The McQuillan Group News

Published on: Tue 21st Nov, 2017 By:

                                3 Tips for Planning Your Personal 2017 Taxes

                  Fall is the perfect time to start tax planning for 2017. By taking the time now to meet  

                  with your tax advisor, you can proactively access your taxes, and can take advantage

                  of tax provisions, deductibles and credits to reduce your tax liability.  The goal of tax

                  planning is to reduce taxes, and have more control of your assets and investments.

                  Here are a few quick tips to get you started.

 

                  Review Your Retirement Plan

                   Consider maxing out your 401k contributions in 2017. You can defer up to $18,000 of  

                   income by contributing this amount to your 401k.  For taxpayers, 50 years or older,

                   this amount increases to $24,000.  Anticipating a year-end bonus?  Consider adding

                   some to your 401K!  If you don’t have an employer sponsored 401k, there are other

                   options for you to save money into your retirement nest egg. Talk to your tax

                   advisor.

 

                   Donate Appreciated Property

                   Consider donating appreciated property, such as stock.  You could receive a

                   charitable deduction for the value of the stock, avoid recognizing the appreciation

                   for income tax purposes, and net investment income for tax purposes.  A friendly

                   reminder, net investment income (NII) tax is the additional 3.8% tax that applies to

                   certain net investment income of individuals who have income above a threshold

                   amount.  Net investment income includes, but is not limited to, interest, dividends,

                   capital gains, and passive income. The NII income threshold for 2017 is $200,000 for

                  singles and $250,000 for taxpayers who are married, filing jointly.

 

                    Defer Income Into the Future

                    If you anticipate having a significant decrease in income in 2018, it may make sense

                    to try to defer income into next year or later years, such as sale of assets or  

                    consider an installment sale.  Also, talk of simplification of the Internal Revenue

                    Code is getting serious in Washington DC, so you may want to consider accelerating

                    any itemized deductions in 2017.

 

                    Written by Kevin McQuillan. Mr. McQuillan is a Certified Public Accountant, and

                   Co-Founder of The McQuillan Group. A boutique accounting firm in Pittsburgh

                   Pa.