Don’t Leave the IRS a Tip: The Importance of Tax Planning and Reviewing Your Return

Kaley Bockhop CFP®, CPA | Feb 2, 2022

You don’t give your money away for nothing. But that’s exactly what you do when you don’t take advantage of opportunities to minimize your taxes. One of the best ways to retain more of your wealth is to reduce the burden of taxation. And this isn’t something to deal with once a year when tax day comes; ongoing tax planning can help you strategically reduce your tax bill so the IRS doesn’t get more of your money than they should.

If you understand the rules of the game, you will have a much higher success rate at winning. The same is true for understanding tax law. If you understand tax law and the benefits available to taxpayers, then when it comes to “winning the game” of reducing your tax bill, you will be that much better off. Here’s how to make that happen.

Create a Tax-Efficient Retirement Plan

When working with your advisor to create your financial plan, retirement planning will often be a key point of conversation. By stress-testing your plan, you can quickly see if your current retirement accounts, savings rates, and other assets will be adequate for the retirement lifestyle you desire.

A direct way to reduce your tax bill is to contribute money into tax-deferred savings accounts, such as a 401(k) or IRA. But in order to maximize your savings, you need to determine both your current cash flow needs and your ideal retirement income. A financial plan will look at both factors and determine the best way to use your tax-deferred savings accounts to save you money both now and in the future. For example, a $50,000 withdrawal from a Roth IRA will have a wildly different tax impact than that same distribution from a traditional IRA. Creating a tax plan can help you strategically withdraw from your various retirement accounts and reduce your tax liability.

Contribute to a Health Savings Account

As a refresher, health savings accounts (HSAs) offer a triple-tax savings. It may sound too good to be true, but HSAs have no federal income tax, no state or local taxes, and no Federal Insurance Contribution Act (FICA) taxes. If you are eligible for an HSA, your money will be tax-deferred and can be withdrawn tax-free to pay for medical expenses.

Because HSA account balances simply roll over from year to year, by contributing to the limit each year, you can build up quite a nest egg to cover either current medical expenses or future medical expenses in retirement. Think of it as a Roth IRA for medical expenses. For 2022, HSA owners now have higher contribution limits to help them do just that. If you have individual coverage, you can contribute $3,650, and for family coverage, your limit is $7,300, with an extra catch-up contribution of $1,000 available for those over age 55. (1) If you can’t max out the yearly limit, attempt to contribute enough to cover your deductible and take advantage of your employer match, if available.

Use a Roth IRA to Transfer Wealth

Roth IRAs are an attractive savings vehicle for many reasons, including no required minimum distributions (RMDs), tax-free withdrawals after age 59½, and the ability to pass wealth tax-free to your heirs.

You probably know the effects taxation can have on your assets and the inheritance you hope to pass on to future generations. For example, if you passed down a traditional IRA, non-spouse beneficiaries used to be able to stretch out the distributions from that account over the beneficiary’s life, but now they have to liquidate the account within 10 years of inheriting it (with some exceptions), thanks to the new SECURE Act. This significantly decreases the value of the account due to the amount of taxes paid in a short time.

But if you pass down a Roth IRA instead, there is no income tax due on the distributions as long as the account is held for more than five years and the account holder is 59½ or older.

If you have traditional IRAs already or earn too much to qualify for a Roth IRA, consider a Roth conversion to remedy the tax loss. The basic process to convert your IRA is to withdraw the amount you’d like to invest in a Roth, pay the tax owed on the distribution, then reinvest it into a Roth account. Be sure to work with a professional to determine the best time to do this so you don’t push yourself into a higher tax bracket or be forced to use funds from the account to pay the extra taxes on the distribution. Also, stay on top of potential tax changes that could limit the availability of this option for you. (2)

Deduct Eligible Charitable Contributions

Annual gifts to qualified charitable organizations may be deemed an eligible itemized deduction. Under the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, fewer taxpayers itemize deductions due to the doubling of the standard deduction. (3) Regardless, charitable giving is still a useful tax-minimization strategy.

In order to benefit from charitable giving, you’ll have to plan ahead. With the new higher standard deduction, you’ll need to make sure your total deductions for the year, giving included, exceed $12,950 for an individual filer, and $25,900 for married filing jointly. (4) If your deductions fall below this amount, consider bunching your giving or doing several years’ worth of giving in one year.

You may also want to look into using a donor-advised fund to combine all charitable contributions in a year and then distribute the funds to various charities over several years. With this strategy, you may be able to itemize deductions in one year and take the standard deduction in the following years so you can achieve a tax benefit that you may not have received otherwise.

Review Your Previous Tax Returns

You can learn a lot from the past. Look at your previous tax returns with a professional to search for deductions or credits you may have missed, opportunities to lower taxable income, and plan for the next tax season. Take these factors into consideration when making a tax plan for the future:

Review notable tax law changes for 2021 that may affect you.
Review your capital gains and losses.
Review your retirement savings options.
Consider Roth IRA conversions.
Consider additional year-end tax strategies.
Understand potential tax law proposals.

Getting Ahead With Tax Planning

Tax planning could potentially save you money, both today and in the future, but while beneficial, taxes can be complicated—it’s estimated that it would take you eight weeks of nonstop reading to get through the lengthy and complicated IRS tax code, which is filled with various opportunities and strategies for optimal tax efficiency. (5) The key is partnering with an experienced professional who can help you understand how each possible opportunity works and how it fits into your strategy and long-term goals.

With years of experience in financial and tax planning, the Rosemeyer Management Group team knows how to implement appropriate tax-minimization strategies to help you save more of your hard-earned money. If you have questions about any of these tax strategies and whether they’d be right for you, we encourage you to reach out to us. Schedule an introductory appointment online or by calling us at 608-348-2274. For any questions, feel free to reach out to me at kaley@rosemeyermg.com.

About Kaley

Kaley Bockhop is an investment advisor representative at Rosemeyer Management Group, an SEC Registered Investment Advisor based in Platteville, WI. Kaley’s experience in taxes and accounting and her financial planning expertise allows her to help her clients work toward their retirement goals and set themselves up for success. It is Kaley’s goal to partner with her clients to build a customized road map for their finances so they can look forward to a comfortable retirement and decrease financial worry. Kaley is a CPA and a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional. She has a bachelor’s degree in science from the University of Wisconsin-Platteville with a triple major in accounting, agricultural business, and animal science, and a minor in biology. In her free time, Kaley enjoys working on her family’s farm where they raise nationally recognized registered Angus show cattle. She also loves exercising and traveling. To learn more about Kaley, connect with her on LinkedIn.