Opening the “back door” to a Roth IRA
A potential downside of tax-deferred saving through a traditional retirement plan is that you’ll have to pay taxes when you make withdrawals at retirement. Roth plans, on the other hand, allow tax-free distributions; the tradeoff is that contributions to these plans don’t reduce your current-year taxable income. Unfortunately, modified adjusted gross income (MAGI)-based phaseouts may reduce or eliminate your ability to contribute: For married taxpayers [...]
Married with a large estate? Why you still need a credit shelter trust
Even though portability now allows married couples to use up both spouses’ estate tax exemptions without having to make lifetime asset transfers or set up trusts, this “easier” path isn’t necessarily the better path. For couples with large estates, making lifetime asset transfers and setting up trusts can provide benefits that exemption portability doesn’t offer. With portability, if one spouse dies and part (or all) [...]
Why the details matter when selling investments
If you don’t pay attention to the details, the tax consequences of a sale may be different from what you expect. For example, if you bought the same security at different times and prices and want to sell high-tax-basis shares to reduce gain or increase a loss to offset other gains, be sure to specifically identify which block of shares is being sold. And when [...]
Watch out for tax consequences when hiring telecommuters outside your state
If you allow employees to telecommute, be sure to consider the potential tax implications. Hiring someone in another state, for example, might create sufficient nexus to expose your company to that state’s income, sales and use, franchise, withholding, or unemployment taxes. And the employee might be subject to double taxation if both states attempt to tax his or her income — the recent Supreme Court [...]
Before donating a vehicle, find out the charity’s intent
If you donate your vehicle, the value of your deduction can vary greatly depending on what the charity does with it. You can deduct the vehicle’s fair market value (FMV) if the charity: Uses the vehicle for a significant charitable purpose (such as delivering meals-on-wheels to the elderly), Sells the vehicle for substantially less than FMV in furtherance of a charitable purpose (such as a [...]
Hello world!
Welcome to WordPress. This is your first post. Edit or delete it, then start blogging!