As the end of the year approaches, it is a good time to think of planning moves that will help lower your tax bill for this year and possibly the next.

Year-end planning for 2018 takes place against the backdrop of a new tax law — the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — that make major changes in the tax rules for individuals and businesses.

For individuals:

  1. there are new lower income tax rates,
  2. the standard deduction has been substantially increased,
  3. itemized deductions have been severely limited and with no personal exemptions,
  4. the child tax credit has been increased, and
  5. the alternative minimum tax (AMT) has been watered down, among many other changes.

For businesses:

  1. the corporate tax rate is cut to 21%,
  2. the corporate AMT is gone,
  3. there are new limits on business interest deductions,
  4. the depreciation and expenditure rules have been significantly liberalized, and
  5. there’s a new deduction for non-corporate taxpayers with qualified business income from pass-through entities.

We have compiled a checklist of actions based on current tax rules that may help you save tax dollars if you act before year-end. Not all actions will apply in your particular situation, but you (or a family member) will likely benefit from many of them. We can narrow down the specific actions that you can take once we meet with you to tailor a particular plan.

Book an appointment and we’ll send you our year-end tax planning letter that could help you lower your tax bill this year and next.