Year-End Tax Planning For Individuals

Tax planning presents more challenges than usual this year due to the passage of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (ATRA), which was signed into law on January 2, 2013, as well as certain tax provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 taking effect in 2013 and 2014.

Tax planning strategies for individuals this year--and for the next several years--require careful consideration of taxable income in relation to threshold amounts that might bump a taxpayer into a higher or lower tax bracket, thus, subjecting him or her to additional taxes such as the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) or an additional Medicare tax.

Even so, there are several more general tax planning strategies taxpayers might consider such as:

• Selling any investments on which you have a gain or loss this year. For more on this, see Investment Gains and Losses, below.
• If you anticipate an increase in taxable income in 2014 and are expecting a bonus at year-end, try to get it before December 31. Keep in mind however, that contractual bonuses are different, in that they are typically not paid out until the first quarter of the following year. Therefore, any taxes owed on a contractual bonus would not be due until you file a tax return for tax year 2014.
• If your company grants stock options, you may want to exercise the option or sell stock acquired by exercise of an option this year if you think your tax bracket will be higher in 2014. Exercise of the option is often but not always a taxable event; sale of the stock is almost always a taxable event.
• If you're self employed, send invoices or bills to clients or customers this year in order to be paid in full by the end of December.

Keep an eye on the estimated tax requirements！