This year was the first one in which clients had to file tax
returns reflecting the changes under the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012.
Clients and advisers are now creating a playbook that involves considerable
teamwork to address the altered reality. A raft of new taxes and higher tax
brackets called for some fancy footwork by advisers and accountants who sought
to mitigate the effects of the tax law changes. What has made 2014 notable is
how investment tactics have melded with tax planning to create a unified
strategy.
In that sense, financial advisers direct the income tax
savings play because they oversee client assets and know which accounts hold
them. Meanwhile, estate-planning lawyers and accountants provide additional
support by creating trusts and tax strategies.
Here's a refresher on what made those tax bills so steep
back in April. If you've been doing your tax-planning homework, you've probably
been beating the drum about ATRA. Marginal tax rates rose to 39.6% for single
filers with taxable income over $400,000 and for married-filing-jointly
taxpayers with taxable income over $450,000. People in both groups face a tax
rate of 20% on long-term capital gains.
Singles with modified adjusted gross income of $200,000 and
married-filing-jointly couples with MAGI of $250,000 face a surtax of 3.8% on
the lesser of income over those thresholds or net investment income. And
there's a 0.9% Medicare tax on wages over those amounts.
Last is the tax-planning dynamic duo of PEP and Pease. That
is, the phaseout of personal exemptions (PEP) and itemized deductions (Pease, a
provision of the tax code named after the late Rep. Donald J. Pease) for
singles with over $250,000 in adjusted gross income and married couples with
over $300,000 in AGI.
BACK TO BASICS
With taxes playing an ever-bigger role in clients' planning,
advisers need to familiarize themselves with the intricacies of the tax
brackets and the applicability of certain taxes for different types of income.
Taxable income isn't the same as modified AGI, and different taxes apply to
varying thresholds of both types of income.
Knowing where clients land in terms of taxable income, MAGI
and AGI lays the framework for a tax mitigation strategy. The question then
becomes: How do you reduce your AGI? Clients with bonds can amortize them and
reduce their AGI in the current year, according to Craig Richards, director of
tax at Fiduciary Trust Co. International. They can also defer bonuses, choosing
to take them in January instead of December.
GAS OR BRAKES
Once the income from the 2014 tax year is sliced and diced,
the discussion turns to whether accelerating deductions and deferring income
are good moves. That doesn't always apply, though. Clients subject to the
alternative minimum tax may want to consider accelerating their income so that
they're subject to a lower marginal tax rate of 26% on the first $182,500, and
28% on the excess, according to Mr. Price. Doing so allows significant savings
over the maximum ordinary income tax rate of 39.6%.
ESTATE TAXES
A weight was lifted from many families with the announcement
that the 2014 estate tax exemption for an individual would be $5.34 million.
Executors of estates below that threshold don't have to file an estate tax
return. But that doesn't mean those clients don't need planning, particularly
if they're married and count on taking advantage of the portability of their
individual exemptions. Portability allows a surviving spouse to assume the
unused portion of the deceased spouse's exemption.
The unused exemption isn't indexed for inflation, which
means problems will arise if the surviving spouse's estate increases in value,
setting the table for steep estate taxes. Planners need to revisit estate
documents and ensure there's enough flexibility to allow other methods to
mitigate estate taxes in the event the portability exemption isn't enough.
Older clients could be holding on to assets that have
appreciated significantly. With a step-up in basis, heirs receive the asset at
its higher value — meaning they won't have major capital gains tax consequences
in the case of a sale.
Though federal estate taxes may not be a concern for estates
below the exemption, be wary of state-level estate taxes. Strategic giving may
be a good move for clients who want to shrink their estate. Low-basis stock can
be given to young-adult children or grandchildren — ideally those making less
than $36,900, so they avoid capital gains taxes altogether if there's a sale.
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