If you are considering getting married or divorced, you need to consider December 31, 2022, for some year-end tax strategies.
Here’s another planning question: Do you give money to family or friends (other than your children, who are subject to the kiddie tax)? If so, you need to consider the zero-taxes planning strategy.
And now, consider your children who are under age 18. Have you paid them for work they’ve done for your business? Have you paid them the right way?
Here are five strategies to consider as we come to the end of 2021.
If you have a child under the age of 18 and you operate your business as a Schedule C sole proprietor or as a spousal partnership, you absolutely need to consider having that child on your payroll. Why?
• First, neither you nor your child would pay payroll taxes on the child’s income.
• Second, with a traditional IRA, the child can avoid all federal income taxes on up to $18,550 in income.
If you operate your business as a corporation, you can still benefit by employing the child even though both your corporation and your child suffer payroll taxes.
The marriage rule works like this: You are considered married for the entire year if you are married on December 31. So if you’re considering divorce it must be factored into your year-end tax strategies
Although lawmakers have made many changes to eliminate the differences between married and single taxpayers, in most cases the joint return will work to your advantage.
Warning on alimony! The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) changed the tax treatment of alimony payments under the divorce and seperate maintenance agreements executed after December 31, 2018:
• Under the old rules, the payor deducts alimony payments and the recipient includes the payments in income.
• Under the new rules, which apply to all agreements executed after December 31, 2018, the payor gets no tax deduction and the recipient does not recognize income.
Remember, if you are married on December 31, you are married for the entire year.
If you are thinking of getting married in 2022, you might want to rethink that plan for the same reasons that apply in a divorce (as described above). The IRS could make big savings available to you for the 2021 tax year if you get married on or before December 31, 2021.
You have to run the numbers in your tax return both ways to know the tax benefits and detriments for your particular case. And if the numbers work out, then a quick trip to the courthouse can save you thousands.
In the old days, this was one of the patented year end tax strategies with your college student. Today, this strategy does not work with the college student, because the kiddie tax now applies to students up to age 24.
But this strategy is a good one, so ask yourself this question: Do I give money to my parents or other loved ones to make their lives more comfortable?
If the answer is yes, is your loved one in the 0 percent capital gains tax bracket? The 0 percent capital gains tax bracket applies to a single person with less than $40,400 in taxable income and to a married couple with less than $80,800 in taxable income.
If the parent or other loved one is in the 0 percent capital gains tax bracket, you can get extra bang for your buck by giving this person appreciated stock rather than cash.
Example: You give Aunt Millie shares of stock with a fair market value of $20,000, for which you paid $2,000. Aunt Millie sells the stock and pays zero capital gains taxes. She now has $20,000 in after-tax cash to spend, which should take care of things for a while.
Had you sold the stock, you would have paid taxes of $4,284 in your tax bracket (23.8 percent x $18,000 gain).
Of course, $5,000 of the $20,000 you gifted goes against your $11.7 million estate tax exemption if you are single. But if you’re married and you made the gift together, you each have a $15,000 gift-tax exclusion, for a total of $30,000, and you have no gift-tax concerns other than the requirement to file a gift-tax return that shows you split the gift.