Greg Bright, Valdosta Today Financial Contributor
The window of opportunity for many tax-saving moves closes on December 31, so it’s important to evaluate your tax situation now, while there’s still time to affect your bottom line for the 2015 tax year.
Timing is everything
Consider any opportunities you have to defer income to 2016. For example, you may be able to defer a year-end bonus, or delay the collection of business debts, rents, and payments for services. Doing so may allow you to postpone paying tax on the income until next year. If there’s a chance that you’ll be in a lower income tax bracket next year, deferring income could mean paying less tax on the income as well.
Similarly, consider ways to accelerate deductions into 2015. If you itemize deductions, you might accelerate some deductible expenses like medical expenses, qualifying interest, or state and local taxes by making payments before year-end. Or you might consider making next year’s charitable contribution this year instead.
Sometimes, however, it may make sense to take the opposite approach–accelerating income into 2015 and postponing deductible expenses to 2016. That might be the case, for example, if you can project that you’ll be in a higher tax bracket in 2016; paying taxes this year instead of next might be outweighed by the fact that the income would be taxed at a higher rate next year.
Factor in the AMT
Make sure that you factor in the alternative minimum tax (AMT). If you’re subject to the AMT, traditional year-end maneuvers, like deferring income and accelerating deductions, can have a negative effect. That’s because the AMT–essentially a separate, parallel income tax with its own rates and rules–effectively disallows a number of itemized deductions. For example, if you’re subject to the AMT in 2015, prepaying 2016 state and local taxes won’t help your 2015 tax situation, but could hurt your 2016 bottom line.
Special concerns for higher-income individuals
The top marginal tax rate (39.6%) applies if your taxable income exceeds $413,200 in 2015 ($464,850 if married filing jointly, $232,425 if married filing separately, $439,000 if head of household). And if your taxable income places you in the top 39.6% tax bracket, a maximum 20% tax rate on long-term capital gains and qualifying dividends also generally applies (individuals with lower taxable incomes are generally subject to a top rate of 15%).
If your adjusted gross income (AGI) is more than $258,250 ($309,900 if married filing jointly, $154,950 if married filing separately, $284,050 if head of household), your personal and dependency exemptions may be phased out for 2015 and your itemized deductions may be limited. If your AGI is above this threshold, be sure you understand the impact before accelerating or deferring deductible expenses.
Additionally, a 3.8% net investment income tax (unearned income Medicare contribution tax) may apply to some or all of your net investment income if your modified AGI exceeds $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly, $125,000 if married filing separately, $200,000 if head of household).
Note: High-income individuals are also subject to an additional 0.9% Medicare (hospital insurance) payroll tax on wages exceeding $200,000 ($250,000 if married filing jointly or $125,000 if married filing separately).
Greg Bright is one of the three advisors with the Bush Wealth team and he leads our investment selection committee. Greg is responsible for providing comprehensive solutions during the planning process. His primary expertise is helping clients set and achieve goals before and after they retire. Greg lives in Valdosta with his wife Amanda and their son Greyson. You can submit questions about this article to gregory.bright@lpl.com.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor, member FINRA/SIPC. The opinion voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.
