Update Articles: Mid-year tax planing 年中省税计划
We are almost through mid-way of this year. It is time for you to review transactions and plot your courses through the remainder of the year. You should also review your tax position before the end of the year. Taking action early enough can mean tax savings for the year and for years to come.
You should total up your income to date and project what you think it will be through the end of the year. Then you can adopt strategies to reduce taxable income.
Retirement income planning. Maximize retirement plan contributions. You can make such contributions up to due date of the return, including extensions. However, the earlier in the year that contributions are made, the great the tax-deferred compounding benefit. If you have the opportunity to save for retirement on a salary reduction basis(through a 401(k) plan or a SIMPLE plan) should do so if it is economically possible. For 2004, up to $13,000 can be contributed to a 401(K) plan and 100% of compensation can be contributed to a SIMPLE plan up to a $9,000 maximum contribution.
Income shifting. Consider income shifting to reduce the overall tax on family income. This can be accomplished on a transfer tax-free basis. Befor you do any transfer, weigh the following:
Investment income earned by a child under 14 will not save the family any significant tax because the kiddie tax subjects income over $1,400 to the parent's marginal tax rate.
parent who do not want children to get control of funds or who think they may need the funds in the future should not shift funds to children.
Assets in the child's name are counted more heavily for higher education financial aid than assets in the parent's name. Those who plan to rely evan partially on financial aid must take this into account.
Deduction planning for individuals. Determine whether you will itemize deductions or claim the standard deduction. For those on the borderline, use the strategy of bunching deductions every other year for tax advantage.
Estimated tax planning for individuals. Generally to avoid estimated tax penalties, tax payments must be at least 90% of the current year's liability or 100% of the prior year's liability. You can file a new Form W-4 with your employer to increase withholding when withholding is insufficient. Increasing withholding later in the year can offset estimated tax penalty that would have been due for underpayments earlier in the year. Where withholding is not an option and estimated tax payments have been insufficient, minimize penalties by increasing the last two installments of estimated tax.
A review of estimated tax and withholding to date could indicate that the taxpayer has already made an overpayment of taxes. If so, the taxpayer can correct this problem by reducing withholding and estimated tax payments for the balance of the year.
Tax payers who expect to receive capital gain distributions from mutual funds at year end should factor in the taxes due on this income in planning withholding and estimated tax payments for the balance of the year.
Planning for businesses.
Review the form of business organization. Reviewing the current form of business organization is always good ideas. New rules for S corporations make this form of organization more accesible and attractive to a greater number of businesses. "Check the box" regulations make assurance of partnership tax treatment easy for limited liability companies.
Plan equipment purchases. Take advantage of the increased dollar limit first-year expensing. Watch for the mid-quarter convention that applies when more than 40% of all assets placed in service during the year are placed in service during last quarter of the year.
Review inventory. Consider writing down obsolete or damaged goods to their probable selling price. Generally, taxpayers must offer the goods for sale at a reduced price in order to take a loss on the decline in the value of the inventory. The company can charge the writedown to a seperate loss account because the loss is not due to selling the goods.
Manage expenses. Review supplies and reorder now to increase deduction for the current year. Schedule meetings slated for the subsequent year to the current year to boost dedection.
年中省税计划
时间过的真快,也许您刚刚收到国税局或州税局的退税支票,也许您才上报完去年的税表没有多长时间,又到了半年一次税务计划的时候。现在您应该知道您今年的大体收入状况,如果您现在就采取必要的省税步骤,您一定能够避免多交不必要的税。
步骤1:退休金计划。
最大限度地储存退休金永远是我的第一个建议。您可以在报税截止日期(即4月15日)或者延长期(即8月15日)以前存入退休金帐户,但是越早存入帐户,一般会有越多的延税利益。当然您的退休金放在高风险的投资中,在今天动荡不定的股票市场中有可能在短期内并没有取的任何利润。假设您有机会通过从工资中扣除部分收入存人401K或SIMPLE 帐户中, 您应该尽可能地去做。2002年您可以最多 放入$13,000至401(K)退休计划。 100% 劳务所得的$9,000 可以放入SIMPLE计划。如果您超过50岁,还可以多存入500至1000。
步骤 2: 转移收入。
您可以考虑整个家庭收入的及成员的收入,然后设法转移家庭成员的收入以减少整个家庭的税款。通常采用的一种办法就是无税基数(TAX-FREE BASIS) 的转移。不过在您做任何收入 转移的时候,请考虑以下几点:
-
假设您的子女不到14岁,这些子女的投资收入不会太多地节省您的交税数目。因为如果他们的投资收入超过$1,400 那么他们必须按照父母最高的税率来计算他们的税款.
-
如果您不愿意您的子女控制资金或者您认为您在不久的将来需要资金,请勿考虑转移收入。当您把收入转移以后就很难再拿回来了.
-
如果您认为您子女以后就读大学要靠贷款资助,那么您子女名下的财产会影响到他们的资助申请,即便您的子女只需要部份资助,这也会影响到他们的资助.
步骤3:估计税款的交纳。
为了避免估计税款罚款,您必须在当年的12月31日或次年的1月15日前交纳当年90%的税款或去年的全部税款。如果您发现预扣税款不足的时候,您可以填写 W-4表交给您的雇主要求增加工资扣税额。 即便您的工资扣税是在接近年底的时候,所有扣税算作是整个年度 的扣税。接近年底的多扣税款可以避免由于少扣估计税款的罚款。假如工资扣税不是一个选择而且估计税款交纳不足的时候,增加最后两次的估计税款交纳数额以减少罚款。 检查估计税款的交纳也可以看出是否多交了税款,如果是这样可以减少以后的估计税款 数额。在此,想提醒各位如果您预期年底会有共同基金的分红,计算一下投资收入对税款的影响以避免年底扣税不足的情况。
步骤4:公司,企业或合伙人应该考量公司的法律形式是否需要改变。
无论何种形式,收入和减税费用的计划策略可以减少纳税收入及减少税款。
-
考量公司的组织形式永远是个好主意。S公司的新规定使这种形式更加有利于多数公司。表格选择规则使有限责任公司更容易选择合伙人的纳税形式。
-
设备购买计划。 利用第一年减税设备采购的递增金额来控制何时购买设备以期达到省税的目的。当心季度中期折旧办法的 适用范围,尽量避免40%以上的设备在最后一个季度购买。
-
库存产品的清理。库存产品的价值减少是由于过时或受损,您可以用此来抵消收入,但是您必须试图用低价销售库存产品。
-
控制成本费用。根据您的公司会计政策,比如现金法或记帐法,考虑是否增加或减少部份可控费用以达到减少税款的目的。
此文由捷利会计税务咨询事务所(J。J。LI,LLC) 李建军注册会计师提供。所供信息仅供参考,如果您有任何问题, 请咨询您的注册税务师或 注册会计师。
Useful Links
|