[thrive_headline_focus title=”7 Year-End Tax-Planning Strategies” orientation=”left”]

We often review our tax situation at the end of the year because it is important! However, making a tax plan and carrying out this strategy may prove to be more critical than ever to your finances. 2020 is a historic year due to the pandemic, the resulting economic crisis, massive stimulus, and the presidential election settling into an administration change.

Good year-end tax planning has always been important, but never more so than now, when the administration change may cause changes with the Tax Code in the next several months .

[pullquote align=”normal”]Failing to Plan is Planning to Fail [/pullquote]

You can potentially increase your tax savings (and minimize the federal income tax) in 2020 with the following six tax tips.

1. Review your IRA and 401(k) contributions

If you are not maxed out, consider contributing more. Many are expecting that taxes may go up in 2021 with the Biden administration. The Biden-Harris campaign took great pain to specify that the increased taxes they were planning were targeted to high earners. They emphasized that they were planning to spare lower earners. However, pundits have largely decided that we should expect increased taxes across the board. Of course, this is very hard to predict. 

However, if you believe that taxes will go up, you may want to consider contributing to a Roth IRA or 401(k) instead of a Traditional IRA or 401(k) to lock in long-term tax savings.

2. Take advantage of coronavirus -related distributions and waived RMDs in 2020

Under the CARES Act, people under 59½ who are “qualified individuals” may take up to $100,000 of coronavirus-related distributions (CRDs) from retirement plans. CRDs are exempt from the 10% early distribution penalty, and there is the option to spread the resulting taxable income over a three-year period.

The CARES Act passed earlier in 2020 waived RMDs for this year. The waiver applies to RMDs from retirement accounts, including IRAs, company plans, inherited IRAs, inherited Roth IRAs, and plan beneficiaries. If you have taken your RMDs already, you can still repay them if they are otherwise eligible for a rollover, which means that repayments must be made within 60 days of the distribution and are subject to the once-per-year rollover rule.  

However, if you happen to be a “qualified individual,” you don’t need to be concerned about the 60-day repayment deadline since you have three years to redeposit the distribution. However, for some people, it may make sense to take distributions anyway to take advantage of lower tax brackets and to maximize the value of the lower tax bracket in light of the expected increases. Any part of these tax savings not used will be lost forever, so you or your Certified Financial Planner professional or tax planner should perform an analysis to decide what makes the most sense for you.

3. Consider a Qualified Charitable Distribution 

Before the end of the year, you may want to consider a Qualified Charitable Distribution or QCD . This technique remains a significant tax break for charitably inclined IRA owners who are at least age 70½. They are eligible to transfer up to $100,000 directly to a charity from their IRA. QCDs can help to offset RMDs by lowering the IRA balance. They can also help to reduce taxable income (even though RMDs are waived for 2020). 

4. Charitable Contributions

Per the CARES Act, people can benefit from the $300 above-the-line charitable deduction for the 2020 tax year . By and large, charitable contributions lost much of their tax appeal in previous tax changes. However, the CARES Act opens up this opportunity for 2020.

5. Perform Roth conversions before December 31

If you have been hesitant to convert traditional IRAs or pre-tax 401(k) to Roth accounts, 2020 may be the year to make it happen finally. Even though people will be paying taxes on the conversion now, we are still in a low tax environment with the expectation that tax rates will increase. Besides, some people may have a lower 2020 taxable income because of income lost from the pandemic or reduced because of the waived RMDs. For them, a Roth conversion could be a silver lining in the pandemic cloud.

Because RMDs cannot be converted in a typical year, 2020 presents a one-time opportunity to optimize lifetime taxes. Perform this conversion before December 31 so that they will count towards the 2020 tax year.

Do you believe instead that your tax rate is likely to decrease? Then a Roth conversion would be increasing your lifetime taxes. So, don’t convert.

Sure or not, have a conversation with your Certified Financial Planner professional to help figure out your long term strategy.

6. Utilize the net unrealized appreciation strategy

For people who happen to have highly appreciated company stock within their 401(k), Net Unrealized Appreciation (NUA) can be a lucrative tax-planning tool. NUA allows an individual to transfer company stock out of the 401(k) and pay ordinary income tax on the value of the shares at the time of purchase (not the total value of the shares). The difference between the stock’s cost basis and the market value —the NUA— isn’t taxable until the shares are eventually sold. Then, they can be taxed at the lower long-term capital gains rates. 

Although the NUA strategy can be enticing, please remember that not counting a few exceptions, the employee’s entire retirement account should basically be emptied within one calendar year. Hence, to use this strategy, make sure that the lump sum distribution happens before December 31.

7. Reduce Estate taxes

If you are subject to a federal estate tax, gifting in your lifetime can be less expensive than distributing at your death because, within certain limits, gifts are tax-exclusive, whereas inheritances are tax-inclusive. The IRS allows a maximum of $15,000 for annual exclusion gifts per recipient and per donor. Therefore, a couple can give up to $30,000 to an individual or $60,000 to another couple (2 gifts of $15,000 per recipient or per donor). You can make these gifts to anyone every year tax-free, even if the exemption is used up. Also, the gifts do not reduce the gift-estate exemption.

Also, gifts for direct payments for tuition and medical expenses for loved ones are unlimited and tax-free. There is no limit for these gifts, and they can be made for anyone. They too do not reduce the lifetime gift/estate exemption. 

Lastly, the IRS has stated that there will be no claw back to the lifetime gift tax exemption ($11,580,000 per individual in 2020) if these exemptions are used this year, even if it is later reduced, as it is expected to be after Joe Biden is inaugurated as President. Therefore, you may want to use the lifetime exemption now or possibly lose it.

Failing to plan is planning to fail!

For many, these tax strategies could be a silver lining in an otherwise dreadful year. It is widely assumed that the new administration will push for higher taxes. So reviewing your tax situation is essential. 

Make a plan and take action that will make a difference.