Tax Planning
A resource hub filled with expert advice about how to lower your taxes to build more wealth.
What is tax planning?
Tax planning touches on all areas of your finances; any time you earn money or sell assets, you must pay taxes. Taxes provide numerous opportunities to reduce your liability and grow your wealth over time.
Tax Planning in the Present & Future
present
When you consider a financial choice in the current year, taxes help determine the optimal course of action to help you pay the least amount of tax.
Future
As its name suggests, tax planning is especially pertinent to your future. It helps you determine ways to save on your taxes down the road.
Future-minded tactics include:
- Harvesting losses
- Donating appreciated stock
- Moving your money into tax-advantaged or tax-free accounts
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Our Multi-Pronged Approach to Tax Planning
We use this process to help clients optimize for taxes and build more wealth over their lifetimes.
1. Proactive Strategizing
Tax Projections
By updating the facts of your financial plan and tax projection, our experts can anticipate how your tax return will look next spring. We use this information to determine strategic adjustments that can lower your taxes owed come April.
Annual Tax Return
Starting in January, we gather all your tax documents and complete a tax questionnaire to cover all bases. Then we prepare and file an accurate tax return on time.
2. Support Along the Way
Tax planning isn’t always as simple as strategizing your moves and filing your tax return though. Sometimes you’re thrown curveballs, and we’re here to support you through those, too.
3. Additional Tax-Planning Services
Our tax-planning services extend to three specialized areas:
Qualified Small Business Stock
Individuals who sell shares of qualified small business stock (QSBS) are eligible for a federal capital gains exclusion. We help clients with QSBS take full advantage of the federal capital gains exclusion by getting organized, identifying their qualifying shares, and reporting the sale of those shares.
Alternative Minimum Tax
Clients who have incentive stock options are especially prone to alternative minimum tax (AMT). We help them either avoid the AMT altogether or anticipate their AMT bill and plan ahead for it. Once clients with incentive stock options pay the AMT, they receive a minimum tax credit. After documenting and tracking the credit, we help them claim it on their future tax returns to lower the total amount of taxes they owe.
Supplemental Wages
Our high-earning clients usually receive income in the form of supplemental wages — think bonuses, commissions, restricted stock units, and non-qualified stock options. At 22%, the standard federal withholding for supplemental wages is much lower than the rate our clients typically owe. That means any supplemental wages you receive will likely require further tax payments. We help clients identify the underwithholding on their supplemental wages and calculate any estimated tax payments needed to avoid penalties.
Need help optimizing your tax plan?
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Schedule a call with one of our experts to devise the optimal tax plan for you.
