Year-End Tax Planning For Individuals - Check Your Withholdings

ABA Tax Accounting | Tax Services | St. Paul, MN Accounting Firm

Federal, State, Local and International Taxes - With less than two months remaining in the calendar year, it's a great time to double check your federal withholding.

Most people have taxes withheld from each paycheck or pay taxes on a quarterly basis through estimated tax payments. But each year millions of American workers have far more taxes withheld from their pay than is required. In fact, the average refund for 2011 was just under $3,000. Although it's a slight decrease from 2010, ($2,973 vs. $3,003), taxpayers might want to consider adjusting their tax withholding to bring the taxes they must pay closer to what they actually owe--and put more money in their pocket right now.

On the flip side, is that some workers and retirees still need to take steps to make sure enough tax is being taken out of their checks to avoid penalties they might have to pay. Certain folks should pay particular attention to their withholding. These include:

• Married couples with two incomes
• Individuals with multiple jobs
• Dependents
• Some Social Security recipients who work
• Workers who do not have valid Social Security numbers
• Retirees who receive pension payments

Whether you're starting a new job, retiring, or self-employed, you can use the following tips to help bring the taxes you pay during the year closer to what you will actually owe when you file your tax return.

Employees

• New Job. When you start a new job your employer will ask you to complete Form W-4, Employee's Withholding Allowance Certificate. Your employer will use this form to figure the amount of federal income tax to withhold from your paychecks. Be sure to complete the Form W-4 accurately.
• Life Event. You may want to change your Form W-4 when certain life events happen to you during the year. Examples of events in your life that can change the amount of taxes you owe include a change in your marital status, the birth of a child, getting or losing a job, and purchasing a home. Keep your Form W-4 up-to-date.

You typically can submit a new Form W-4 anytime that you wish to change the number of your withholding allowances. However, if your life event results in the need to decrease your withholding allowances or changes your marital status from married to single; you must give your employer a new Form W-4 within 10 days of that life event.

Self-Employed

• Form 1040-ES. If you are self-employed and expect to owe a thousand dollars or more in taxes for the year, then you normally must make estimated tax payments to pay your income tax, Social Security and Medicare taxes. You can use the worksheet in Form 1040-ES, Estimated Tax for Individuals, to find out if you are required to pay estimated tax on a quarterly basis. Remember to make estimated payments to avoid owing taxes at tax time. 

If you're not sure how much you need to withhold from your paycheck, just give us a call and we'll figure it out with you.

ABA Tax Accounting

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Year- End Tax Planning – Income From Foreign Sources

ABA Tax Accounting | International Tax Services | St. Paul, MN Accounting Firm

Income From Foreign Sources - Many U.S. citizens earn money from foreign sources. But unless it is exempt under federal law, taxpayers sometimes forget that they have to report all such income on their tax return.

As such, some U.S. taxpayers living abroad have failed to timely file U.S. federal income tax returns or Reports of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts (FBARs). Some of these taxpayers have recently become aware of their filing requirements and want to comply with the law.

Effective September 1, 2012, taxpayers who are low compliance risks are able to get current with their tax requirements without facing penalties or additional enforcement action. These taxpayers generally have simple tax returns and owe $1,500 or less in tax for any of the covered years.

U.S. citizens are taxed on their income regardless of whether they live inside or outside the United States. The foreign income rule also applies regardless of whether the person receives a Form W-2, Wage and Tax Statement, or Form 1099.

Foreign source income includes earned and unearned income, such as:

• Wages and tips
• Interest
• Dividends
• Capital gains
• Pensions
• Rents
• Royalties

But there is some good news. Citizens living outside the United States may be able to exclude up to $95,100 of their 2012 foreign source income if they meet certain requirements. This will increase to $97,600 in 2013.

If you're married and you and your spouse both work abroad and meet either the bona fide residence test or the physical presence test, each of you can choose the foreign earned income exclusion. Together, you can exclude as much as $190,200 for the 2012 tax year.

Caution: The exclusion does not apply to payments made to U.S. government employees or folks in the military living outside the United States.

If you earn income from outside the country, please be sure to meet with us about it. We can advise you on how to address all of the tax implications of this situation. For no obligation free consultation contact us today!

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Tap Your Retirement Money Early & Minimize Penalties - www.abataxaccounting.com

ABA Tax Accounting | Tax Services | St. Paul, MN Accounting Firm

Year- End Tax Planning – The purpose of retirement plans such as the 401(k) and Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is to save money for your retirement years. As such, the IRS imposes a penalty of 10% for early withdrawals taken from qualified retirement plans before age 59 1/2. Qualified retirement plans include section 401(k) plans, individual retirement accounts (IRAs), and 401(k) plan, tax-sheltered annuity plans under section 403(b) for employees of public schools or tax-exempt organizations.

While you should always think carefully about taking money out of your retirement plan before you've reached retirement age, there may be times when you need access to those funds, whether it's buying a new house or pay for out of pocket medical expenses. Fortunately, IRS provisions allow a number of exceptions that may be used to avoid the tax penalty. 

1. If you are the beneficiary of a deceased IRA owner, you do not have to pay the 10% penalty on distributions taken before age 59 1/2 unless you inherit a traditional IRA from your deceased spouse and elect to treat it as your own. In this case, any distribution you later receive before you reach age 59 1/2 may be subject to the 10% additional tax. 
2. Distributions made because you are totally and permanently disabled are exempt from the early withdrawal penalty. You are considered disabled if you can furnish proof that you cannot do any substantial gainful activity because of your physical or mental condition. A physician must determine that your condition can be expected to result in death or to be of long, continued, and indefinite duration. 
3. Distributions for qualified higher educational expenses are also exempt, provided they are not paid through tax-free distributions from a Coverdell education savings account, scholarships and fellowships, Pell grants, employer-provided educational assistance, and Veterans' educational assistance. Qualified higher education expenses include tuition, fees, books, supplies, and equipment required for the enrollment or attendance of a student at an eligible educational institution, as well as expenses incurred by special needs students in connection with their enrollment or attendance. If the individual is at least a half-time student, then room and board are considered qualified higher education expenses. This exception applies to expenses incurred by you, your spouse, children and grandchildren. 
4. Distributions due to an IRS levy of the qualified plan. 
5. Distributions that are not more than the cost of your medical insurance. Even if you are under age 59 1/2, you may not have to pay the 10% additional tax on distributions during the year that are not more than the amount you paid during the year for medical insurance for yourself, your spouse, and your dependents. You will not have to pay the tax on these amounts if all of the following conditions apply: you lost your job, you received unemployment compensation paid under any federal or state law for 12 consecutive weeks because you lost your job, you receive the distributions during either the year you received the unemployment compensation or the following year, you receive the distributions no later than 60 days after you have been reemployed. 
6. Distributions to qualified reservists. Generally, these are distributions made to individuals called to active duty after September 11, 2001 and on or after December 31, 2007. 
7. Distributions in the form of an annuity. You can take the money as part of a series of substantially equal periodic payments over your estimated lifespan or the joint lives of you and your designated beneficiary. These payments must be made at least annually and payments are based on IRS life expectancy tables. If payments are from a qualified employee plan, they must begin after you have left the job. The payments must be made at least once each year until age 59 1/2, or for five years, whichever period is longer. 
8. If you have out-of-pocket medical expenses that exceed 7.5% (10% in 2013) of your adjusted gross income, you can withdraw funds from a retirement account to pay those expenses without paying a penalty. For example, if you had an adjusted gross income of $100,000 for tax year 2012 and medical expenses of $12,500, you could withdraw as much as $5,000 ($2,500 in 2013) from your pension or IRA without incurring the 10% penalty tax. You do not have to itemize your deductions to take advantage of this exception. 
9. An IRA distribution used to buy, build, or rebuild a first home also escapes the penalty; however, you need to understand the government's definition of a "first time" home buyer. In this case, it's defined as someone who hasn't owned a home for the last two years prior to the date of the new acquisition. You could have owned five prior houses, but if you haven't owned one in at least two years, you qualify. 

The first time homeowner can be yourself, your spouse, your or your spouse's child or grandchild, parent or other ancestor. The "date of acquisition" is the day you sign the contract for purchase of an existing house or the day construction of your new principal residence begins. The amount withdrawn for the purchase of a home must be used within 120 days of withdrawal and the maximum lifetime withdrawal exemption is $10,000. If both you and your spouse are first-time home buyers, each of you can receive distributions up to $10,000 for a first home without having to pay the 10% penalty.

Remember that although using the above techniques will help you avoid the 10% penalty tax, you are still liable for any regular income tax that's owed on the funds that you've withdrawn. Distributions rolled over into another qualified retirement plan or distributions from a Roth IRA however, escape both the regular income tax and the 10% penalty tax. Rollovers should be made directly between your brokers, to avoid paying the 20% withholding required on distributions that you touch. Considering a Tax Professional? For no obligation free consultation contact us today!

ABA Tax Accounting

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Year-End Tax Planning For Individuals - Accelerating Deductions

ABA Tax Accounting | Tax Planning | St. Paul, MN Accounting Firm

Federal, State, Local and International Taxes - A deferral strategy shifts income to a following year if tax rates in that subsequent year will be lower overall than in the current year. If you'll be in a lower tax bracket next year, you may wish to accelerate your deductions into this year and postpone your income into the following year. Here are some of the ways you can do this:

• Pay a state estimated tax installment in December instead of at the January due date. However, make sure the payment is based on a reasonable estimate of your state tax.
• Pay your entire property tax bill, including installments due in year 2013, by year-end. This does not apply to mortgage escrow accounts.
•  Try to bunch "threshold" expenses, such as medical expenses and miscellaneous itemized deductions. Threshold expenses are deductible only to the extent they exceed a certain percentage of adjusted gross income (AGI). By bunching these expenses into one year, rather than spreading them out over two years, you have a better chance of exceeding the thresholds, thereby maximizing your deduction.

For example, you might pay medical bills and dues and subscriptions in whichever year they would do you the most tax good.

Ø  Tip: Now is the time to bunch deductible medical expenses. Medical expense deductions are 7.5% of AGI this year, but in 2013 increase to 10% of AGI.

In cases where tax benefits are phased out over a certain adjusted gross income (AGI) amount, a strategy of accelerating income and deductions might allow you to claim larger deductions, credits, and other tax breaks for 2012, depending on your situation. The latter benefits include Roth IRA contributions, conversions of regular IRAs to Roth IRAs, child credits, higher education tax credits and deductions for student loan interest.

Ø  Tip: Accelerating income into 2012 is an especially good idea for taxpayers who anticipate being in a higher tax bracket next year.

Ø  Tip: If you know you have a set amount of income coming in this year that is not covered by withholding taxes, increasing your withholding before year-end can avoid or reduce any estimated tax penalty that might otherwise be due.

On the other hand, the penalty could be avoided by covering the extra tax in your final estimated tax payment and computing the penalty using the annualized income method.

If you have any questions about estimated taxes, please call us.

Ø  Caution: The Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) no longer just impacts the wealthy! Do not overlook the effect of any year-end planning moves on the AMT for 2012.

Due to tax changes in recent years, AMT impacts many more taxpayers than ever before and, the tax is not indexed to inflation. As a result, growing numbers of middle-income taxpayers have been finding themselves subject to this higher tax.

Items that may affect AMT include deductions for state property taxes and state income taxes, miscellaneous itemized deductions, and personal exemptions.

Note: Thanks to the "AMT Patch" AMT exemption amounts for 2012 remain the same as 2011 (see below), but are set to drop in 2013. For example, the AMT exemption amount in 2013 drops from $74,450 in 2012 to $45,000 for married filing jointly taxpayers. Here are the 2012 exemption amounts:

Ø  $48,450 for single and head of household filers,

Ø  $74,450 for married people filing jointly and for qualifying widows or widowers,

Ø  $37,225 for married people filing separately.

Please call us if you'd like more information or if you're not sure whether AMT applies to you. We're happy to assist you.

CALL US FIRST – This is just one of the year-end planning tax moves that could make a substantial difference in your tax bill for 2012. But the best advice we can give you is to give us a call. We'll sit down with you, discuss your specific tax and financial needs, and develop a plan that works for your business.

ABA Tax Accounting

Amare Berhie, Senior Tax Accountant

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