The Time To Start Saving On Your Taxes Is Now

It’s tax time. What? April is still months away, isn’t it? While it’s true that that we still haven’t watched the big crystal ball drop in Times Square or even put up the Christmas tree, it is still time to think about your taxes. That’s because anyone who really wants to be prepared for taxes, starts preparing long before April 15. In fact, preparation should have really started months ago. However, if you’re like most people then you haven’t even started to think about taxes. But don’t panic, you still have time to do some real preparation, starting now.

Tax Saving Tips

In fact, there are several tax saving tips you can still implement before we kick off the new year. Let’s review just a few of them.

• Start a healthcare savings account – there are two possibilities for healthcare savings accounts: a Flex Spending Account and Health Savings Account (HSA). If you have a Flex Spending account you will need use that money before the year ends or you will lose it. Any medical attention you need should be taken care of instead of being put off. On the other hand, an HSA can roll over so don’t be in a rush to spend it, as it will grow tax-deferred and could come in use later down the road for a large medical expense.
• Reevaluate your current healthcare plan – speaking of health care plans, open enrollment for Obamacare begins November 15 and ends December 31. Although you might already have a plan in place, that doesn’t mean you can’t necessarily qualify for a better plan. If your income has changed or you qualify for other tax breaks, you could reduce your monthly healthcare premium.
• Capital Gains – capital gains are taxed at about half the rate of ordinary income. With the market still riding a high, you might be able to benefit from selling some stock. However, make sure that selling them won’t push you into a higher tax bracket or affect other deductions.
• Maximize retirement account contributions – anytime you contribute more of your pretax earnings to a retirement account, like a 401K or an IRA, you can offset your tax bill. Just a few more dollars a paycheck can go a long ways in increasing your retirement savings and help reduce how much you owe in taxes.
• Take full advantage of Deductions – make sure you maximize your deductions, but be careful not to trigger the Alternative Minimum tax.
• Give, give and give some more – charitable contributions are another great way to reduce your tax bill. You not only get to experience that wonderful feeling of doing good for someone else, but you also get to cut back onhow much you give to the IRS.

GROCO Has You Covered

Of course, one of the best things you can do anytime of the year to prepare for filing taxes is to contact an experienced and qualified accounting firm, like GROCO. We have been helping people plan for and prepare their taxes for years, including the ultra-wealthy. We can help you, too. So whether you have been preparing all year, or you haven’t thought about taxes since April 15 of this year, you can contact us for help. Just click here or give us a call at 1-877-CPA-2006.

We hope you found this article about “The Time To Start Saving On Your Taxes Is Now” helpful.  If you have questions or need expert tax or family office advice that’s refreshingly objective (we never sell investments), please contact us or visit our Family office page  or our website at www.GROCO.com.  Unfortunately, we no longer give advice to other tax professionals gratis.

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Considerately yours,

GROCO, GROCO Tax, GROCO Technology, GROCO Advisory Services, GROCO Consulting Services, GROCO Relationship Services, GROCO Consulting/Advisory Services, GROCO Family Office Wealth, and GROCO Family Office Services.

Alan L. Olsen, CPA, Wikipedia Bio

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