It’s that time of year to cast an eye toward…tax prep! Most of us don’t like taking care of preparations for tax filing, so do everything you can to make it easier on yourself. Here are a few ideas for you.
Start gathering your documents. If you have a box of receipts spend some time going through them and organizing and totaling the receipts by category. You should do this prior to giving your information to your accountant. It will save them time, and you money!
Work on your tax prep a little each week and it won’t be overwhelming. Create a specific space to organize your documents and work on your filing. If you start preparing now, the April deadline won’t be so stressful.
Sell stocks or funds that have lost value by December 31 if you need a loss. You can apply this loss against gains to help reduce your overall tax burden.
Consider finalizing cash gifts to charities. Cash gifts to qualified charities are deductible in the year made.
Did you gift money to anyone? If you as an individual gifted over $14,000 to any one person you likely will not owe gift tax, but you will have to file an additional form with the IRS (Gift Tax Form 709). Each individual has a lifetime exemption of $5.49 million (2017). If you are married, you can each gift $14,000 per person for a total gift of $28,000 to any one person. If you gifted, talk to your tax preparer about any documents you may need for substantiation.
Hire a financial planner! Your financial planner may not be able to help you with a lot of tax prep for 2017 at this time of the year, but getting you in financial shape in 2018 is something a financial planner can help you with. Set some goals and get started.
As an independent Certified Financial Planner™, I can help you get organized and create a plan for a less stressful filing season. Better yet, we can start working on your 2018 goals. Contact me and let’s get started! #talktometuesday #education #Hireaplanner #tax #taxfiling #stress #stressfree