Are you 65 or older? Include these tax breaks in year-end planning

Are you 65 or older? Include these tax breaks in year-end planning

Celebrate your 65th birthday with federal income tax benefits. Here are some of the breaks available once you reach age 65.

Higher standard deduction. Your standard deduction is the sum of the basic standard deduction plus an additional standard deduction if you are age 65 or older at the end of the tax year. You are considered to be 65 on the day before your 65th birthday. For your 2015 tax return, you can add an extra $1,550 to your standard deduction if you're single. If you and your spouse are both 65 or older, your combined extra deduction is $2,500.

Tax credit for the elderly. You may qualify for this direct reduction of your federal income tax if you're age 65 or older. There are limitations if tax-free pension benefits such as social security exceed certain levels. Income limitations may also apply.

Medical expense deduction. Generally, when you itemize, unreimbursed medical expenses can be deducted only when they exceed 10% of your adjusted gross income. However, for 2015, when you're 65 or over, you can deduct medical expenses that exceed 7.5% of your income. Are you married? Only one spouse needs to be 65 or older to qualify.

Please contact our office to make sure you're receiving all the tax breaks for which you qualify at any age.

Some tax benefits will increase in 2016

Some tax benefits will increase in 2016

 Each year, the IRS announces inflation adjustments for more than 50 tax provisions. Knowing these numbers can help with your year-end tax planning. Changes for 2016 (for the tax returns you'll file in early 2017) include an increased standard deduction when you file as head of household ($9,300 for 2016). The standard deduction amounts remain the same as they were for 2015 when you're single or married filing separate ($6,300), or married filing jointly ($12,600). Please call us about other inflation adjustments.

Make use of your 2015 gift tax exclusion

Make use of your 2015 gift tax exclusion

This year you can give up to $14,000 to as many individuals as you want without any gift tax liability. If you're married and your spouse joins in the gift, you can, as a couple, elect to give $28,000 to each person with no gift tax liability. Once December 31, 2015, has come and gone, your 2015 gift tax exclusion is also gone. If you plan to make gifts this year, remember that your gifts must be completed by then.

Should you increase your withholding?

Should you increase your withholding?

Will the federal income tax withheld from your wages be enough to meet your 2015 federal income tax liability? If not, you can choose to make estimated tax payments. However, you should be aware that the penalty rules for underpayment of estimated taxes is applied to each installment – meaning you may owe a penalty when your estimated tax payments (plus withholding) total less than 25% of your required annual payment. Increasing your withholding for the last two months of the year can help you avoid this penalty. Contact us to learn how the estimated tax rules apply to you.

Tax planning is good for corporations too

Tax planning is good for corporations too

 If you own a calendar-year corporation, you can benefit from planning moves you make before December 31. For example, corporations can accelerate or defer income or deductions to stay within a certain tax bracket. You'll also want to look at your corporate alternative minimum tax exposure to determine whether you qualify for an exception to the tax. Finally, reviewing estimated tax payments can save penalties. Call us for more business planning strategies.

Be aware of credit card "liability shift"

Be aware of credit card "liability shift"

Does your business accept credit cards? You may already know of the recent update to a new style of cards embedded with microchips. This new technology, also known as EMV (for Europay, MasterCard, Visa), makes credit card fraud more difficult. Your business is not required to move to the new technology to process these cards. But you should be aware that as of October 1, 2015, your business is responsible for some fraudulent transactions that were previously covered by the cardholder's bank. Give us a call for details.

2016 health care enrollment begins November 1

2016 health care enrollment begins November 1

The health insurance Marketplace (www.healthcare.gov) "open enrollment period" began November 1 for 2016 individual health insurance coverage. Open enrollment is the annual period of time during which health insurance companies must accept your application regardless of your health history. Once open enrollment is over – January 31, 2016, for 2016 policies – you can only get coverage if you have circumstances that allow you to qualify for a special enrollment period.