Your Organizer is a Great Way to Prepare for Your Taxes
We will be sending out the 2024 Tax Packets right after the New Year. New this year we are offering Organizers for Businesses, Estates and Trusts by request. You may call our office or email Jill (jill@toyercpa.com) to request one. Please let us know prior to December 15th if you would like one included in your Tax Packet. Blank organizers are also available on our website. If you would like a digital organizer packet emailed to you instead, please fill out the request form on the home page (toyercpa.com) prior to December 20th.
If you have changed your address, or plan to before the organizers are sent out, please make sure to let our office know so that you receive yours in a timely manner. We would also appreciate knowing in advance if you plan on not using our services this year so that we can remove you from our contact list when working on extensions.
Our office has listened to your feedback and we have re-designed the organizers to make them more manageable and easier to understand. Some of these changes include streamlining the questionnaire and adding a summary of the types of forms that were used in your 2023 tax preparation. These changes should help you gather what you need and alert us to any changes to your tax situation when we are preparing your return (s).
What You Need to Know About Required Minimum Distributions
For those who have Required Minimum Distributions (RMD) that have yet to be taken out, you should do so before the end of the year to avoid any penalties. You must begin taking your RMD by April 1 of the year after you turn 73 years old, and by December 31st of each subsequent year after that.
The IRS has also finalized the rules regarding inherited IRAs. Beginning in 2025, for most an IRAs inherited after 2019, you will be required to take annual distributions for 10 years. Depending on the relationship and circumstance, this could change. For more information, please visit the “News” section of our website.
Tips to Keep Your Information Safe
The holidays and tax season are also ripe times for scammers to hit. To reduce your risk of falling victim to schemes meant to steal your money or your identity, remember:
- The IRS will not email you. If they do call you, get the agent’s name and badge number, hang up and call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040, not the number they give you, to verify.
- If you receive a suspicious email, DO NOT open it, click on any links, reply, or open attachments.
- Do not give out any personal information by phone, even if the call looks legitimate. Phone numbers can be easily spoofed for caller ID.
- Watch for illegitimate website spoofs. Hackers will often create fake sites that look similar to the real ones (IRS.com versus the real IRS.gov, for example).
Reminders for your 2024 Taxes
If you have had any significant events that increased your taxable income for 2024, you may want to schedule a tax planning appointment with our office before the end of the year. Some of these events include:
- Year-End bonus payment without an increase in withholding
- Sale of your home
- Sale of investments
- Distribution from a traditional IRA or 401(k) without withholding or paying estimated taxes
- Decrease in the number of dependents or had a child turn 17 years old in 2024
In some cases, we may be able to strategize ways you can mitigate the tax effects of these events. In other cases, you may be advised to make an additional estimated tax payment before the year-end to offset any penalties for underpayment of taxes that may be levied come April 15th.
Tax Changes for 2025
Unless Congress takes action, 2024 and 2025 are the last two years before tax laws roll back to those in place in 2017.
There are several key changes that will happen if this takes place:
- Higher tax brackets with the most striking increase, 9%, set to hit taxpayers in the middle of the brackets
- Taxpayers will, once again, have their Capital Gains tax rate linked to their ordinary income bracket, possibly leading to more taxes paid on capital gains
- The standard deduction amounts will reduce by nearly half
- The personal exemption is anticipated to be $5,300 per person (each individual, spouse & child on the return)
- The current $10,000 SALT cap will expire
- Mortgage Interest on large loans will be deductible
- Reduced Alternative Minimum Tax exemptions and phase outs
- Lowered Estate and Gift Tax limits
- Business owners will lose the 20% Qualified Business Income Deduction and Bonus Depreciation
- There are several ways you can take advantage of the current tax laws before they sunset, depending on your situation. Scheduling a tax planning appointment with our office is a great way to stay ahead of the game and make sure that you are set up for the best outcome.
