Earning a generous income and building a high-net-worth are part of the American dream; paying high taxes is not. As a U.S. taxpayer, it is important to balance paying your fair share with making smart decisions that will allow you to continue to grow your wealth.
At TPI Group, our accounting team is adept at tax planning for high-income individuals. We leverage our experience to implement individual tax services tailored to your specific needs and goals, so you can enjoy significant tax savings while enjoying your success.
Tailored Tax Planning for High-Net-Worth Individuals and Families
Our tax planning experts often save high-net-worth clients thousands of dollars in taxes. We will carefully review your tax strategies and past tax returns to make sure you pay only the taxes you must. With high-net-worth tax strategies and sound financial planning, you can reduce your tax liability.
To request a no-obligation review of your taxes, complete the form below.
Our tax strategies for high-income individuals are always tailored to your specific situation, needs, and financial goals, but one thing they all have in common is proper record-keeping.
Proper record-keeping is a must. It allows us to gain a full understanding of your tax situation and identify the tax deductions available to you. This means you must track business expenses, deductible travel and entertainment expenses, tax-deductible charitable giving, and tax-free gifts or inheritance you receive. The more diligent you are, the better we can help you. We can help you establish a record-keeping process.
Our approach for high-income individuals involves a range of advanced tax planning strategies aimed at securing a lower tax rate, particularly during retirement. They include:
- Deferring income
- Retirement planning:
- Maxing out your 401(k)
- Contributing as much as possible to an IRA or Roth IRA
- Deferring bonuses or other earned income
- Accelerating capital losses and deferring capital gains
- Gifting up to $14,000 per year to individuals (gift tax planning)
- Investing in Treasury securities and tax-exempt municipal bonds
- Donating appreciated assets to charity
- Tracking mileage for business, medical or charitable purposes
- Medical and dental expense deductions (if they exceed 10 percent of your adjusted gross income)
- File separately as a married couple (if one spouse has large medical expenses, miscellaneous itemized deductions, or casualty losses or your incomes are about equal)
- Take advantage of special deductions or hire your child if self-employed
- Take out a home-equity loan (interest is deductible)
Following the fiscal cliff crisis of 2012-2013, many changes were made to the tax laws that will directly affect you sooner or later. Working with an accountant who has tax preparation experience with high-income individuals is more important than ever. That’s where the TPI team comes in.
Here’s why tax planning is such an important part of effective wealth management:
If you and your spouse make $300,000 or more ($275,000 for head of households and $250,000 for single filers), your personal and dependent exemptions will be gradually phased out. For every $2,500 of adjusted gross income (AGI) over $300,000, your exemptions will be reduced by 2%. Personal exemptions disappear at income levels over $422,500 for joint filers. (Note that these income thresholds will be adjusted annually for inflation.)
Itemized deductions are also changing. Itemized deductions for mortgage interest, property taxes, charitable contributions, and state and local income taxes will now be reduced. This reduction is equivalent to 3% of the portion of your AGI that surpasses $300,000, aligning with the income levels previously mentioned.
However, there’s a somewhat positive aspect: the reduction of your itemized deductions is capped at 80%. Also, you can still fully deduct certain expenses, including qualified medical costs, investment interest, losses from theft or casualties, and wagering losses.
To counteract the tax implications of these phase-out rules, our high-net-worth accountants will put together a tax plan that lowers or postpones taxable income. This will allow you to stay under the applicable thresholds and take advantage of all available exemptions and deductions.
Did you know that the average American pays 31% in taxes every year? Want to pay a lot less as a high-income earner? TPI will work with you to uncover smart tax savings strategies that will have you smiling on April 15.
The tax savings strategies we apply tend to benefit high-income earners the most, as you have more cash to move around and reduce your tax liabilities with. Some of these measures can include:
- Maxing out your 401(K) or 403(b) plan
- Determining the best level of contributions towards Flexible Health / Savings Accounts and Child Care Expenses
- Selling stocks that are trading at a loss (realized losses from stock you sell are tax deductible)
- Increasing charitable donations
- Downsizing to a smaller home as an empty-nester (married couples can exclude up to $500,000 on the sale of a home)
- Using tax-advantaged benefit plan deductions for self-employed individuals. You can deduct up to 100% of income or up to $205,000 for contributions to a private pension plan and usually more than 100% of total health care costs.
- Deducting up to $25,000 of capital asset purchases used for business
- Eliminating taxable dividends and short term capital gains
- Deferring compensation
- Buying cash value life insurance (all investment gains and death benefits are tax free to the beneficiary)
- Taking non-cash tax deductions for real estate depreciation
- Using asset-based mortgages to free up funds for investments
Contact us today to learn more about how we can save you money on taxes and help you protect your financial future.