Year-end Tax Planning
YEAR-END TAX PLANNING
We would like to wish our Fountain Valley Magazine readers a Merry Christmas and for those of other persuasions, a very Happy Holiday Season. At Alex A. Accetta, CPA & Associates, Inc., this is also the “Season” to do your year-end tax planning. We do not have sufficient space in this brief article to do this subject matter justice, so we encourage you to visit our NEW website at www.aaccettacpa.com to learn more about tax planning. Just click on the News/Blog tab and click on “Newsletters” and you will find more detailed information.
The most important factor is to make a tax planning list and check it twice. Things like bundling your deductions (medical, property taxes, state income taxes, charitable contributions) are generally a good idea. Watch out for alternative minimum tax (AMT). Since this tax was not indexed for inflation, it has crept up on many taxpayers and has the potential of undoing otherwise good tax planning strategies.
With all the capital losses in the stock market, it’s not difficult to match these losses with a capital gain you might have generated this year. Remember, you are entitled to offset capital losses with capital gains. Any net excess losses over $3,000 can be carried forward to further years.
Be sure to max out your 401-K contributions by year-end. You have until April 15, 2010 to make your IRA contributions.
And don’t forget those tax credits we told you about in the September 2009 issue of the magazine.
Please be sure to visit our website for more detailed tax planning hints. Give us a call and we’ll be happy to help you make those sometimes tough calls in the intricate web of tax planning.
Be sure to stop by and say hello at Fountain Valley Tree Lighting Ceremony on Saturday, December 5th for your chance to win an Xbox 360 gaming system. Ho Ho Ho.
