If you’re feeling charitable this holiday season, I certainly encourage you to follow those passions and make heart-felt charitable donations. However, while you certainly want to be cheerful giver, there’s no reason you shouldn’t also be a tax-savvy one! There are a number of ways to accomplish a strategy to both support worthy causes, and reduce your tax-bite at the same time. In fact, MarketWatch recently offered a concise list of five tax-savvy strategies: 1. Donor-Advised Funds: A donor-advised fund is like your own private foundation, without the onerous administrative costs or duties. Although you lose final say in the…
The new tax bill contains a little-known loophole that, if you act quickly, could save a big tax bite for those who want to make substantial gifts to grandchildren. The Generation Skipping Tax (GST), in place since 1986, is a second layer of tax applied to gifts that “skip” a generation – for example, gifts made to grandchildren if the parents are still alive. The loophole in the new tax bill not only confirms a 0% GST for all of 2010 (making the law more clear) but widens that loop hole substantially, albeit temporarily, through the end of this year,…
The speculation won’t be over until the final bill is written up, passed, and signed into law, but with prospects looking reasonably good for the Obama Tax Proposal, it may be time to review your year-end tax planning. Reuter’s is ahead of the game and recently listed their top three suggestions: Timing on deductions and income: If you thought you were going to see increased taxes in 2011, you may have planned to push income forward into 2010 and deductions back into 2011. With the Bush-era tax cuts extended to all income brackets this won’t be the case and…
As you probably know by now, President Obama dropped a bombshell last week with his Republican-backed, compromise tax proposal. It’s not yet law, and is likely to face stiff political opposition, but the results are so far-reaching that it’s worth outlining the bold points of the proposal. (To read more, The Associated Press has a good run-down of the highlights.) The centerpiece of the proposal is the extension of all Bush-era tax cuts for two more years, and this includes the wealthiest tax brackets, with the addition of special programs and incentives to help the average and low-income taxpayer….
President Obama on Tuesday strongly defended his tax cut deal with Congressional Republicans against intense criticism from his own party, insisting it was “a good deal for the American people” states the New York Times “I’ve said before that I felt that the middle-class tax cuts were being held hostage to the high-end tax cuts,” Mr. Obama said. “I think it’s tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy. In this case, the hostage was the American people, and I was not willing to see them get harmed.”…
If you’re looking for a way to bring up the topic, you might consider sharing a recent issue of our newsletter, like the October issue that focuses on Family Matters.
These special types of trusts allow you to supplement any government benefits to which your
loved one may be entitled, without disqualifying them from receiving those benefits.
As you may know by now, the Federal Estate Tax lapsed in 2010 and Congress has not yetdecided what to do about it. I ran across another good end-of-year planning article, written by Robert Wood for Forbes. I think his tips are worth repeating here. 1. Remember that, even though there is no estate tax this year, executors for estates valued atmore than $1.3 million still must file an “informational” return with the IRS.2. While some (morbid) people are referring to this as “the year to die,” it is perhaps moreimportantly “the year to give.” The Gift Tax is still…
Joining a pooled trust may be an option for some people in certain states to receive home care
through Medicaid, without having to impoverish themselves in order to qualify.
Frederick, MD 
301-663-9230
