Check Your Withholding

Do a paycheck checkup. It is especially important this year because of all the tax-law changes that have occurred and likely will continue to occur for 2018. Your goal should be neither to owe a large amount nor to receive a large refund. IRS released a withholding calculator in February incorporating the tax-law changes that […]

Mortgage Insurance

Because of the uncertainty over the 2017 tax deduction for mortgage insurance premiums, taxpayers may have received a Form 1098 (mortgage interest) without the number included. Now that Congress has decided to reinstate the mortgage insurance deduction, many mortgage lenders will be issuing corrected 1098 statements with the amount allocated to mortgage insurance premiums for […]

Changes to Social Security and the Impact on you

After receiving no cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) for 2016, the Social Security Administration announced on Tuesday, October 18th that benefit recipients shall receive a 0.3% COLA for the 2017 year. This means an individual who received $15,000 in Social Security benefits for 2016, will now receive $15,045 for 2017. These adjustments are made to keep pace […]

Congress Finally Extends Tax Breaks for 2014

Well, finally. Congress on Tuesday night extended dozens of expired “temporary” tax breaks for 2014. It took the Senate, by a 76 to 16 vote, until the week after Congress was supposed to adjourn to pass the bill, which the House had already approved. The bill will now be sent to President Obama, who is […]

2015 IRS Retirement Plan Limits

The Treasury Department has announced inflation-adjusted figures for retirement account savings for 2015, and this year there’s extra room for savings for wage and salary types and the self-employed. If you have a 401(k), a SEP-IRA, or a SIMPLE, pay attention and if you can swing it, bump up your contributions to the new max. […]

Obamatax Costs Some Taxpayers Thousands

During the most recent tax season, we saw the first effects of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, and for high-income clients they weren’t pretty. The act, which was passed by Congress and was designed to address the “fiscal cliff” (remember that?), had its first full effect on taxpayers last year. Although the act […]

Help a Charity, Help Yourself

If you’re like most Americans, your budget includes donations to charities. You realize that churches, research groups, schools and organizations that help the needy serve important functions in our society, and you support them with your donations. In 2010, the last year for which statistics are available, American taxpayers claimed deductions for $170.23 billion of […]

Helpful Tips for Year-end Tax Planning

Year-end tax planning could be especially productive this year because timely action could nail down a host of tax breaks that won’t be around next year unless Congress acts to extend them, which, at the present time, looks doubtful. These include, for individuals: the option to deduct state and local sales and use taxes instead […]

Tax diversification made easier by new tax law

Our article entitled “Potentially Higher Tax Rates During Retirement Pose Risks” discusses the benefits of “tax diversification” with your retirement savings – owning both pre-tax and tax-free savings in an effort to hedge against the risk of tax changes in retirement. The Roth IRA is a great way for many people to build up tax-free retirement […]

Potentially higher tax rates during retirement pose risks

For many years, defined contribution plans, such as a 401k or 403b, have flourished based on the assumption that pre-tax savings would result in substantial tax benefits in retirement. The assumption in this case is that participants would make pre-tax contributions while working, reducing their income taxes in a period of presumably higher marginal tax […]

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