel completely safe walking alone through a dark parking lot, ask a security guard to escort you.

• Purchase gift cards wisely. These little pieces of plastic can be great stocking stuffers, but they’re also prime targets for crooks. Scammers have been known to copy numbers from gift cards hanging in store displays. They then call a toll-free number to learn when the card is activated and use the card number to make purchases. One way to avoid this is to buy from retailers who keep gift cards behind the checkout register.

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Keep Your Kids Occupied During the Upcoming Holiday Break Teach Them These 4 Smart Money Lessons

 Personal finance is often learned through experience. Fortunately, you can give your kids a hand-up on their journey to becoming financially responsible adults.

Preschoolers and teenagers obviously have different financial concerns and abilities. But there are a few basic lessons that all children should learn by the time they enter college or start a career:

• Money = choices. Teach your child how to choose between spending and saving, and how to do both intelligently. A regular allowance will help your child gain real-world financial experience.

Make sure they spend some of their break doing chores and earning money.

• Money requires planning. At about age 9 or 10, start to show your child how to develop a simple spending plan. In later years, demonstrate how to plan for larger expenditures.

Sit down and set up a holiday spending plan with them, how much will they spend on each gift they want to purchase for family, friends, teachers, and neighbors?

• Responsibility comes with money. Inevitably, your child is going to make some money mistakes. Try to avoid criticism, but don’t automatically fix every problem and let your child off the hook.

Has your child make a financial mistake recently? Sit down and help analyze the reason for the mistake, and suggest how to avoid it in the future.

• Good money management skills are priceless. Specific lessons might range from how to compare interest rates on savings accounts, to the pros and cons of mutual fund investing. But there should be one common element to all of your teaching in this area: money doesn’t take care of itself.

Ask your kids what they want to do with their money or how they want to earn it to direct the conversation and know what it is your child really needs to hear.
The way you handle your money may be the most powerful lesson of all for your children. For your child’s sake, as well as your own financial wellbeing, it’s important to practice what you preach.

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Savvy Generosity: Do it the right way

Giving on a yearly basis could trim both your estate and income taxes. First, there’s the annual exclusion for gifts. Currently, you can give $14,000 annually to any number of recipients without paying federal gift tax. Married couples can double this amount by gift-splitting – a gift of $28,000 from one spouse is treated as if it came half from each.

Why giving is a two-way street

Gifts do more than help out children who need the money. They also reduce your estate so your estate will pay less estate tax upon your death. Apart from annual gift giving, you can currently transfer (during your lifetime or through your estate) a total of $5.49 million with no estate or gift tax liability. On amounts above this threshold, you or your estate will be faced with taxes at the current top rate of 40 percent. So a consistent program of annual gift giving might create substantial tax savings.

Note that gifts to individuals do not entitle you to an income tax deduction. A gift isn’t a charitable contribution. Conversely, a gift doesn’t constitute taxable income to the recipient. Gifts of income-producing property may, however, reduce your taxable income. Once you’ve given the property away, the recipient (not you) receives the income it produces and pays any income tax due on it.

Giving can be easy

One advantage to annual gift giving is that it is relatively simple to do, especially if you’re giving away cash. Another advantage is flexibility. You’re not locked into anything; you can see how much you can afford to give away each year. You can give away anything – cash, stock, art, real estate, etc. Valuation is the fair market value on the date of the gift. Subsequent appreciation, if any, belongs to the recipient’s estate (not yours).

Before you give away assets, be sure you will not need them yourself to provide income in later years. Consider the impact inflation will have on your resources.

Proper planning is essential in this area; get professional assistance before you do any gift giving. Contact our office if we can help.

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Here’s How to Stop Dreading Year-End Employee Reviews

It’s the time of year when you may be scheduling employee reviews. The employee knows he or she will hear about the good and the bad, and the supervisor will finally have to discuss those issues he or she has been avoiding all year. Usually both parties fudge a little and are glad that it’s over for another year. It’s another chance for open communication and feedback lost.

Don’t miss out on an opportunity to connect with your employees. Instead, try these tips:

Hold occasional employee check-ins. To improve the process, consider holding performance appraisals more frequently, perhaps even quarterly. This can help make the appraisal less of a “special event” and more of a routine exchange of information. It also means your feedback is more directly related to your employee’s recent performance, rather than coming months later.

Give timely feedback. If an employee does something wrong, or something good, tell him or her immediately. Point out the problem, make sure the employee acknowledges it, and make clear what you expect in the future. And if it’s something good, the employee will appreciate receiving a pat on the back. With immediate feedback, there should never be any surprises at review time.

Create an employee review summary. At the end of every appraisal, summarize the discussion and put the highlights in writing. Make sure your employee gets a copy. Before the next appraisal, ask your employee to review the copy and prepare his thoughts on his most recent performance. Ask him to present his opinions to start the discussion. If there are areas needing improvement, agree on an action plan and put that in writing too. And that might be a two-way street. It could involve your providing training or taking actions to support the employee, so make sure you’re living up to the agreement.

Don’t limit the appraisal to a scorecard on the employee’s achievements. If appropriate, use it to discuss career planning, cross-training, or job enrichment. Solicit ideas from the employee. These techniques can help turn a judgmental meeting into a constructive exchange of ideas.

Good luck!

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